Welcome to another Pug Squad Featured Rescue! This time we would like to showcase Arizona Pug Adoption & Rescue Network (APARN). Based out of Mesa, Arizona, Terri Wood, President, Founder and unabashed Fairy Pug Mother, took a few minutes to chat with us. “I’m sure every rescue feels they go the extra mile to make sure their pugs go to the absolute best home possible, and we are no different there,” she says. “I do believe that our creative fundraising makes us unique, in particular our Annual Cutest Pug Contest. Started in 2007, this annual fundraiser usually brings in $25,000 and provide ..read more

It is hard to believe that we just finished our 6th Pug Camp. It’s our 5th at Camp Westmont, so in a way the first was kind of a shakedown; year zero as it were. But honestly, every year is a learning experience as we correct the mistakes of the prior events while making brand new ones! Sorry, I won’t cop to any here. If you didn’t notice, then it didn’t happen. As you all know, even though we do a number of fundraising events throughout the year, Pug Camp is our big one. It’s personally my favorite because it has the greatest in-person turnout and goes for just the right amount of days. The l ..read more

Today is World Book Day, so it seemed like a great opportunity to share some pug themed books. Pugs make great characters because they have so much…character. See, it says it right there! This list consists of novels and stories, so we didn’t include the amazing picture & photo books that are also available. Hopefully we can post those in the future! Maybe you can put a few of these on your summer reading list? Have a great pug book you want to share? Feel free to leave it in the comments. Clara: The Story of the Pug Who Ruled my Life Once a pug owner, always a pug owner–or so thought Marg ..read more

It’s been a minute since we turned our metaphorical Bat-Pug Signal on a rescue, so I’m happy to single out Kentuckiana Pug Rescue. KPR, like all the orgs we spotlight, is a volunteer-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit rescue organization. They have made the commitment to assist all Pugs in need in and around Indiana, Kentucky as well as helping out in Ohio and Illinois. They have a solid presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and their website is peppered with squishy little Pug mugs to “aww” at. Awwwww! They have a dedicated group of foster homes who house their pugs until they find loving fore ..read more

On October 20th, we lost founding board member Marianne Angelini after a roughly year long struggle with cancer. Mare had been involved in rescue since she adopted her pug Tammy from Curly Tail in 2009 and volunteered for the organization shortly thereafter. Over the years, from Curly Tail through Pug Squad, she helped save countless furry lives. The last few years have been marked by devastating losses in our community, but this cuts particularly deep. Mare had been with the Squad since the first “Hey, we have an idea” discussions after Curly Tail Pug Rescue folded. All of us on the board kn ..read more

Time, amirite? We flew through the height of the pandemic, we then spent months focused on the China Pugs…now we find ourselves only a month away from Pug Camp 2021! That’s insane. Well, no worries, we are right on course. We have all the events lined up and this year is gonna be packed with activities. Last year, we were just hoping to have a good time and maybe have a decent showing. We were all still reeling from the Covid-19 outbreak, the other cancelled events and making sure we were keeping as safe as possible. We considered ourselves lucky to be able to even hold the event at all. So m ..read more

Buckle up for a long winded tale of my trip from Wyoming to New York to bring 6 rescue dogs to their forever home!   Pixel getting ready to fly On May 27th I flew out to Wyoming with my pug Pixel, on her very first plane ride. We flew to Danielle, of Wyoming Pug Rescue, to take an RV trip from Wyoming to NY with Pixel, Alexis (more on her in a bit) and 4, soon to be 5 puppies, each being adopted and going to their forever homes! Hold on, let me back up a bit! Let me start from the beginning! If you don’t know Danielle from Wyoming Pug Rescue you are missing out. One of the most generous p ..read more

It takes a special kind of personality to work in the rescue community. It takes an even more stout constitution to actually found and run your own rescue. From an outsider’s perspective, it probably seems like it’ll be relatively easy to rescue adorable little Pug puppies and dole them out to waiting adoptees. After over a decade as a volunteer, I know the realities are much different. You have to deal with nasty and uncaring surrendering owners, egos from competing rescues and hundreds – if not thousands – of people who question your motives. Members of personality cults who try to sabotage ..read more

by Pug Squad Volunteer Jennifer Popovich Sometimes you sit back and reflect on why you are here…how did you get here…what is your why…what rules your passion. As I sit back and reflect on my Pug Squad Journey, it all comes back to this little man. A little pug named Milo. I was involved in animal rescue before Milo. I was active in a local shelter and fostering special needs animals. A fellow volunteer, knowing that my pugs are my world, reached out to me to ask if I’d consider taking in a hospice foster. That is when my life changed. Milo was a 10 year old pug with an inoperable tumor in his ..read more

Just like that, we’re less than six months away from Pug Camp. We’re still seeing events being cancelled this year due to the ongoing concerns about COVID-19. Those events, as much as we love them, tend to be in closer quarters. That makes it much more difficult to be socially distant. Pugapalooza, for example, is a compact event, tending to be crowded in the confines of Wonder Bar as people mill about with their pugs and go from table to table. Or inside for food and Rum Buckets (man, I miss Rum Buckets). Sadly, Pugapalooza is suffering another cancellation this year, but we’re hopeful for a ..read more