Tabitha, my Black Diva

I adore pugs because of their little monkey faces and their clear fawn coats and dark masks. Back in Nov./Dec. I got a call from a member of the Tampa Bay Pug Club tell me that they needed a home for an 8 year old little girl. I went and picked her up and fell head over heals in love with her. SHE IS BLACK!!!! There went my fawn household!

Tabitha is the Aunt to Ava, so that makes her Milani's great Aunt. She was born October 31, 2000 and finished her AKC Championship in 2002. Tabitha was never bred and as soon as she came to my house, I immediatly got her spayed. She is now a happy couch potato and enjoys Emma and Sebastian! This is another example of how wonderful pug rescue is and that adopting an 8 year old is no different than adopting a 2 year old...they are just more mellow and more trained!

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Ava and The Cities...

I am not one that enjoys breeding. I enjoy the puppies, training, and seeing them mature into adults. I don't like the actual science of breeding (another long post for the future). I am ok with the whelping, but the first 2 weeks is just terrible. Back in August of 2006, I bred Miss Ava to Noah and 62 days later got the most beautiful litter you have ever seen. Ava whelped 5 puppies, 3 boys and 2 girls. The boys were named: London, Bristol, and Dublin. The girls were named: Milan & Sydney.


Ava and The Cities @ 5 weeks old

Ava was a dream mother, she loved her babies and I never imagine I would have a litter as beautiful as this one. Ava was only bred once and due to some serious scar tissue and was spayed in August of 2008. Ava lives in an amazing retirement home as an only child. She gave me the greatest gift of a daughter and I am glad I could find a place that is pug paradise. Thank you Altman's for giving Ava everything she deserves. You are always on my mind, as is Ava.



Ava's favorite past time!


Now back to the Cities!


I decided to place Dublin & Bristol in pet homes. Although looking back now that they are going on 3 years old...I wish I would have kept Bristol, he was the best boy of the litter and has the personality that I ADORE. Dublin lives the "city" life in NYC and Bristol lives just out side of Boston with his pug brother Bosley and his Mommy, Doris. I am jealous of Bristol's life....he has it good!



My niece Elyssa with Bristol

I kept the remaining 3, Milan, London, and Sydney. Sydney is now co-owned by my good friend Lynda Hoffman (Leap Star Pugs) and she is in the company of her father Noah. I started showing London and Milan at 6 months old. London managed to get 7 reserves in a row. As time went by, London grew less and less fond of showing. In a house of multiple dogs and intact females, I had no intentions of ever breeding London, so I did what a respected breeder would do...he got the snippy snip! Through London's show career he had an admirer from afar. A kind woman by the name of Barbara would email from time to time to see how he was doing. About a year later in Nov. of 2007, I called Barbara and asked if she and David would like to be London's retirement home. I expressed my concerns of him living in a pack and I really did not think he had the temperament to travel from show to show and live with 12+ pugs (I think at the time I had like 15). They agreed and WHAT A FAMILY. London enjoys his day's riding around in a golf cart and helping his Dad David around the house.



Milan (back), Sydney (middle), London (front)

London & Milani with their father Noah!

Finally, my little Milani, known as "B'Dazzles Forever Amore". Milani is a tiny little bitch with personality GALORE!!! Milan is everything I wanted in a bitch. She is small, correct, fun, and what a pug was intended to be. Milani LOVES the show ring. When she was just about a year old I showed her in her first Speciality. She was on the table, the judge approached and Milani leaped into her arms and filled her full of kisses. The judge laughed and held her tight and said "I love this little girl", we did not win that day! LOL Milan will take a leave of absence in early 2009 to be a mommy and then will return in the fall to finish her Championship. I doubt she will be the mother that Ava was, but I am so thrilled to start my 2nd generation.

My little French girl Milani!

Audrey, Scarlett, & Ruben...

Ruben Chilling!


Ruben, Scarlett, Dre @ 9 weeks old



Dre & Scarlett



Three loves of my life. As a breeder we are seldom blessed with the opportunity to watch our kids grow, mature, and most of all remain in their lives. I will never forget the night....

June 21, 2005 my beloved Emma and I were cuddled up in bed and suddenly....it happen she went into labor. She was 3 days early so it caught me by surprise. Her labor was quick, I think maybe 3 hours from start to finish. She whelped 6 puppies, 3 boys and 3 girls. 2 were still, 1 died at 4 days old of a cleft and then there were the 3 musketeer's. Audrey "Dre" was the larger girl, and Ruben he was a TANK (his birth name was Avery) and then there was tiny little Scarlett. Scarlett was just 1.5oz, and very fragile.

The next several weeks were very exhausting to say the least. Dre ended up with sever pneumonia, and spent weeks on a nebulizer and Zithromax. The there was Scarlett who lost the use of her legs at 4-5 weeks old, and then Ruben was just perfect. At 8-9 weeks old I made the decision to keep both Dre and Scarlett due to medical issues. Ruben however left the nest around 11 weeks to join Kathy & Alesandro and to this day I could have never imagined a better home for this charmer and most of all the friendship and opportunity to care for Ruben on numerous occasions.

We spent several months with Scarlett and one of the best orthopedic specialists in Florida. It was determined that Scarlett had a very severe form of scoliosis and was not expected to live past a few months old. Because of the curve in her spine she has the use of one lung and her heart function will slowly be effected by the curvature. Scarlett is now approaching 4 years old and we could not imagine our life without her precious little face. She is a whopping 9.5lbs and my little "moto".

So you might be wondering what came of Dre. She is a hot mess! Dre grew up to be an amazing little pug. Topping out at just 15lbs, she proved to enjoy the show ring as much as her momma and daddy did (Emma x Noah). Dre earned 8 AKC points, before heading out to Texas to live with my dear friend Allie. Allie and Dre had a special connection since Dre was a wee baby, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to provide Allie with a naughty, she devil of a companion.

Thank you Allie, Kathy, & Alesandro for allowing me to be part of their lives and most of all being part of our family. It means the world to be able to see these kids enjoying life.

Belle is on her way....

When I started this blog I had intended it to be for more historical type information, but this little girls deserves a place in history.

Belle is a beautiful little girl that was thought to be hit by a car. She has no use of her rear legs and was turned over to rescue in October (not CFPR). In December 2008 she ended back at the vet hospital that first took her in. There a wonderful Vet tech took her under he wings and gave her a wonderful holiday season. In mid-Jan CFPR got an inquiry for Belle, and we followed up and found a home that I thought was too good to be true. Well turns out it was more than we could ever imagine. Over the course of a week with the help of some amazing people we were able raise enough money to send Belle to Spokane, Wa. where she will meet her forever family and cross the boarder to B.C. Canada. Our southern Belle leaves Saturday and we (CFPR) could not be more excited for her. Stay tuned for pictures and such.

I wish I could express my gratitude to every single person that had a part in saving Belle and send her to the cold north. I hope she knows how many angels she has.
XOXOXOXOXOXO

Pug Rescue...

I was blessed to grow up and know the companionship that a dog can bring into your life. I grew up with many dogs, some big, small, and in between. When I got involved with pugs in 2000, I discovered a whole new side of owning a pug and the importance of supporting the breed. I am sort of the "Jack of all trades" when it comes to pugs. I am a pet owner, I show, I train, I have done some breeding's (that is another topic for another day), I am on the board of a breed club, a rescue organizations, and a member to a national club, in addition I would like to call myself an advocate of this breed. I love pugs and everything they give back to you. They are amazing little creatures and it just breaks my heart to see what crappy breeders are doing to this breed, they are destroying it!

It wasn't until about 2003 that I started to see a trend of people giving up their pets, dumping them on the side of the road, in pet supply stores, and at the dog park that kind of caught my eye as well as the pug owners around me. There was a small Yahoo pug meet up group out of Orlando that starting picking up "stray" pugs (which to this day I find it hard to believe they can be strays) and taking in pugs that their owners could not keep and even secretly adopting pugs out of shelters, because after all we were not a rescue!

In 2006, in the eyes of the IRS, we officially became Central Florida Pug Rescue, Inc. a 501c3 organization. I don't even know to date how many pugs have come and gone but it is several hundred. All but a couple were rehabilitated, treated, and placed in loving homes. It has been a long road to educate people about buying new puppies at Christmas time (or for gifts in general), or swaying people to consider pug rescue instead of supporting that backyard breeder out of Polk county (polk county has the highest known number of puppymills & back yard breeders in Florida, we get DOZENS of them every year).

I get several calls/emails a year from people who want to buy a new puppy. Most of them have no idea what a reputable breeder is, how much time, effort, and money went into producing quality, correct, puppies. I always bring up pug rescue and the comment I get is..."we don't want an old sick dog", "we want a fawn female puppy" (RED FLAG...any idea why?).

Well lets get this out in the open.....not all pugs in rescue are sick or old!!! We get SEVERAL a year that are under a year old, healthy, and just need someone who will be patient with them. Did you know it can take as long as 2 years to potty train a pug?...TWO YEARS!!! Why not get a 3 year old that is already potty trained and save your carpet! Although I know some of you would like an excuse to get new floors, however this is not the right way to do it. Did you know that pugs can live VERY long lives? In fact it is not uncommon to see them reach 15, 16, 17 years old, I knew someone that threw a 21st birthday party for her pug!!! TWENTY-ONE!!!! So adopting an "older" pug....what is the big deal? Why does everyone want puppies? Is it the idea that they can start fresh? Believe me I have had my fair share of raising puppies from day one and I would take an 8 year old rescue any day (see Tabitha)!!!

When thinking about adding a pug to your family, just ask yourself WHY? Is it for companionship, loyalty, and laughing everyday? Why not rescue, they can do the same things, just in a mature fashion.


Here is a list of rescues in Florida and beyond!!!! PLEASE CONSIDER Pug Rescue!!!

Area I-4 Corridor from Lakeland to Daytona as well as Jacksonville
Central Florida Pug Rescue, Inc. (CFPR)

Area S. Florida
Compassionate Pug Rescue (CFP)

Area Tampa Bay
Pug Rescue of Florida (Proof)

Area Orlando
Orlando Pug Rescue (OPRA)

Area SE US, including Georgia & N. Florida
Southeast Pug Rescue (SEPRA)

Area Alabama and FL. Panhandle
Alabama Pug Rescue (APR)

If you would like me to add your rescue organization here, PLEASE post in the comments or drop me an email at bdazzpugs@yahoo.com

Emma...

My heart! I don't think I need to say anything else about her. She is my companion and my soul mate pug. We would be lost without each other. She is my best friend! Emma and I spent about 2 years in the ring, she also did some Rally and is obedience trained. She has a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and someday I would love to do some therapy work with her. Emma was born May 15, 2003 and is coming up on 6 years old. She is not only an amazing pug she is also a good friend to her human brother Sebastian. She is very protective over him, and is his second mother. Emma is also born to model. She helps me create, design, and sew clothing to raise money for homeless, abused, and sick pugs.

Noah...

BISS. Ch. Prelly's Ruff N' Tuff "Noah", is one of the most incredible show dogs I will ever have the pleasure of owning and showing. We spent nearly 2 wonderful years in the ring, earning his AKC Championship as well as specialing and obtaining several Best of Breed wins and a Best in Show Specialty over the #1 Pug in the Nation. Noah is not only a top showman, he has been just as wonderful producing kids that meet the standard and have shown to be excellent in the ring and most of all winning. He has a wonderful laid back temperament that is passed on from generation to generation. Noah is retired from the show ring and lives with my friend Lynda where he can lounge around and work on his tan!