Dedicated to the pug breed since 1990, we are a small (2 people) hobby/show kennel located outside of Birmingham, Alabama USA. We love, train, rescue, show, and breed pugs. We have a passion for pugs and we are proud supporters and champions of this incredible, ancient breed!
Dr. Jeffrey and Amy McLelland, Owners Pickwick Pugs
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We purposefully chose this breed when we first married after scouring through a dog breed book. We were drawn to the description of the pug with its minimal grooming and exercise needs and with their comical and loving dispositions. We definitely made the right decision because, 3 decades and several "grumbles" later, we have savored every minute of our lives with these adorable, intelligent little clowns!
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Our latest show puppy and now AKC champion, CH Wright's Triumphant Tiger Eye at Pickwick (Parker)
Our first bred by champion, CH Pickwick's Peachtree Hill Country Mighty Macintosh, TKN
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Our beautiful foundation bitch, CH Peachtree's Kirkcudbright Kayleigh, CGC, RN, RI
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One of our rescue pugs, Charlie Chaplin (not part of the breeding program!)
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Amy with Biggie pug and some of his pack before he left Texas and went onto win more "Best in Shows" than any pug in history.
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Pickwick puppies are raised using Puppy Culture protocols and positive training techniques. They are extensively trained and socialized. They are microchipped, AKC registered, vaccinated (1st two sets by 12 weeks of age), vet checked on numerous occasions, socialized, and trained thoroughly, with enough skills to even obtain an AKC tricks title! Pickwick puppies go to their new homes at 12-24 weeks of age after extensive training in important life skills such as watch me/attention, leave it, drop it, sit, down, stay, wait, come, touch, house-training, loose leash walking, and fun tricks like spin, bow, crawl, shake, hi-5, get on, get in, play the piano, and even paint. In fact, inside the puppy basket that accompanies each puppy to his or her new home is a paw-painted original masterpiece, painted entirely by the puppy!
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As preservationist breeders, we are honored and humbled to be guardians of one of the oldest breeds today, first known as lo-sze in the time of Confucius in 700 BC. Our breeding program is designed to produce healthy and sound (in structure as well as temperament) Pugs through a selective breeding program. We believe that overall health, sound temperament, and sociability are just as important as outward looks when meeting the current Breed Standard. When you look through our pugs' pedigrees you will find a sea of AKC champions and also recognize some of the most important names of pugs (like "Biggie", "Rumble", "Lennox") and pug breeders such as Hill Country, Tangetoppen, Diabolbric and other kennels you see regularly winning Westminster, Crufts, and other World Dog Shows in Europe.
We are members of The Pug Dog Club of America, Birmingham Obedience Training Club, Good Dog Good Breeder, AKC Bred with Heart program, and other professional organizations. Pickwick Pugs is committed to improving the health and well-being of purebred pugs and strive to produce pugs who are beautiful inside and out. Through continuing education, workshop and seminar attendance, participation in AKC dog shows, and mentorship with many of the best pug breeders and canine experts alive today, we strive to stay abreast of the latest developments and research in health, testing, training, diet, conformation, and all things pugs.
Because our pugs live with us in our home, we are able to truly examine each dog's temperament. Their participation in performance sports such as rally obedience, canine freestyle, tricks, and scent work, allow us to observe each dog's learning curve and intelligence quotient. Pickwick pugs are intelligent as well as jolly and loving.
Christmas stockings!
The pups from the Christmas Star Litter helped us bake the dog treats for their Puppy Party . . .
Temperament Evaluations: At approximately 7.5 weeks of age, we hire a professional animal behaviorist/trainer to complete a temperament evaluation on each puppy. This helps us not only match each pup with just the right home, but it also helps us know what elements to concentrate on during their upcoming training sessions before going to their new homes, and which puppies meet "breed standard" most perfectly and remain in our breeding program.
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Here are some of our award winners and champions....
Macintosh who, like his half sister Miss Dior, finished his Championship at 8 months of age with just a couple of shows.
 Miss Dior at a dog park in Nashville, TN
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We socialize our puppies:
From teaching puppies about resource guarding to learning how to handle different challenges and sound protocols, to visits and outings once they are strong enough, to puppy classes and parties, we thoroughly socialize each puppy as we know first-hand, through our work with rescue, the ramifications of a puppy not having received this during their critical socialization period.
Through special puppy parties, outings to hardware stores, restaurants, banks, churches, stores, and all sorts of novel environments, meeting, and being handled and trained by all sorts of people from children, to women with walkers or men with beards and hats, our puppies have truly been socialized following scientifically based protocols taught by such important animal behaviorists and veterinarians as Ian Dunbar, (often called "the grandfather of positive dog training") and Jane Killion's Puppy Culture, Click here to read more about the importance of socialization during the first critical 12 weeks of a puppy's life.
Here are scenes from a recent puppy party for the Christmas Star and New Year's Eve Litters 2021:
From teaching puppies about resource guarding to learning how to handle different challenges and sound protocols, to visits and outings once they are strong enough, to puppy classes and parties, we thoroughly socialize each puppy as we know first-hand, through our work with rescue, the ramifications of a puppy not having received this during their critical socialization period.
Through special puppy parties, outings to hardware stores, restaurants, banks, churches, stores, and all sorts of novel environments, meeting, and being handled and trained by all sorts of people from children, to women with walkers or men with beards and hats, our puppies have truly been socialized following scientifically based protocols taught by such important animal behaviorists and veterinarians as Ian Dunbar, (often called "the grandfather of positive dog training") and Jane Killion's Puppy Culture, Click here to read more about the importance of socialization during the first critical 12 weeks of a puppy's life.
Here are scenes from a recent puppy party for the Christmas Star and New Year's Eve Litters 2021:
Fun at restaurants!
AKC Registration: We register every puppy we breed and own through the American Kennel Club. Pickwick Pugs pays for all registrations. Companion puppies are registered with limited registration and owners receive the paperwork upon completion of spay/neuter (no sooner than 6 months but we recommend waiting until 1 or even 2 years of age). Registration #'s are available prior to spay/neuter affording opportunities to participate in AKC events such as Scent Work, Rally Obedience, Agility, and receive titles in Canine Good Citizenship, Trick Dog etc. but the official registration certificate is not mailed until completion of spay/neuter.
Vet Checked: Pickwick puppies have visited our amazing vets on numerous occasions, for check-ups, dew claw removal, 1st 2 sets of vaccinations, worming, microchip, and final wellness checkup. The entire puppy is examined closely by our amazing vets, from heart, lungs, eyes, ears, to overall structure, hips, spine, patellar and also very often DNA tests for PDE and other health screening.
Microchip: At the puppy's 2nd visit to the vet, every Pickwick puppy receives an AKC Reunite identification microchip, paid for by Pickwick Pugs.
Microchip: At the puppy's 2nd visit to the vet, every Pickwick puppy receives an AKC Reunite identification microchip, paid for by Pickwick Pugs.
Nature + Nurture:
Emotional resilience/inquisitive puppies. The Puppy Culture protocols we implement with EVERY Pickwick puppy provide the right environment that interacts with genetics to create a stable, inquisitive puppy who learns well, is resilient after surprised or when faced with novelty, and is affectionate to both people and dogs. From as early as the first weeks of the puppy's life, we work on things like Early Neurological Stimulation exercises and, throughout the following weeks, things like resource guarding, and games that teach the pup how to think and learn.
We actually begin our training protocols early, while the puppy is still in the womb. Within days after their 1st breaths, we begin ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) exercises and we work with each puppy daily, assisting the mother by overseeing and helping with each feeding and elimination every 90-120 minutes. The first 3 weeks involve the humans catching a few minutes of sleep when they can, because they are up with the mother pug for every feeding. Raising pug puppies can often be like raising an orphan pup or bird. It is all consuming and nothing like, say, a Labrador, Poodle, or Golden Retriever.
You can read more about the Puppy Culture protocols to understand what it is involved, but here are a few behind-the-scenes glimpses from our LeMaitre Litter with 6 puppies out of our KK (CH Peachtree's Kirkcudbright Kayleigh, CGC, RI, TKN) and Bazinga (CH Hill Country's Big Bang Theory):
You can read more about the Puppy Culture protocols to understand what it is involved, but here are a few behind-the-scenes glimpses from our LeMaitre Litter with 6 puppies out of our KK (CH Peachtree's Kirkcudbright Kayleigh, CGC, RI, TKN) and Bazinga (CH Hill Country's Big Bang Theory):
All of our pugs -- from the show pugs in our breeding program to foster and rescue pugs -- train in fun activities such as rally obedience, tricks, and canine freestyle to keep their minds active and alert. Here is our 1st champion and foundation bitch, KK nailing a perfect score at rally obedience.
Our pugs also LOVE scent work:
Our Sebastian is not a show pug, nor in our breeding program, but he was awarded an "Achiever Dog" title by AKC because of his titles and amazing scores in Rally Obedience, often beating out Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, and German Shepherds!
All of our pugs love learning tricks, and several perform with Amy in a special act involving multiple pianos (including Amy's 'real' piano). Hire us for your next special event! It's quite entertaining and includes literature such as Chopin's Winter Wind Etude, Mozart's Twinkle Variations, Flight of the Bumblebee, Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and even some original compositions. Our Holiday Concert includes favorites like Carol of the Bells, Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, and Go Tell it On the Mountain.
Book us early .... Next availability is Summer 2023! We also hold several virtual fundraisers for animal rescue each year on stageit.com. |
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We supervise all nursing sessions to make sure no puppy is accidentally smothered or stepped on by the pug mama.... even when this means waking up every 90 minutes throughout the night (and day) for the first 3 weeks or so of each puppy's life.
The puppies also visit the vet for "dew claw removal". We avoid ENS around this time or any other times a pup is under stress.
Day 9, stimulating the GR (glucocorticoid receptor) gene. At birth, the gene is "dormant". Licking by the mother (or supplementing with a soft brush during the neonatal period) stimulates the gene to demethylate, making it more active, and allowing pup to grow up to be more relaxed in response to stress.
Each puppy is weighed at approximately the same time each day and look for the puppies to double in weight by Day 10 (200% of birth weight). Here is the Lemaitre Litter's 10 day weigh-in.
Macintosh, 15 days old, learning to walk:
Day 28. With eyes and ears open the pups enjoy listening to music and "watching" their dvd player. Time to move from the whelping box to the larger pen!
5 weeks old. Toys, toys, toys!
Training, training, and more training! It all begins with attention and loading the clicker. As soon as the puppies can "eat" gruel, we begin individual training sessions.
Every day, the puppies are introduced to a new item, experience, scent, sound, toy as they explore their environment and become braver and stronger.
Grooming: Pickwick Puppies are used to being groomed as we clip and later dremel their toenails regularly and, once they are old enough, bathe, blow-dry, clean nose fold and ears. We even tape their ears when necessary, whether or not they will be going to show homes, to "train" them to hang properly to frame the face as we know that even pet homes will want the most beautiful pug possible!
Show pugs have to look pretty, too, and need lots of baths and grooming! Here are some great ways we've found to dremel toenails. These swings actually work great, and we've found that, along with a diamond bit dremel, the pugs don't mind the process as much. (If you've ever owned pugs, you know how they don't usually like their feet messed with!) Highly recommend!
Diet: Pickwick puppies have been fed the highest grade food available including Ross Wells Raw Rations, organic Raw Goat Milk, Green Beef Tripe, other raw selections from PetCarnivore.com, Life's Abundance supplements vitamins and other fish oil supplements, Farmina N&D Ancestral Grains, Primal Raw Nuggets (freeze-dried, and frozen), probiotic Yogurt, Calcium, Colostrum, organic Pumpkin, Lamb, chicken paws, and lamb and beef treats for training.
Training sessions become more involved as the puppy's brain develops so, by weeks 9 or 10 they are already working on things like sit, down, stand, leave it, wait, bow, drop, shake, spin, touch, and even fun things like play the piano, jump through a hoola hoop, or crawl through a small tunnel.
Puppy Basket: Pickwick Pugs provides a puppy welcome package filled with all sorts of treats, toys, blankets, food, books. supplies and, of course, the puppy's painting for you to proudly display at home.
Paw-Painted Masterpiece: Tucked inside your basket will be a very special gift ... a paw-painted original painting by your own pup. Yes, one of the final tricks we teach each puppy is to paint! Using non-toxic acrylic paint, each pup enjoys a painting session as he or she creates a truly unique, paw-painted original masterpiece which they will bring with them to their new forever home. Additionally, they create another painting which will be used to sell for animal rescue. Yep, Pickwick puppies start supporting rescue at only 10-11 weeks of age!
We believe pugs can do more than just sit on a couch, (although they do, and should, excel at this :) and we love for our own pugs to get the most out of life as possible. Working for an active lifestyle for our own canine family, this philosophy influences our emphasis on health testing and scrupulous selection process for our pugs in our breeding program. We strive to breed strong, healthy pugs for future generations to come … pugs who can hike, breath easily, take jolly walks and jaunts, dance, and savor life to the fullest!
Pugs can lead active lifestyles!
(as long as you avoid extreme hot or cold weather .... and bring along appropriate cooling jackets, fans, water etc. which you should do with any breed of dog)
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Sebastian and Jerry hiking 24 waterfall trail at Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania.
Rescue
The Painting Pugcassos
All Pickwick Pugs ... from the show pugs, to the rescues and even the puppies ... help to raise money for animal rescue with the sale of their paintings! Checkout some of their latest paw-painted masterpieces. All proceeds from the sale of their paintings are donated to animal rescue. From handmade soaps (all organic, natural ingredients) to canvas paintings, to tissue boxes, and tote bags, you'll be sure to find something you like at their shop!
Here are some "behind the scenes" shots of the talented Painting Pugcassos hard at work, along with some of their paintings and creations.
If you would like to become a part of the Pickwick Pugs family please contact us or, if you are interested in being considered as a future Pickwick pug owner, please complete the inquiry form so that we can get to know you better! We look forward to hearing from you!
If you would like to become a part of the Pickwick Pugs family please contact us or, if you are interested in being considered as a future Pickwick pug owner, please complete the inquiry form so that we can get to know you better! We look forward to hearing from you!