Health Testing
A commitment to informed, responsible breeding
Once you’ve lived with a pug, it’s easy to understand why this remarkable breed has been cherished for centuries. At Pickwick Pugs, our goal is to help ensure that the pug continues to thrive—through thoughtful, responsible breeding grounded in health, science, and integrity.
💛 Our Approach
We believe strongly in the importance of comprehensive health testing and utilize every available tool when selecting dogs for our breeding program.
Every dog—regardless of titles or accomplishments—must meet our strict health standards. If a dog does not satisfactorily pass required testing, they are never included in our breeding program.
Health is never compromised.
Health Testing We Perform
We complete all testing recommended by the Pug Dog Club of America, along with additional evaluations to support long-term health and soundness.
These include:
Our Standards
Testing is only meaningful if it guides decisions.
We do not breed:
Understanding the Bigger Picture
Health testing is an essential part of responsible breeding—but it is not a guarantee of perfect health for life.
Like all breeds, pugs can be predisposed to certain conditions. Our goal is to reduce risk wherever possible through careful selection, education, and ongoing research.
We encourage prospective owners to learn about the breed and to partner with veterinarians who are familiar with pugs, so they feel confident and prepared throughout their dog’s life.
Continued Learning & Responsibility
We are committed to ongoing education and accountability in our breeding program. This includes:
Our Philosophy
Health, temperament, and quality of life are at the heart of everything we do.
We do not breed for numbers—we breed with intention, always looking toward the future of the breed and the well-being of the families who welcome our puppies home.
🔗 Learn More
For additional information about health guarantees and puppy care, please visit our Health Guarantee page.
A commitment to informed, responsible breeding
Once you’ve lived with a pug, it’s easy to understand why this remarkable breed has been cherished for centuries. At Pickwick Pugs, our goal is to help ensure that the pug continues to thrive—through thoughtful, responsible breeding grounded in health, science, and integrity.
💛 Our Approach
We believe strongly in the importance of comprehensive health testing and utilize every available tool when selecting dogs for our breeding program.
Every dog—regardless of titles or accomplishments—must meet our strict health standards. If a dog does not satisfactorily pass required testing, they are never included in our breeding program.
Health is never compromised.
Health Testing We Perform
We complete all testing recommended by the Pug Dog Club of America, along with additional evaluations to support long-term health and soundness.
These include:
- PDE (Pug Dog Encephalitis) – DNA screening
- Eye Examination – performed by a board-certified ophthalmologist
- Patellar Evaluation (Luxating Patella) – OFA
- Hip Evaluation – OFA (completed after 2 years of age)
- Elbow Evaluation – OFA
- Spine Evaluation – including screening for hemivertebrae and tracheal concerns
- Cardiac Evaluation – with a veterinary cardiologist
- PKDef (Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency) – DNA testing
- BOAS / Respiratory Evaluation – when available
Our Standards
Testing is only meaningful if it guides decisions.
We do not breed:
- dogs with unsatisfactory hip scores
- dogs with luxating patellas
- dogs with structural spinal concerns
- dogs with compromised breathing
- dogs who do not meet our temperament standards
Understanding the Bigger Picture
Health testing is an essential part of responsible breeding—but it is not a guarantee of perfect health for life.
Like all breeds, pugs can be predisposed to certain conditions. Our goal is to reduce risk wherever possible through careful selection, education, and ongoing research.
We encourage prospective owners to learn about the breed and to partner with veterinarians who are familiar with pugs, so they feel confident and prepared throughout their dog’s life.
Continued Learning & Responsibility
We are committed to ongoing education and accountability in our breeding program. This includes:
- Continuing breeder education through AKC and related programs
- Participation in health research and studies
- Compliance with AKC care standards and inspections
- A long-term commitment to the well-being of every dog we produce
Our Philosophy
Health, temperament, and quality of life are at the heart of everything we do.
We do not breed for numbers—we breed with intention, always looking toward the future of the breed and the well-being of the families who welcome our puppies home.
🔗 Learn More
For additional information about health guarantees and puppy care, please visit our Health Guarantee page.
We strive to produce pugs who are beautiful inside and out.
We believe that overall health, sound temperament, and sociability are just as important as outward looks when meeting breed standard.
We believe that overall health, sound temperament, and sociability are just as important as outward looks when meeting breed standard.
Some tips in understanding scores:
EYES (CERF): Pugs are prone to eye problems so we screen annually with a Veterinary Opthalmologist who looks for problems such as Dry Eye (Keratoconjuncivitis Sicca or KCS, Pigmentary Keratopathy or PK, Dystichia which is involves eyelashes that grow towards the eye, Entropion which involves eye lids that roll inwards towards the eye and Proptosis which is a buldging of the eyes.
Luxating Patellas - Kneecap that moves too much or is out of place
Pug Dog Encephalitis (PDE) - Inflammatory brain disease
Hip Dysplasia - Issues with the Hip Joint
HIPS: Many breeds of dogs are prone to hip dysplasia but, whereas larger breeds suffer to the point of needing major surgery, pugs and bulldogs are typically able to live normal lives even with mild dysplasia. They are built differently yet, still graded on the same scale as larger breeds, therefore it is quite rare to find a pug with a score of "good". Usually pugs are scored "mild" or "fair" or "borderline" which is considered normal for a pug. While many breeders will include a pug with a very low score in their breeding program, we prefer to have a score of "moderate" or below as our cut off. The Hip X-ray is not available until the pug is 2 years of age or older which can be frustrating when it becomes necessary to spay or neuter a grand champion pug who is amazing in all ways yet, the hips were severely dysplastic. Interestingly, it is not possible to observe this with the naked eye (until, sometimes, the pug is advanced in age) and only an x-ray will show if a pug suffers from severe hip dysplasia.
LUXATING PATELLA: "Normal" means no evidence of luxating patellar.
PDE (Pug Dog Encephalitis): PDE is an inflammatory fatal brain disease. N/N or N/S are acceptable scores. S/S is risky and should not be bred. However, it is important that breeders do not breed out the S gene. (Breeders have mentioned that they have had pugs with S/S die from PDE but also with N/N, but never N/S.) PDE testing should never be skipped by any pug breeder.
PKDef : N/N is a good score. Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is a rare, inherited enzyme defect that causes red blood cells (RBCs) to break down faster than they are made, which leads to lifelong hemolytic anemia.
In addition to the recommended tests above, we at Pickwick Pugs have also included:
Cardiac evaluations
Spinal X-ray to make sure there is no congenital vertebral anomalies, wedge vertebrae (hemivertebrae). An information resource for prospective pet owners
Tracheal Hypoplasia Evaluation
Temperament Evaluations
Here are some of our test results (see pugs' individual webpages as well) . . . . .
EYES (CERF): Pugs are prone to eye problems so we screen annually with a Veterinary Opthalmologist who looks for problems such as Dry Eye (Keratoconjuncivitis Sicca or KCS, Pigmentary Keratopathy or PK, Dystichia which is involves eyelashes that grow towards the eye, Entropion which involves eye lids that roll inwards towards the eye and Proptosis which is a buldging of the eyes.
Luxating Patellas - Kneecap that moves too much or is out of place
Pug Dog Encephalitis (PDE) - Inflammatory brain disease
Hip Dysplasia - Issues with the Hip Joint
HIPS: Many breeds of dogs are prone to hip dysplasia but, whereas larger breeds suffer to the point of needing major surgery, pugs and bulldogs are typically able to live normal lives even with mild dysplasia. They are built differently yet, still graded on the same scale as larger breeds, therefore it is quite rare to find a pug with a score of "good". Usually pugs are scored "mild" or "fair" or "borderline" which is considered normal for a pug. While many breeders will include a pug with a very low score in their breeding program, we prefer to have a score of "moderate" or below as our cut off. The Hip X-ray is not available until the pug is 2 years of age or older which can be frustrating when it becomes necessary to spay or neuter a grand champion pug who is amazing in all ways yet, the hips were severely dysplastic. Interestingly, it is not possible to observe this with the naked eye (until, sometimes, the pug is advanced in age) and only an x-ray will show if a pug suffers from severe hip dysplasia.
LUXATING PATELLA: "Normal" means no evidence of luxating patellar.
PDE (Pug Dog Encephalitis): PDE is an inflammatory fatal brain disease. N/N or N/S are acceptable scores. S/S is risky and should not be bred. However, it is important that breeders do not breed out the S gene. (Breeders have mentioned that they have had pugs with S/S die from PDE but also with N/N, but never N/S.) PDE testing should never be skipped by any pug breeder.
- Dogs with N/N haplotype have no copies of the NME-associated risk variants and are at low risk of developing necrotizing meningoencephalitis. They cannot transmit these NME risk variants to their offspring.
- Dogs with N/S haplotype have one copy of the NME-associated risk variants and are at low risk of developing necrotizing meningoencephalitis. They may transmit these NME risk variants to 50% of their offspring.
- Dogs with S/S haplotype have two copies of the NME-associated risk variants and are 12.75 times more likely to develop necrotizing meningoencephalitis in their lifetimes. They will transmit these NME risk variants to all of their offspring.
PKDef : N/N is a good score. Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is a rare, inherited enzyme defect that causes red blood cells (RBCs) to break down faster than they are made, which leads to lifelong hemolytic anemia.
- Dogs with N/N genotype will not have pyruvate kinase deficiency and cannot transmit this variant to their offspring.
- Dogs with N/K genotype are not expected to show signs of pyruvate kinase deficiency but have half the normal level of pyruvate kinase activity, and are carriers. They may transmit this variant to 50% of their offspring. Matings between two carriers are predicted to produce 25% pyruvate kinase deficiency-affected puppies.
- Dogs with K/K genotype will have pyruvate kinase deficiency.
In addition to the recommended tests above, we at Pickwick Pugs have also included:
Cardiac evaluations
Spinal X-ray to make sure there is no congenital vertebral anomalies, wedge vertebrae (hemivertebrae). An information resource for prospective pet owners
Tracheal Hypoplasia Evaluation
Temperament Evaluations
Here are some of our test results (see pugs' individual webpages as well) . . . . .
