Jeff & Amy, the humans behind Pickwick Pugs.

We have loved, owned, rescued, fostered, and trained pugs since shortly after marrying, exhibited in AKC conformation since 2015, and, in 2017, Pickwick Pugs was formed with the birth of our first bred-by-champion, CH Pickwick's Peachtree Hill Country Mighty Macintosh, TKN.

Our story with pugs begins back in 1990 when we purchased our first pug. Bela was brilliant and beautiful (on the inside). Soon we added George and eventually had a small grumble of companion pugs who became our family.

For the next couple of decades, we remained active in rescue and enjoyed our grumble as companions, also participating in fun events such as Rally Obedience, Tricks, and Canine Good Citizenship. In fact, our Sebastian, BGR, CGC, RN, RA, TKN, TKI is an AKC Achiever Dog.

In 2014, we purchased our first show quality pug from an AKC Breeder of Merit who encouraged us to show our beautiful pug in conformation and then later, after completing her championship, deciding we should breed her. Thus began a new chapter in our lives and the start of Pickwick Pugs. 

CH Peachtree's Kirkcudbright Kayleigh, RN, RI, TKN, CGC

Macintosh

Amy oversees the webpage and most of the training, but both take part in other aspects of Pickwick Pugs, including the 2-3 hour shifts with the neonates when we have a litter of puppies! 

Some of the pugs in our breeding program live in guardian homes and only visit on occasion. The others live with us in our home. All Pickwick puppies are of course raised in our home underfoot. In fact, the nursery is located in the guest bedroom next door to our bedroom, and the pugs' bedroom. 

Here are some puppies "helping" Amy cook Thanksgiving Dinner!

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We have a passion for the preservation of the pug breed through research, training, breeding, health testing, education, outreach, and participation in events such as conformation, obedience, scent work, canine freestyle, tricks, Canine Good Citizenship programs, and more.

Incidentally, you may not know that it is VERY expensive to breed pugs properly. Folks always seem surprised when we tell them we do not make money breeding. In fact, we have yet to break even. So, a 'day job' -- or several -- is required  to cover the expenses of vet bills, showing, travel, dues to Pug Dog Club of America, vet bills, stud fees, purchase of quality show prospect pugs (we have imported pugs from Spain, Scotland, and Serbia, and shipped semen from New York and Canada), health screening tests, attendance at workshops and seminars and the national specialty, food, treats, medicine, supplements, leads, training classes, show equipment, nursery equipment such as incubator, oxygenator, stethoscope, humidifier, books, research, c-sections, progesterone testing, x-rays, ultra sounds .... just to name a few of the expenses.

We apply the same degree of fastidiousness of research and study to our jobs as breed preservationists as we do to our primary jobs as internationally recognized musicians.

Jeff is a concert organist, graduate of the Eastman School of Music, with a DMA in organ performance, and has performed throughout the world as organist and/or choirmaster in venues such as St. Peter's Basilica, Carnegie Hall, St Mark's in Vienna, Austria and serves as Director of Music and Fine Arts at Independent Presbyterian Church and Music Director at Temple Emanue-El.

Amy is an award-winning concert pianist and composer, nationally certified piano teacher, adjudicator, composer, lecturer, and expert on injury prevention/rehabilitation and the Taubman Approach with Bachelor and Master degrees in Piano Performance and over 15 years post-graduate studies in New York City. She has taught in colleges and universities, fine arts schools, and privately.

Miss Dior (CH Pickwick's Child, That Hemline's Out of Sight, TKN) is "helping" Amy practice.

She performs virtually and in live concerts with several of their pugs to raise money for animal rescue and breed health research. More at Pugiano.com). The latest Pugiano Holiday special was aired live:

The Painting Pugcassos (Champion pugs as well as our fosters and rescues) sell their paw-painted masterpieces to raise money for animal rescue.

Even the puppies we breed help out in this endeavor as well! Here is Kasey from the Coffee House Litter. Her painting raised $45 for Heaven Can Wait Animal Rescue!

Our Journey from Pet Owners to Preservation Breeders of Champion Pugs:

After scouring a book on dog breeds just after we married, we chose the pug as it seemed like this breed would suit our lifestyles. Jeff thought it was funny that the book mentioned that pugs "have a tendency to be gaseous". (Actually, this is not true if you feed them quality food and the correct portion size.) Amy was drawn to the fact that pugs were supposed to get along well with children and people which was a definite plus for her piano studio which include many younger students. It has proven true!

After settling upon our "breed of choice", we searched the classified ads in the newspaper. (Of course this was before the internet or "puppyspot" etc.). We contacted a nearby breeder and traveled to meet them. As it turns out we interrupted their dinner but they wanted us to meet their grumble. Jeff and I had never heard so much snorting and odd noises before .... out of any creature lol. We both thought they sounded and acted like little tasmanian devils. The puppy we ended up getting, (of course the last one), was hiding behind the curtain of their trailer. Probably because she was brilliant and trying to hide from the chaos of pugs running everywhere. What a memory. But, this was our first experience with pugs.

Bela helping Amy do the dishes, 1990.

Bela was brilliant and beautiful (on the inside at least) but not what one would say an amazing representation of the breed standard. We didn't know any better at the time, though.  We named her Bela after the composer Bela Bartok, because she darted about in mixed-meter.

Bela was bred by what we've now learned were backyard breeders. They were not members of the Pug Dog Club of America. They did not do genetic health testing. They did not invest in the best pugs they could find but, rather, just used the neighbor's pug next door for the stud 

Back then, we "quality" was implied simply because the parents were "AKC registered",  Since then, we've learned that AKC registration simply means a person took the time to complete forms (whether honestly, or not, that is up to the breeder) and that AKC will even register pugs that are albino or brindle (NOT breed standard and not correct -- in fact, the exotic colors are ruining this ancient breed).

So, while AKC registration is important, (and why we register every single puppy we ever breed), it does not necessarily mean the pug is breed standard and health tested by reputable breeders. 

We absolutely LOVED Bela. Shortly thereafter we added our 2nd pet pug, George (again, found through a classified ad in the newspaper, alas). His breeder also bred emus (they were on one side of the fence and the pugs on the other). George was SO BIG and SO LONG that we always joked he was part emu. 

He was a pretty giant, though, and oh so sweet.

George developed degenerative myelopathy later in life which ultimately prevented him from being able to walk during the last year of his life. Here is George with Amy the day we had to put him down. From November until March we helped him potty outside, using a scarf to lift his back end. He literally could not use his back legs at all. He began having other extremely bad health issues beyond the hip problems, so we had to make the difficult decision to put him down, even though he was mentally still fine and alert and should have had more years to live if only his body had cooperated with his beautiful spirit and mind.

We later purchased a black pug (again, backyard breeder, because we still didn't know any better) named Louis. He suffered from seizures which started when he was very young and continued throughout his lifetime. We managed to keep him alive, though, for over 14 years with the help of some major drugs. He also ended up losing an eye because of a serious eye issue (not injury) and he suffered other age-related problems but we loved him so very much. A true soulmate, he was neutered and purely a pet.

Molly was our 2nd female pug we added after Bela died. Her breeder said "I breed my pugs for personality" and Molly did indeed have personality .... several personalities, in fact. On occasion, out-of-the-blue, Molly would scream for no reason. It was so loud that the neighbor 3 houses down the street once asked Jeff if he was abusing Amy. Um. Jeff replied, "No. It's our pug." Bless her heart, she had severe psychological challenges. The first time she seemed at rest (calm, peaceful), was when we had to put her down at the age of 9 because of bladder cancer and other problems.

We've also fostered and re-homed and adopted many rescue pugs over the years, like our Charlie. I think his lack of a strong conformation is quite obvious here, even to those who do not know the "breed standard".

Our last BYB pug was another rescue. When  Amy showed up and saw the parents and other pugs literally living in the backyard in sub-freezing temperature, she couldn't walk away and leave that one remaining puppy to live outside.

The most brilliant pug we have ever owned or known, Sebastian eventually became an AKC Achiever Dog, which means he won enough titles in different sports to earn this special title. When we registered Sebastian with AKC we added his nickname. Knowing they probably wouldn't allow the name "Booger", we named him "Sebastian, BGR". Throughout his lifetime we added a lot more suffixes -- TKN, CGC, RN, RA, RI, TKA and he has even done Canine Freestyle and Scent Work. But it's funny when the hard core obedience folks ask what "BGR" stands for, as they want to earn that title, too. We say, sorry, BGR is s special title that only Sebastian will ever earn. ;) Here is Sebastian at a rally obedience training class:

At trials (competitions) he would regularly win 1st place with perfect scores, beating out Border Collies, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and Labradors:

Throughout all of these years of owning pugs we had subscribed to the magazine Pug Talk. We would often remark on the fact that the pugs in many of the photos (proven champions etc.) didn't look like our pugs. Ha. Gradually, we were learning about the difference between a pug bred by a preservation breeder vs a backyard breeder.

Once, while on vacation at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, we had a chance encounter with the top pugs and breeders in the country. The Pug Dog Club of America was holding its National Specialty at the hotel. We had never seen so many gorgeous pugs. Pugs were everywhere! We saw our first glimpse of what pugs should look and act like. Proper pugs we called them then. Now we know the term is "breed standard pugs". Gradually we learned about the difference between "pet quality" and "show quality" and we learned about preservation breeders who strove to only breed pugs who met the pug breed standard. For example, in the photo below, you see a champion pug on the left (our KK) and a rescue pug on the right (a rescue we fostered a few years back).

Do you notice how the rescue pug's ears are too long and set too low? Do you notice how the rescue pug's legs aren't as nice and straight and strong? His "conformation" is simply not as solid and healthy.

"Breed standard" doesn't just mean pretty; it also means healthy. Healthy, strong joints with correct angles, level topline, nice tail set, strong hips and pasterns etc., will age better. A pug with a strong conformation (well built, meeting the breed standard) will enjoy ease of mobility for a longer time and have a greater chance of avoiding injuries and future health issues.

Having finally learned our lesson, we purchased our first breed standard, show quality pug, KK, in 2014. Here breeder was a Breeder of Merit with AKC and had bred many AKC champions. Here is KK as a puppy:

Honestly, when we got KK, we were not looking for a "show dog"". We just wanted a show quality pug but primarily just wanted to do couch sitting, Rally Obedience, and to find a beautiful companion to keep Sebastian company.

The breeder encouraged us to show KK in conformation for fun ... but always adding "but only if you like it". It was fun to add another activity to participate in and we honestly learned SO much about pugs, caring for pugs, concerns regarding pugs etc. through our participation in the conformation dog shows. We met the top pug breeders and they shared their knowledge with us ringside. Through the judges we learned about the strengths and weaknesses of our own pugs (yes, alas, no dog is perfect). 

Gradually we learned the subtleties of the Pug Breed Standard, and why our previous pugs did not look like the pugs in the "Pug Talk Magazine". We finished KK's championship and then went onto to get her CGC, tricks, and rally titles as originally planned.

KK's breeder, who was retiring from breeding herself, later guided us into the world of breeding, and thus began a new chapter in our lives and the creation of Pickwick Pugs. Here is KK with her win photo when she finished her championship, thanks to a fellow breeder friend who helped us with that last major win.

We traveled to meet KK's breeder to sign a new "show" contract and we discussed plans for breeding her and possible sires. We eventually decided upon Hill Country pugs and chose "Trouble" who was very similar to KK in type. We were advised to do a c-section because of a long stall. There were 6 gorgeous puppies but unfortunately only one survived (the one who was tuck in the birth canal, Macintosh) as the vet had been delayed with another client and KK had been under anesthesia for 45 minutes before the procedure was even started. 

But, we came home with one gorgeous singleton --first bred puppy, CH Pickwick's Peachtree Hill Country Mighty Macintosh, TKN. He easily finished his championship (out of the puppy class). He was gorgeous from the start.

Here he is winning Best of Breed, finishing out of the puppy class.

Here he is earning his AKC tricks title at the Pug Dog Club of America's national specialty . . .

Here is KK with her son Macintosh and a piano student.

The show contract required that KK's breeder receive one puppy back (first pick of the litter), but only if there were 2 or more living puppies. So, we were able to keep Macintosh. KK's breeder gave us the option of 2 sires for her second breeding and we chose the beautiful GCH Mianda's Prince Charming at Vanity. She had 3 beautiful puppies. (We had switched vets by now and the anesthesia procedure was perfectly conducted for the c-section).

Since KK's breeder was retired now and not able to find a show home for the puppy back, we asked if we could purchase the puppy she would have gotten. She eventually agreed and, a few more thousand dollars later, we had the official start really of Pickwick Pugs with our "Thrill Litter". Princess Buttercup, Lilly, and Miss Dior -- all gorgeous, but completely different in looks (and temperament).

All total, since KK, we have finished 10 AKC champions and now qualify as AKC Breeders of Merit, having completed 7 bred-by champions. We have titled many others.

We have traveled far to find and use the best possible studs in our breeding program -- New York, Texas, New Hampshire, Canada, Michigan, and even Scotland, Spain, and Serbia. 

Here were our wins from a recent show, including Best of Breed and other wonderful awards . . .

We have also bred agility superstars, certified therapy pugs and, at one point, 2 Pickwick Pugs were in the top ratings of the fastest pugs in the country with "FastCat"!

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Piper, (Diamond litter), a certified therapy dog in Florida, helping children in the library.

Perhaps it's because of our experiences with so many health issues with our early BYB pugs that we now so strongly believe in the importance of genetic health testing and health screening.

Because of our experience with Molly and a few other pretty emotionally challenged fosters and rescues, (think type A++++++), we also invest a considerable amount of $ in temperament testing as well as puppy temperament evaluations. Temperament is very important to us in our breeding program and why we have hired a professional (a highly certified trainer and animal behaviorist who also breeds Golden Retrievers to be service dogs) to provide guidance in choosing the most balance pups to keep for our program.

​Here is the Poldark Litter of puppies at her facility as she also educates some of her trainers-in-training (outtakes at end of the video):

Socialization of each puppy we breed is extremely important to us. From early puppy protocols to textures, meeting all sorts of types of people, outings to stores, churches, piano studio, our offices, restaurants, fire station, the 6 week puppy party, trips in car, trips to a goat farm or chicken farm, to the ocean, streams, the woods, and more, we work very hard to give each puppy the best start at life possible.

Here's Westley, the singleton, (Emerald Litter), helping Amy clean house . . .

We strongly believe in the importance of early training and socialization which is why every puppy we breed receives daily training and graduates from what we call "Star Puppy Academy", even mastering enough skills to earn an AKC (American Kennel Club) official title of TKN (Novice Trick Dog). To graduate, each puppy has to demonstrate important skills like "leave it", "sit", "hand touch" and so forth. They work on crate training, loose leash walking, house training (and they are even litterbox trained as well), as well as fun tricks like spin, bow, shake, jump through hoop.

The training room is in our home and complete with an exercise wheel, teeter totter, hoops, tunnels, agility weave poles, toy pianos, electric cars, fit paws training equipment, and more. Here is Eliza and Emma (Jane Austen Litter) having fun with the exercise wheel.

Here are some of the puppy graduations.

We are thankful to other experienced breeders, (some who have bred pugs since the 1980s), The Pug Dog Club of America, and other experts who continue to share their knowledge with us. Beth Ballard, a neonatal expert and author of "From the Whelping Box" column in Pug Talk Magazine for many years, has been an invaluable guide for us and we are so very grateful to her many 3 AM chats and all of her help over the years.

We are also extremely grateful to all of the amazing Pickwick Pug owners out there who are giving the pugs we have bred amazing, enriched, happy lives. We are indebted to our Pickwick Family for allowing us to continue our goals to preserve the incredible, ancient pug breed. Students of "Pug" for life, Jeff and Amy will continue to support research, attend workshops, in an effort to discover ways to help the Pug breed thrive and survive throughout and beyond the 21st century.

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!