When most people think Pugs, they generally think of their small size and lapdog qualities. Which makes them such appealing pets for canine owners with limited indoor and outdoor space. After centuries of breeding intended to refine the qualities that make them such great lap dogs. Pugs have become a canine companion’s popular choice. The American Kennel Club ranks the breed’s popularity a 28 out of 197.
Despite being known for their lapdog qualities. You may find that your Pug puppy is much more hyper than you expected them to be. Rest assured, this excessive amount of energy is part of your puppy’s mental and physical development and is completely normal.
Why Are Pug Puppies So Hyper?
A young puppy sees the world for the first time. Like a toddler, they explore the world differently and go through a slew of mental and physical developmental changes in the first year. These changes cause over hyperactivity issues that many pet parents are not ready for.
Are Pug Puppies Naturally Hyper?
Puppies, in general, have a high level of energy. For many, a Pug puppy’s hyper behavior can be both overwhelming and exhausting. Especially if you selected this breed thinking they would be the perfect lap dog right out the starting gate. But like human children, they seem to have an endless supply of energy for such a small package.
There is a Latin phrase “multum in parvo” used to describe their breed. It means “a lot in a little” and sums up the Pug breed quite nicely.
In their early stages of life, you’ll get a whole lot of that puppy energy. It will eventually taper off as they enter canine adulthood.
To better understand why they are so hyper as puppies, let’s look at their developmental milestones.
What Stage of Mental and Physical Development is Your Pug Puppy In?
When people say a dog is a big responsibility or that it is like taking care of a child, they are not wrong. Like a human child, a dog’s experience as a puppy forms their social and cognitive abilities, with certain mental and physical developments occurring simultaneously.
Typically, you will see an increase in your Pug puppy’s energy levels between four to twelve months of age.
At around four months (now that your puppy has developed physically to be able to walk around), your Pug puppy will become much more curious about the things around them and feel more confident to venture off, inspect, and play as they become excited with their new discoveries.
As they continue to mature over the rest of that first year, their need for mental and physical stimulation increases.
In fact, puppies of all breeds at this stage of their life will have very little tolerance for inactivity. Their minds are hungry to learn. As a result, your Pug puppy may seem extremely energetic and demanding of your time, during these months.
Your puppy is also going through a slew of other developmental. These changes may also increase how often they want to play. During these months, they will go through:
- Teething– Around this time, you may notice that your Pug puppy seems to play more with their chew toys, chew on things they shouldn’t, and demand more attention from you as a way to seek comfort. Read this article to find out when Pugs stop teething.
- Sexual maturity: At around six months, your puppy will begin going through physiological changes that may demand any pent-up energy be redirected and released through play.
Your puppy will be in what is known as the second fear impact period between six to fourteen months of age. It is crucial to keep in mind that as your puppy goes through these changes, you meet the increased demand they place on you with positivity and balance.
How Do You Handle a Hyper Pug Puppy?
For your puppy, playing stimulates the senses and helps them discover the world around them. As they go through these changes, they will need to be mentally and physically stimulated to help prevent them from forming any destructive behaviors as they act out and to create good social and behavioral traits.
The best way to deal with a hyper puppy is to first understand the breed’s exercise requirements and developmental milestones. Which, if you got this far, you should now be better informed of.
Knowing what you are in for is the best preparation for the both of you, making this stage more enjoyable and less stressful.
Have You Tried Giving Your Pug Puppy Enough Physical and Mental Stimulation?
Right now, your puppy is mentally hungry to learn more, see more, smell more, touch more, you name it. It’s all part of their mental, physical, and social development.
Giving your Pug a daily routine and plenty of mentally stimulating toys can help alleviate some of the demands their need for activity places on the owner.
With the rapid-fire amount of energy, your Pug puppy has, taking them out for daily walks is a great way to give them both physical and mental stimulation and help them expel that energy. Here’s how to take your Pug puppy for a walk and ensure you don’t overwalk them.
Not only will it promote a healthy bond between the two of you. But it gives them the physical exercise they need to stay fit and plenty of sensory stimulation for the mind.
Taking your Pug puppy out every time they are energetic, however, is clearly not an option.
To help keep them engaged mentally and prevent them from being bored, while at home and your attention is pulled elsewhere, provide them with puzzle toys and chew toys so that they are less likely to start acting up.
Stimulating toys will help mentally and physically stimulate a hyper pup and help them get exhausted faster.
Once they reach canine adulthood, you will see them become less of that super energetic puppy and more of that cuddly lap dog you had expected.
Final Word
Pug puppies are excited by the new world around them. In the first year, they go through several mental and developmental changes that can cause over hyperactivity.
In the first year in a puppy’s life, they will experience teething, sexual maturity, social development, etc. These changes can cause a young pup to become overly hyper. Before you can tackle the issue, you need to know which developmental stage your Pug is experiencing.
If your Pug puppy is hyperactive, consider taking them for a walk or playing with them to tire them out. When you can’t play with your pup due to lack of time. A stimulating toy is a great way to keep them from being bored and help tucker them out quickly.
This overly hyperactive period ends. Eventually, you’ll end up with a laid-back mature Pug that likes to lay around watching Netflix with you!