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I originally wrote this as a response to someone who asked if shaving their Pug would help to control the shedding that it was doing. While the concept seems good, in reality all you're doing is taking off all the hair, then letting it grow back in, and start the process of shedding all over again. Someone started the idea that "Pugs don't shed" and that's simply not true. Most Pug owners find out the hard way, after they've owned a Pug a few months. Then it's, "Why didn't someone tell me about this??" So my reply to this person who wanted to shave their dog was this:
I have to admit, I've never had ANY success in stopping shedding in ANY dog by shaving them. At one time I thought that shaving my long-coated dogs (I've also had border collies, golden retrievers and sheltie mixes) would help, but after time and research I discovered that the coated dogs have their own inherited behaviors to help them deal with heat and that it's better not to shave them down. After all, we never see dogs shaved in nature... but that's another story.
What does then help with shedding? Good food first. Good weekly grooming second. Shedding is basically dead dry outer hairs falling off as new growth occurs. People shed too - you just don't have as much to shed!
When I say "good food" I don't mean the type that costs about $4 for a 20 pound bag! When you look for a good food for coat, fatty acids and oils are important. I take about a cup of food and put it into a small brown paper bag. (Some stores will have small sample bags you can try.) Leave the food in the bag about an hour, then check the bag. If the food has lots of oils in it, you'll see it as having "leaked" onto the paper bag. It's real obvious. There are a number of good foods that will do that - what food you choose would depend on a number of other things such as food allergies in your dogs, content and quality of what makes up the food, availability, etc. As in most things, this is a case of, "you get what you pay for."
Weekly grooming should be almost a ritual in any dog home, not just Pugs. Checking your dog every week lets you know just how their coat feels, how their muscles are, how long the nails are, if there are any eye scratches or 'winking' that your Pug is doing. You should clean wrinkles and ears (if necessary), trim nails (if necessary), do a gentle massage (look for new bumps - you catch tumors early and easily this way - or scratches when you rub them down), and then brush them out with a shedding blade or stripper comb followed by a soft brush or cloth to 'finish' their look. The shedding blade draws out all the already-dead-but-not-fallen-out-yet hairs, so you basically pull them out before they fall. Then you can dispose of them just once, rather than having them all over the house, furniture and clothing all the time.
I do not recommend bathing a Pug weekly. This is because I *think* (I have no documented proof but do have 25 years of experience) that it dries the coat out and creates MORE dry, brittle hairs to shed off. While many hairs are loosened and removed in bathing, I think that the weekly maintenance works better - and gives you much less of a chance to leave moisture in the coat, causing hot spots or fungus growth in the wrinkles.
Sooo.. before I shaved a Pug down, I'd try changing food first. Give each new food at least a month to see if you see a difference. You have to wait for the new coat to come in while the old one sheds off. And yes, you may see an INCREASE in shedding while this happens, but it will be obvious to your eyes and fingers if the new coat is softer, shinier, and healthier. I'd also be sure that I'm grooming my Pug weekly - if for no other reason than it becomes a good bonding time, and they really do LOVE that gentle massage - it's like a good fingertip scratching all over.. and I laugh when I watch mine wriggle as I do it. They beg to get up on the table when it's time for grooming.
So make up your mind to take ten or fifteen minutes a week to check out your Pug, keep things clean and neat, and do a good brushing. It's certainly worth the effort when your clothes and furniture and floors don't end up covered with Pug hair!
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