Pug Bulldog Mix (PugaBull) – Images and All You Need to Know
Last Updated/Info Checked on August 28, 2023 by Linda Michaels
The American Pugabull is a mixed breed derived from the American Bulldog and the Pug. Its medium size is a compromise between the Bulldog and the Pug’s height.
Apart from that, it has inherited the musculature from the Bulldog and the playful disposition from the Pug. There’s little in between those traits.
Because of an accommodating temperament, it’s a bundle of joy for a family large and small, living in a house with a backyard or a patio or living in an apartment with access to parks.
Let’s delve deeper into the unique attributes of the designer breed to help you make the right choice.
Pug Bulldog Mix – Pugabull Traits
Weight | 25 – 70 lbs |
Height | 12 – 20 in |
Coat Colors | tan, brown, white, or black |
Behavior With Children | Friendly when trained |
Behavior With Strangers | Welcoming after training |
Behavior With Other Pets | Friendly when trained |
Adaptability | High |
Nutrition | 1 to 2 or 2.5 cups divided into two or three meals |
Grooming | 4 to 5 times a month |
Trainability | Moderate to Hard |
Intelligence | Moderate to high |
Exercise needs | Low to moderate |
Shedding | Low |
Barking tendency | High |
Biting tendency | Low |
Personality | Affectionate, loyal, and playful, but it can be territorial and dominating. |
Appearance And Physical Characters
The American Pugabull takes after the Bulldog a lot in terms of appearance. It has an imposing muscular body with a round head. The first impression is always of strength and vitality. Some people may judge its temperament from its appearance as aggressive.
However, that is far from the truth as you’ll read ahead.
Inheriting a muscular body from its Bulldog parent is one thing. From the Pug comes the signature wrinkles on its muzzle. They may be prominent or not, depending on the games of the genes. The upward-curled tail is also one of the results of such a game that gives the canine a touch of elegance.
In terms of coat colors, the dog shows a fusion between those of its parents. It may be tan, brown, white, or black, depending on which color becomes dominant. Unlike Pugs, you may see these pups seldom in solid colors.
Mostly, it’s a combination of two to three colors with patches and hues spread across the body.
You may also like to read: Pug Blue Heeler Mix
Temperament And Behavior
The mixed breed has an endearing personality ready to charm everyone around the house. Pugs are known for such a personality and it’s no surprise that it shines in a Pugabull. Bulldogs are no different either. Their knack for loyalty earns them a good name in the world.
The parentage, therefore, naturally gives the dog an affectionate, playful, loving, and accepting personality that lets it blend in with its family with ease.
These dogs have a great tendency to become an integral part of a family with bonds made for life.
Genetics alone cannot determine the temperament and behavior of a dog. The way you bring it up matters equally.
Therefore, focus on early socialization at all costs because there’s another facet of the dog’s personality that you may not want to activate – the fearsome territorial canine ready to protect its family or territory from everything it deems a threat.
Image Credit: @Ashley Carey / Pinterest
Behavior With Children
Pugabulls carry themselves with care around children. With proper training, they understand that these little humans are prone to get hurt if it tries to take things hard with them.
Although they are quite sensitive, they’ll still forgive screaming children and happily play with them.
While most of the time there’s no supervision required, it’s still recommended that you first train the dog well enough to be trusted alone with the kids. The breed has stubborn tendencies that need to be curbed to ensure kind behavior towards the children.
Behavior With Strangers
Just like Bulldogs, the Pugabulls are highly affectionate with their family members. So much so that they will become hostile toward strangers trying to enter your home when the dog has not been well socialized. It will protect you from suspicious and even non-suspicious people.
This trait is also a blessing in disguise if you’re looking for a medium-sized companion to guard your apartment.
Behavior With Other Pets
The mixed breed is generally predisposed to be gentle with other pets when it’s well-socialized from an early age.
However, things could still turn haywire as the dog can exhibit its territorial tendencies in a split second. Even if that’s not the case, it may still try to dominate other breeds, especially, small dogs, which is a trait reminiscent of its Bulldog parentage.
Besides dominating them, they may inadvertently hurt them because the intensity with which they play is on par with a Pug.
It’s therefore highly recommended to supervise the dog’s interaction with small pets to stop their strength and enthusiasm hurt them in any way.
Living Environment
Owing to its medium size, Pugabulls are happy in an apartment or a spacious house. The size of its home matters less, but one thing should be kept in mind: The dog should have access to open spaces such as a park, backyard, or patio to receive regular walks and play.
Their enormous energy level and the intensity with which they execute it make them vulnerable to destructive behavior when it doesn’t find a healthy way out.
Also, much like Pugs, their playfulness betrays their size. They will easily win in a contest of playfulness from opponents such as the Pug itself.
To keep such a dog entertained, you’ll have to play plenty of games with it from tug of war to fetch, flyball, and beyond.
In all of this, remember the dog’s ability to slip into its careless domineering mode where it tries to overpower its opponent in a game or in another setting. Keeping this in mind is especially important if you’re going to involve other breeds in the play with it.
Early socialization will prove fruitful in keeping the dog’s tendencies such as this in check. Speaking from experience, it becomes easier to control a dog that has been taught obedience beforehand.
Nutrition
Feeding a balanced diet to a Pugabull means a lot to keep its energy level optimal. You don’t want the dog to lose its charm by eating less or eating an energy deficit diet.
I recommend good quality dry dog food (kibble) with high energy content to be fed to the dog, but of course, after your vet’s consultation.
The recommended cups to be fed per day may be somewhere between 1 to 2 or 2.5 cups divided into two meals. This is just an estimation based on the dogs belonging to this breed that I have fed before.
Again, you should factor in your pet’s health, activity level, and the food itself before deciding how much it should eat.
There are clear signs in case you’re underfeeding or overfeeding the dog. An underfed Pugabull will be lethargic, always hungry, and weak. You can perform a simple test to see if you’ve been feeding it the right amount.
- Make the dog stand and look at it from above.
- You should clearly see its waist.
- Hold its spine at its waist with your fingers down and feel it all the way to the ribcage.
- You should be able to feel at least some muscle or fat over the ribs and around the waist.
- You should only be able to feel the bones when you press on the area a little harder.
Overfeeding also has some indications. The first one is obesity. Your dog will become lazy as a result. It will also be prone to diseases such as diabetes. While that’s something we can’t see, what we can is the dog’s unwillingness to move anywhere.
It will avoid walks, playtimes, and whenever you call it for food, it will come running. Compared to underfeeding, you won’t feel its ribs even when you press harder. That will indicate the layers of fat upon fat over the bones.
I normally recommend kibble because it’s a balanced diet with proper nutritional value. Keeping under the recommended limits will help you keep the dog from overfeeding or underfeeding.
You can also spice up the diet with supplements such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and fruits such as mangoes, apples, and bananas but only in moderation. Do not go overboard with anything and refrain from feeding it right from your table.
Grooming Requirements
Puggables have short coats that require low maintenance. The benefit of owning such a dog is that you won’t have to deal with mats occurring. However, that does not mean that the dog will not shed. The shedding with this mixed breed is lower than both its parents, especially the Pug.
Besides removing dust from the coat, brushing also helps in regulating dogs’ temperature and also maintains the overall coat health by evenly spreading the oils.
You should also maintain a healthy grooming routine with a dog such as a Pugabull for the sake of strengthening your bond with it.
Use a slicker brush or a double-sided soft brush to do most of the grooming session. When the dog starts shedding, you can use a rake or shedding blade to help remove the tufts of hair.
A short coat also does not require regular bathing. It’s upon you to decide if your pup needs a bath depending on its general condition.
Pugabulls are notorious for playing in the mud because when it comes to their playtime, they seldom care about the environment. During such conditions, bathe your dog regularly to remove any dirt buildup.
You should know that the mixed breed is prone to allergies, itchiness from dirt, or loose broken hair. While grooming doesn’t take a lot of time, it is still recommended that you brush it at least twice a week.
Some puppies are born with the signature folds of a Pug. They are a breeding ground for bacteria, fungi, and other miscreants that we can’t see with our eyes.
Make sure that you take time to look in between them for any dirt or gunk buildup. You can clean it with mild salt water. Alternatively, you can use dog-friendly soap with lukewarm water.
You should also focus on the dog’s ears because they have a lot of hidden places to capture bacterial colonies and let them drive there until an infection develops. Cleaning them is also easy by using salt water with a soft cloth.
In doing so, however, make sure that none of the water gets inside the ear to avoid creating a damp environment for the microorganisms to thrive.
Apart from that, trim the nails at least once or twice a month. The right time to trim them is when they start clicking against a hard surface.
Before doing so, make sure that you know about the anatomy of a dog’s nails. The vets always recommend that you trim the nails before the quick, or the part where there are arteries, to avoid any bleeding as a result.
Pugabulls like their Pug parents are prone to dental diseases. They get tooth decay more often because of poor oral health. Brush their teeth daily with dog toothpaste to get rid of any such prospects. Be gentle and work your way at the dog’s pace.
Learning about the areas to groom is one thing but learning how to groom them is entirely another thing. Both of these are important in their own ways. Focus on how to groom each part of your dog as recommended by the experts.
Doing this will save you and your pet from problems such as trimming the short coat unnecessarily, hurting the dog when cutting its nails, using non-recommended shampoos or soaps that may cause allergies, accidentally letting water get into the ears, or rubbing the insides of the face folds too vigorously to cause chafing.
Image Credit: @Troy Animal Hospital / Pinterest
Training And Socialization
Training the mixed breed requires some effort on your end because it may inherit some of the stubbornness from its Bulldog parent. With the right set of tools and time-tested steps, you should be able to teach the dog obedience, such as the commands: sit, lay down, stay, or roll over.
Their intelligence is on par with the Bulldog. You’ll have to exert your dominance over the dog, or else it may start posing problems in the training sessions.
Some dogs may inherit the prey drive from a Bulldog. Here too, you’ll have to exert yourself as the leader of the pack and show the dog who’s the boss around the house.
Despite this, the dog may test you every now and then. It may question your training technique or try to place novel hurdles for you to fail.
Positive reinforcement works wonders with such dogs because they may be able to escape your training techniques, but they won’t be able to let go of a tasty treat.
This training aside, it’s always wise to focus on early socialization during the puppyhood of a Pugabull. It will help you raise a well-behaved pup in the later stage.
During socialization, make sure you expose the pup to all sorts of stimuli that may present themselves in the later stages such as new people, pets of all sorts, especially cats, different sounds, smells, etc.
Be mindful of taking things at the dog’s pace because Pugabulls do get overwhelmed pretty easily. They may find some things boring and try to avoid them later. As a resort, try to spice things up.
Exercise Needs
On average Pugabulls’ exercise requirements are less than its parents Even though the energy level and the intensity with which it carries out things are off the charts.
Since it’s a medium-sized dog, a 30-minute daily walk should suffice followed by playtime where you let it play its favorite games.
The breed’s tendency to prefer playtimes more than exercise regimes stays in the fact that it’s a highly playful dog. It won’t tire out after a few runs of fetch. You’ll have to do better.
That’s one of the reasons why the owners or the potential owners should have enough energy to keep up with them.
However, avoid overheating the dog, especially in summer, because it has poor heat dissipation just like its Pug parent. Always have water available during exercise regimes, walks, or playtimes.
Health
The mixed breed does inherit some debilitating diseases from its parents, given dogs with poor genetic conditions were selected for breeding.
They may have respiratory issues pertaining to the inheritance of a small muzzle, cataracts if the dog inherits the bulging eyes of the Pug, joint diseases such as hip dysplasia, pug encephalitis which is a neurological condition where the dog’s brain gets inflamed, and demodectic mange.
These diseases can resurface at any age of your dog, so always be on the lookout if you have adopted a puppy from an uncertified breeder.
That’s one reason why it’s always best to spend extra and adopt from the right place. If your dog is a rescue you should maintain checkups from a vet frequently.
Weekly or monthly checkups are always a good sign that you will catch any potential disease in its early stages whether your dog is predisposed to it genetically or not.
Avoiding any sign of ailment, starting with lethargy, lack of interest in food, fever, or any other behavior out of the normal would only get you and the dog in further trouble.
Should You Adopt A Pugabull?
A Pugabull inherits the accommodating nature of its Pug parent and loyalty from its Bulldog parent. Not just these, but all-around friendliness, low grooming needs, low exercise needs, and high intelligence makes the breed suitable for families big or small.
It can fit well in an apartment because of its size and also temperament. But it will require a few sessions of training in order to curb its territorial aggression or the tendency to show dominance over other breeds and even you.
You will have to invest your time or maybe resources to teach the dog obedience and try to assert your dominance over it.
Doing all of this becomes extremely easy when you have trained the dog in its puppyhood.
It goes without saying, therefore, that early socialization and desensitization can truly bring up the best in this breed. And the best of it is a loving dog ready to protect you and also play with you whenever need be.
Pros
- Affectionate and loyal
- Great for people looking for a medium-sized dog for an apartment
- Low exercise needs
- Highly playful
- Good with children
- Low escape potential
- Highly intelligent
- Easy to train
- Low grooming needs
- High adaptability to many situations
Cons
- May get territorial or aggressive when it’s not trained well
- Shows dominance over other breeds
- Needs supervised interaction with smaller pets
I hope reading this guide about Pug Bulldog Mix (PugaBull) was helpful to you.
Enjoy your day!