Tina Gitana
We adopted our beautiful little pug girl, Nova (Instagram: Pugnova) nearly a year ago and I didn't want to write a review until after a reasonable time so I could write an accurate experience when I've discovered everything first! It's always somewhat scary when you first adopt a puppy because sometimes you never know the true ethics and standards of breeders until you realise your puppy is plagued with issues and that is why I wanted to wait before writing this review!
I have had 2 pugs from different breeders and grew up with them but they sadly passed at 15 and 17 a few years ago and we were hoping to find a breeder that was as good as the ones we previously adopted from but they were no longer around. Last July after our family decided we weren't complete without another pug, I was searching nearly all day and night for literally weeks and having searched through the shelters first, unfortunately many of them had issues which we were unable to accommodate to like 24 hour care or serious behavioural issues where they could not be around kids or any other dogs! I kept searching so late one night and started to search outside Maryland (even though they are in Maryland, they came up on a search in another pet website in the Baltimore section - probably a glitch in the search engines) and came across a photo which caught my eye...although we were always partial to fawn males, this one was a black female and she has converted us and we absolutely are obsessed now with how beautiful the black pugs are (shiny black velvet coat and cheeky personalities!) ended up being the only one available from every source we inquired because it was off season...meaning all the breeders had litters that were either not ready until the following winter or they had already been adopted but there she was!
We immediately drove over an hour to Farmstead Kennels and were greeted by a lovely couple, Sadie & John. Immediately we were impressed with how immaculate the facility was and a few mins later they brought Nova out and we fell in love instantly...she had been the runt of her litter with all her siblings adopted out and Sadie had told us they held her back because she was too small so she was the only one left and nobody had come yet when she was ready. They had then let us meet some pug females who were looking after their young litter and Nova would kiss them and they'd kiss us and Nova and we immediately saw how happy and well socialised all of their dogs were.
We brought Nova home that night with a lovely bag full of goodies they provided us with including a fleece blanket, some kibble and some toys 1 of which is her absolute favourite to this very day, a squeaky floppy giraffe. I cannot explain to you all how impressed we are with Nova and this reflects on Farmsteads selective breeding. Nova is extremely athletic and has a little protrusion in her snout so she is without any breathing issues nor does she have any hip or joint issues. In fact her legs are super strong, stronger than any pug I've had, she loves to run, her dexterity is amazing and can be compared to a wild cat the way she moves because she's so amazingly balanced and agile.
Additionally, Nova barely sheds and has no skin or health issues whatsoever. We do our best to maintain this and keep her on a very strictly portioned diet but in our experience it's good to build tolerance by often giving her safe human food (only little bites)so her stomach can handle pretty much anything. She loves ethnic food, coconut, mango, cheese, milk and papaya! Her personality is also out of this world and she never seizes to make us laugh and smile, she is cheeky as hell and will argue with me when I scold her but she eventually listens and repetition and patience always leads to success, just like human toddlers in the first few years they are the most difficult, with puppies is the first 6 months but it was all worth the hard work as she has turned out wonderfully, people don't return their kids in the first 5 years of terror so never understood how people lack patience with dogs when their "terrible two" stage only lasts a few months! I don't recommend anyone to get a dog if they cannot raise it properly and no matter how good a breeder is, a dog's behaviour is a product of its environment and upbringing.
Our little Nova is sincerely the most intelligent dog I've come across and she works out those dog brain puzzles in a matter of minutes and enjoys them a lot. I've also trained her a lot in her first few months and she learned every task within 15-20 minutes at 4 months old and new tasks she learns within 10. She was fully housebroken at 6 months because of her capacity to learn quickly. We have always used a hands off method as I don't believe in corporal punishment but instead nudges to the neck like a mother dog would to distract them out of bad behaviour in conjunction with growling (it works!) and she's turned out wonderfully and continues to grow into a well socialised, lovely little lady! Haha.
The only downside of our experience was the kibble they provided which you are only covered by the health care if you continue to purchase this specific brand they provide but unfortunately Nova appeared to hate it very much and she barely ate and when she did it was very little and gave her terrible constant diarrhoea...we continued to see if it was just nerves but we tried this for a few weeks and nothing changed then switched to the diet that most AKC breeders suggest with pugs (which our two previous pugs breeders had given us before - a large ziplock bag consisting of a blend of boiled chicken, rice and kibble and her poop was perfect after only a day. She remained on this diet until she was 8 months old as she wasn't ready yet when we tried at earlier ages to re-introduce her to kibble as poop wasn't good yet. Finally at 8 months we slowly introduced her to a kibble diet and her poop was finally fine. You will see when they are ready. I think every dog has different dietary needs and it's about adapting through observation, trying new things and tweaking methods until you discover what works best.
I highly recommend Farmstead Kennels because Nova is a perfect example of what responsible breeding is as her health and personality reflect that! I am also happy they don't cut their dew claws as most breeders do for show purposes but I never realised how useful they are until we got her, she uses them all the time and they allow her to turn tight corners when she runs (she's a super fast runner!) and grab and grip things! I cannot believe my last 2 pugs did without them and explains why she is at so much of an advantage and I am now against cutting them. Thank you again so very much Farmstead Kennels for our beautiful little girl. We love her so much and she will never go a day without a million kisses and being completely spoiled :-) xx