We re-homed Oscar on 3rd February 2018. He was 9 months old and living in Greater London. His previous family had another dog and a cat, but unfortunately the cat and Oscar didn’t get on, so they had a decision to make… Oscar, or the cat. Luckily for us, they decided to re-home Oscar and we bought him back to the Isle of Wight.
Oscar was very shy to begin with and was frightened of everything! He was especially nervous eating and wouldn’t go to the toilet for the first 24 hours, despite us getting up every few hours in the night to take him outside. He didn’t seem keen on walking either.
Over the following weeks and months, he gradually came out of his shell, becoming more confident and turning into the character that he is today. He has the kindest personality and would never hurt a fly, yet he is not afraid to play with the big dogs and stand his ground (you wouldn’t believe how quick he is). He loves long walks, exploring the countryside and running around with his pals, which range from a springer spaniel, a Labrador, a cockapoo and his puggy crew.
Don’t be fooled by his cute face – he can be a pickle! He is the soft toy killer, licky monster and barks at every animal on the TV, even himself.
He started picking up twigs on our daily walks and he would carry them all the way to the end… As time went on, the sticks would get bigger and bigger and he would carry them more often. I can’t remember the last time we walked and Oscar didn’t have a stick!
As soon as we start the walk, he goes into full hunting mode and won’t relax until he finds a stick to carry. Often he goes for the first one he finds and that becomes his beloved stick. He is very loyal to his sticks and it takes an especially good one to tempt him away from the original. If we try and take his stick away from him, he screams and jumps up at us until we give it back.
We actually have a collection of (sensibly sized) sticks outside our house. Whenever we do a local walk, we let Oscar pick a stick and he carries it the whole way until we get back to our house. He would not let us leave without one and if we ever forget, he digs his claws into the ground to remind us that we’re forgetting something.
A few years in, we decided to get Oscar DNA tested, for our own curiosity. We didn’t believe he was a pure pug, as his breathing was incredible, his nose was longer than most and his characteristics were very different to the other pugs we had met. Our suspicions were correct and it came back that Oscar was 5/8 pug, 1/8 Shih Tzu, 1/8 Pekingese and 1/8 French Bulldog, which we love because it makes him even more special.
Oscar is incredibly spoilt and often gets treated like a little human. He has four dog beds (although he often ends up in ours), he sits at the dinner table with us, we share the odd bit of human food with him and he comes everywhere with us!
2020 arrived and we started thinking how lovely it would be if Oscar had a Brother. He has lots of doggy friends and we are home with him pretty much 24/7, but we wondered if he would benefit from a companion. One day, a post popped up on Facebook from our local RSPCA, asking for food for Henry, the very handsome pug indeed. This seemed too good to be true! We headed down to the RSPCA with a giant bag of food and to register our interest. Just a week later, we had been chosen as his perfect match and eventually, Henry came home with us just before lockdown in the UK.
The pair instantly connected and we could not ask for a better Brother for Oscar!
This is just the beginning of Oscar and Henry’s stories, so watch this space for more…
Emma (Human to The Handsome Pugs) 
