Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue

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Happy 20th Anniversary Pug Party

By Susan Thornberry

What a beautiful day! Once again Mr. Sunshine smiled on us all day as hundreds of pugs gathered on Sunday October 21, 2012, for the 20th Annual Pug Party in the Park at the AKC Museum of the Dog in St. Louis to benefit Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue. There is always so much to see and do with the pugs.

Lines formed early for the special Puglympic Races. This is one of the most popular activities each year for the first 25 pugs to sign up. This year we added a new activity for the Pugs to compete in. It was a Pug Cookie Walk to music just like the old fashioned cake walk at school activities. Each round one pug earned a special decorated Pug Cookie Prize. Yummy!

Oh my, time for the Rescue Parade. Any pug who was rescued from any organization received a special bandana and wore it when they walked in the Rescue Parade. The rescue parade announcer gave each pug’s name, age and their favorite thing to do.

Hurry, Hurry and get ready for the Costume Parade. You know pugs love to dress up and they really outdid themselves this year. The costume parade is divided into 3 groups: Children up to age 14 yrs and their pug(s), an adult and 1 pug, and adult(s) with multiple pugs. Five winners were announced for each group. This year we had a Cowboy with a Pug riding on a toy horse, a Pug as a Belly Dancer, Sarah Palin and her first dog, Dr. Franken Pug, a Pug wolf and little Red Riding Hood, California Girls, patriotic Vote for Theo Pug for President and so many more. The three volunteer judges had their work cut out for them.

For the first time this year the food and drink was catered by Classic Red Hots. Everyone really enjoyed the food and had very positive feedback. A beautiful new 20th Anniversary shirt designed special for our Anniversary Event was on sale. It met with instant approval. Each year many shirts from former pug parties are for sale at a reduced price and they flew off the hangers as well. All monies raised from their sale goes to Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue. Another new item this year that proved of great interest was a metal garden pug and poles made by a rescue member. A percent of the monies raised from these was donated to Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue.

It was soon time for the last event of the day. Everyone gathered inside with their pugs snoozing on the cool tile floor as the 50/50 raffle, Halloween Candy Guessing Contest and other raffle winners were announced. The sounds of snoring pugs filled the room.

Oh no, it’s time to say good bye and each pug promised to meet again on Sunday Oct. 20th 2013, at the AKC Museum of the Dog as we do it all again. All were tired but happy----Pugs and People.

Pictures are available in the Image Gallery

What's Happening at MSLPR?

A Little Love Goes A Long Way …

Our very own Susan Thornberry has written an article that appeared in the September 2008 issue of Top Notch Toy. This article is about the several of the pugs that Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue has rescued.

Click here to download a printable PDF of this article.

Pug Tails Were Wagging…

by Karla Ure

   Pug tails were wagging and Pug owners were smiling at the 2009 17th Annual Pug Picnic in the Park. Sunday, October 18, 2009 started out as a cool, crisp sunny fall day at the AKC Museum of the Dog in Queeny Park located in St. Louis County, Missouri. There was anticipation in the air as Pugs and their people were registering for the many fun-filled activities and raffles that were throughout the day. Spirit of St. Louis Pug Fanciers hosts the Pug Picnic every year to benefit the Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue.

     It is off to the races with the first activity of the day being the crowd pleasing Puglympics!    Puglympics is serious competition with some folks race training their entry a year in advance of the races! All entered Pugs race each other to the finish line in a mad dash! Well, some Pugs make it over the finish line in a mad dash and some Pugs get distracted by “social endeavors!” Puglympics is highly competitive and exciting for the Pugs, their race motivators and the spectators. Tensions build as a winner emerges from each of five race flights. Finally, all five Puglympic winners from each flight meet up for the final race showdown and they are off! May the best and the fastest Pug win. This year’s Grand Champion winner was Pug Savannah. Will your Pug be next year’s Champion?

     After that, was an obedience demonstration given by Jeanine Kerr and her best obedience Pug in the Nation, Willow! Thank you, Willow, for going through your maneuvers to show us what an obedience champion looks like! Willow is an inspiration to us all and her story is made even better because Willow is a rescue Pug who came from our very own Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue! Willow proves that any Pugs, rescue or not, are truly versatile and have the intelligence and the willingness to please to be able to excel in any direction you want to take them! At this writing, Willow is well on her way to taking the Agility world by storm! Way to go, Willow and keep up the good work!

     Time to move inside and watch the Parade of Rescue Pugs, each wearing a special new scarf. As each pugs parades, the announcer tells the audience something the pug loves to do or a special talent such as “dancing”. Applause echoes through the room as each pug struts proudly around the circle.

     The ever-popular “Ask the Vet” took place in the lower level of the dog museum for those who had questions regarding Pug health. Dr. Thornberry graciously answered questions about health concerns and gave us valuable medical updates regarding care and upkeep specific to our breed. This information is always appreciated.

     By this time, we have all worked up quite an appetite. The time came to go onto the patio for some delicious lunch at affordable family friendly prices! We cannot forget the Pug treats for our well deserving guests of honor!

     Time was really flying as it was time to get ready for the crowd favorite, the Pug Costume Contest! Folks and over 50 ever-willing Pugs pulled out all of the stops this year to compete for first place winner demonstrating that we have some very talented and creative entries.   We wish we could give everyone a first place prize!

    Following the Pug Costume Contest, it was time to call the winning raffle ticket winners. This year the Pug raffle items were better than ever! Every year, the items up for raffle are unique with a major cuteness quotient, tempting all to want to try their luck for every item on the raffle tables! One may as well buy lots of raffle tickets, as one never knows if theirs will be the winning raffle ticket, or tickets!   Continued thanks to all who donated the raffle items and to all who bought raffle tickets and tested their good fortune! The popular 50/50 raffle, once again, had vigorous participation! One very special item we had for auction was a beautiful, hand made Pug quilt made by a rescue group member Anita Harris. Many people vied for the exceptional quilt by purchasing raffle tickets by the dozens! We are happy to announce the quilt was won by our very own Sue Markwell! Sue was thrilled to have been the final winner whose winning was drawn from the jar! We know Sue is proud to be the owner of such a wonderful quilt!

     We had a talented photographer on site at the Pug Picnic to capture all of those Pug Picnic memories! The beautiful day provided a wonderful backdrop for the all of the photos taken.

     Overall, it was a successful day with friends old and new meeting at the Pug Picnic. Please plan to join us for the next Pug Picnic and mark your calendars on Sunday October 17, 2010 for the 18th Annual Pug Party in the Park at the AKC Museum of the Dog to benefit Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue. Watch our web site: www.spiritofstlpugfanciers.org for more information starting in early August. We are always happy to accept donations of money or items for our raffle and we always have a need for volunteers in so many areas. If you need more information, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Metro St. Louis Pug Rescue

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