For such a small dog, the Pug has a very large history. They have gone through many changes over the centuries, but one fact has always been the same – they love being with people. Many famous people owned Pugs throughout history, which helped to spread their popularity among the fashionable of the world. Looking at their history shows us a glimpse of what living with a Pug is like.
Pugs were bred to be the companions and protectors of royalty. Although the Pug was to go through many changes physically, the basic temperament seems to have been the same. Pugs have always been noted for their abilities as a watchdog, for their even temperament, and their devotion to their people. Fortunately, these qualities have not been bred out, although some physical features, like a longhaired coat, have.
The Pug as we recognize it did not exist until the 1800’s. The Pug went through a long series of changes in body shape, body size and color that (for unknown reasons) some were encouraged while others were not. Some writings from Dutch traders in China indicated that there were longhaired and shorthaired Pugs, and that most of them were golden in color all over.
This is because a Pug’s timely warning saved his master, William, Prince of Oranges, from an assassin’s strike. By the sixteen hundreds, Pugs were popular in most European courts. Other famous owners of Pugs were Josephine (Napoleon’s wife, who proves she always liked them small) and the popular English painter William Hogarth.
His Pug, “Trump”, appears in several paintings. There was not that many Pugs available for breeding, so they were most likely crossed with small Bulldogs in order to produce Pug-like puppies. Hogarth’s Pug was slimmer, longer-legged and longer-nosed than a modern Pug. Trump also lacked the black mask of most modern Pugs.
The Pug as we know it didn’t come into being until the formation of a breed standard in the 1800’s. Although Pugs had been longhaired, they now had to come in short haired coats in order to be shown. Pugs used to come in many different colors, but for some reason only three official colors are allowed in both the show rings of Europe and America.
The Pug as we know today came about in the 1800’s, when the first organized dog shows began in Europe. It didn’t take long for the idea of dog shows to cross the Atlantic. The American Kennel Club (AKC) officially recognized the breed in 1885.
The AKC, incidentally, was founded in 1884. Pugs have been consistently one of the top twenty most registered dog breeds in America for decades. Their plan to take over the world is nearly complete.
