The Pug-Dog - Its History and Origin

By Wilhelmina Swainston-Goodger

Originally published in 1930, this is a detailed and informative study of the history and origins of the breed. Contents Include; 'Theories as to the Origin of the Breed,' 'China,' 'Holland,' 'England During the 17th and 18th Century,' 'France and Italy,' 'England During the Nineteenth Century,' 'Black and Other Coloured Pug-Dog,' 'The 20th Century Pug-Dog,' 'The Pug-Dog in America,' 'Schedule of Show Points,' and 'Schedule of Post-War Champions'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Mar 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781447488170

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THE PUG-DOG:

ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN

CHAPTER I

THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE BREED

"My lady, in her parlour snug,

Is still delighted with her pug."

Joseph the Book Man, 1821.

THE pug-dog has for many years been regarded as having sprung in some way or other from the bulldog, and many of the older books on natural history dismiss him summarily with being a bull-dog in miniature. The Lexiconists have mostly followed this example.

It is difficult to trace how and when this theory started, though it is probable that the similarity in appearance between the two breeds gave rise to it in the first place, despite the fact that when the pug-dog was first introduced in large numbers into England during the late seventeenth century, it was styled the Dutch Mastiff and not the Dutch Bull-Dog.

An examination of the skulls of a bull-dog and a pug-dog shows clearly that, so far as anatomy goes, there is no relationship whatever between them.

The pug-dog appears undoubtedly to be a relation of the mastiff. Both mastiffs and pug-dogs were known at an early date in China, and the pug-dog, certainly, and possibly the mastiff, owe their origin to that country, though the latter was known very early in Europe.

Even to-day the standard British Museum cataloguel describes the pug-dog as having a possible relationship to the bull-dog.

"The Pug, which is believed to take its name from the Latin pugnus, a fist (in allusion to its short and square face), is evidently related to the Mastiff and the Bulldog, although this history of its descent is lost. It is believed, however, to have been originally produced in Holland, at a comparatively recent date. At any rate it was fashionable in that country in the time of King William III., by whom numerous specimens were brought to England, where the breed has ever since been popular. The Pug appears to have been always a fawn-coloured dog with a black face and curly tail; but about the middle of the nineteenth century two distinct strains—the Willoughby and the Morrison—were established. The former was characterised by the cold stone-fawn colour, and the excess of black, which showed itself in the completely or nearly black head and in the presence of a large ‘saddle-mark’ or wide ‘traces.’ The Morrison strain, on the other hand, had a richer and yellower fawn, with no extra blackness. The two strains are, however, now more or less completely blended. There is also a black breed, of very modern origin. Owing to the shortness of the jaws, the teeth of the Pug are crowded together, so much so that the premolar teeth frequently have their long diameter placed transversely instead of longitudinally. A similar feature often occurs in the skulls of Pekinese and Japanese Spaniels and other lap-dogs. The breed is represented by a specimen purchased in