Sometimes referred to as the "Dutch pug," the pug dog's origins actually lie in China, and although it superficially resembles some of the smaller bulldog breeds, its closest relatives are the Pekingese, the Tibetan spaniel, the Japanese Chin and the Shih Tzu. The pug was used in the creation of the smaller bulldog breeds and was crossed into the larger bulldog to reduce its size. However, it is not a small breed of bulldog or a "miniature mastiff," as is often claimed. The pug is ancestral to the Brussels griffon and its variants and probably played a role in making the English toy spaniel a brachycephalic breed. The pug's history is actually quite long, because it comes from East Asia, one of the early centers for dog domestication.
In the Gobi Desert, remains of small dogs with shortened faces and soft coats were discovered in an ancient kitchen midden used by early humans. The kitchen midden is where these early humans put their wastes. This area would certainly have attracted scavengers, including dogs. The remains of these small scavenging dogs have been dated to ten thousand years ago. This find is rather significant in that it shows that small dogs were the norm in the early days of domestication. Further, it suggests that reduction in size was an early adaptation of the scavenging canids that eventually became modern domestic dogs. They differ very much from the wolf, and they also differ from various pariah dogs that are currently found throughout East Asia. Analysis of the pug's mitochondrial DNA, the DNA all organisms receive from their mothers and can be used to determine exact evolutionary relationships, and the analysis of the mitochondrial DNA from the kitchen midden dogs shows that the pug and its East Asian relatives are direct descendants of these early dogs.
East Asia is now thought to be the first place where dogs were domesticated. A Swedish team of biochemists observed the mitochondrial DNA of a wide variety of dog breeds and found the greatest amount of diversity in the East Asian dog breeds bred in the West and the regular domestic dogs found in East Asia. These findings suggest that dogs like the pug are among the oldest forms of domestic dog.
The first depictions of dogs of the exact pug typewith short hair, curled tails, and flattened facesappeared during the Shang or Yin Dynasty (ca 1600 BCE- ca 1100 BCE). These dogs were called "Lo-tze" or "foo dog." Dogs of the shih tzu and Pekingese or Tibetan spaniel (the original pekes looked a lot like small Tibetan spaniels) type also appear around this time. All are likely descendants of the Gobi Desert kitchen midden dog.
The pug first appeared in Europe during the sixteenth century. It is often suggested that the pug arrived with the Dutch East Indies Trading Company, but the arrival of the first pugs in the Netherlands predates the founding of the Dutch Republic. It was Portuguese traders who introduced the pug to the Netherlands. The Dutch called the breed the "dwarf mastiff," showing that mistaking the pug for a molosser was always common.
The pug became a popular pet among the rising middle class in the Netherlands. Around this time, the Dutch revolted against Spain, which had begun to persecute the largely protestant population of the Netherlands. William of Orange ("William the Silent") was an early leader of the Dutch patriots and was targeted by Spain for assassination. One night, as he slept, a band of Spanish assassins penetrated William's palace, killing his body guards. William would have probably been killed had his little pug not barked as the assassins killed his body guards. William was able to escape, and the Dutch cause for independence was not lost. It is because of the association the early move for Dutch independence and republicanism that the pug is often thought of as a Dutch breed.
In 1688, the first pugs were sent to England, where they became as popular there as they were in the Netherlands. The Dutch referred to the pug as a "mops" or "mopshond." However, the English began referring to the breed as a "pug." It is likely that the origin of this word comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "pugg," which refers to a monkey or playful sprite. This word is also probably origin of Shakespeare's character "Puck" in A Midsummer Night's Dream, who is also an impish sprite.
The English painter William Hogarth was deeply in love with the pug breed. He painted a self-portrait with his beloved pug "Trump." The dog in his self-portrait does not look exactly like the modern pug. It has a longer muzzle, which is only partly covered in black. It is longer in the leg and deeper in the chest. However, the British are considered to be the people who created the modern pug, breeding it to have an even shorter muzzle and an even more tightly curled tail.
The nobility were often had pugs. Marie Antoinette owned a pug named "Mops," using the Dutch word for the breed as the dog's name. Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte's wife, had a pug, which she used to transport messages to the outside world while she was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror. Queen Victoria also had a few pugs in her vast pack of canines. At this time, all pugs in Europe were fawn. Lady Brassey imported the first black pugs from China around the same time that Victoria was establishing the pugs in her menagerie.
Pugs became popular pets with the rise of the middle classes in the nineteenth century. They were imported to America and became quickly incorporated into the dog fancy. The breed became a family pet for a broader sector of society in both Europe and North America at this time.
The pug had already been crossed with the English toy spaniel to shorten its muzzle, and it played a role in the development of the Brussels griffon and its variants and perhaps the Affenpinscher as well. As the bulldog was turned from a bull-baiting beast into a calm family pet, pugs were crossed with the bulldog to reduce its size, shorten its muzzle, and improve its temperament.
Today, the pug is a family pet, as it always has been. Its long history matters little to its owners who admire its plucky yet gentle nature. However, this breed has a long and storied past, guarding emperors and monarchs in both China and Europe. It is a myth that Winston Churchill loved the pug most of all dogs. His preferred breed was miniature poodle, and he owned two, both named "Rufus." However, his daughter did have a pug, and one day it fell ill. Churchill wrote the following poem in at attempt to bring some cheer to his daughter:
Oh, what is the matter with poor Puggy-Wug?
Pet him and kiss him and give him a hug.
Run and fetch him a suitable drug.
Wrap him up tenderly all in a rug.
That is the way to cure Puggy-Wug.
One can only imagine how such an animal could bring out such feelings in Churchill, who was a skilled and harden politician. Perhaps, it is the happiness that pugs give their people that has made the breed last through the ages, and its long history is a testimony to the power of this breed to touch people.