Where did the pug dog originate?
The pug’s true origin is unknown, but it has existed in China, its earliest known source, for 1,800 years. A popular pet in Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, it next appeared in Japan and then in Europe. It probably was introduced into Holland by the traders of the Dutch East India Company. The name “pug dog” may have come from the dog’s facial resemblance to a marmoset monkey. This popular pet in the 1700s was called a “pug,” so the term “pug dog” distinguished the dog from the “pug” monkey.
A pug has a square, short compact body, either silver or apricot-fawn in color. Its muzzle is black, short, blunt, and square; its average weight is 14 to 18 pounds. The pug is often described by the motto “Multum in Parvo”—a lot of dog in a small space.