Pugs
I. Introduction
There is no other breed like the Pug. Not only does he look distinctive, but he has a character like no other. His furrowed brow may make him appear perpetually worried, but beneath the wrinkles lies a happy-go-lucky dog with a clown-like personality.
Ask Pug owners to describe their dogs, and the same words crop up time and again: ‘loving’, ‘intelligent’, ‘alert’, and ‘inquisitive. However, one word appears more than any other – ‘fun’! This is a dog that will keep you amused for hours with his antics, and who will thrive on your smiles and laughter.
Once you have shared your home and your life with one of these unique dogs, you will understand the breed motto: Multum in parvo – a lot of dog in a small place!
The first recorded appearance of the word pug in the English language occurred in 1566. Pug was a term of endearment then, applied to persons but rarely to animals. By 1600 pug had acquired two additional meanings: “courtesan” and “bargeman”. These would appear to be strange bedfellows, linguistically at least, but pug did not stop there in its acquisition of new themes. By 1664 pug also meant “demon,” “imp,” “sprite,” “monkey,” and “ape.”
Not until the middle of the next century, according to The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), did pug come to mean “a dwarf breed of dog resembling a bull-dog in miniature”. The OED also added that the pug “on account of its affectionate nature [was] much kept as a pet.” So much that in 1749 David Garrick, an English actor and theatrical manager, wrote “A fine lady… keeps a pug-dog and hates the Parsons.”
Some disagreement exists regarding the manner in which pug came to be applied to these endearing, impish, sprite like, solid-as-a-barge, sometimes demonic little monkeys that were great favorites at court if not with courtesans. Many observers believe that pug first was applied to monkeys and, after certain facial resemblances between monkeys and the little dogs with the curly tails had been noted, the word
There is no other breed like the Pug. Not only does he look distinctive, but he has a character like no other. His furrowed brow may make him appear perpetually worried, but beneath the wrinkles lies a happy-go-lucky dog with a clown-like personality.
Ask Pug owners to describe their dogs, and the same words crop up time and again: ‘loving’, ‘intelligent’, ‘alert’, and ‘inquisitive. However, one word appears more than any other – ‘fun’! This is a dog that will keep you amused for hours with his antics, and who will thrive on your smiles and laughter.
Once you have shared your home and your life with one of these unique dogs, you will understand the breed motto: Multum in parvo – a lot of dog in a small place!
The first recorded appearance of the word pug in the English language occurred in 1566. Pug was a term of endearment then, applied to persons but rarely to animals. By 1600 pug had acquired two additional meanings: “courtesan” and “bargeman”. These would appear to be strange bedfellows, linguistically at least, but pug did not stop there in its acquisition of new themes. By 1664 pug also meant “demon,” “imp,” “sprite,” “monkey,” and “ape.”
Not until the middle of the next century, according to The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), did pug come to mean “a dwarf breed of dog resembling a bull-dog in miniature”. The OED also added that the pug “on account of its affectionate nature [was] much kept as a pet.” So much that in 1749 David Garrick, an English actor and theatrical manager, wrote “A fine lady… keeps a pug-dog and hates the Parsons.”
Some disagreement exists regarding the manner in which pug came to be applied to these endearing, impish, sprite like, solid-as-a-barge, sometimes demonic little monkeys that were great favorites at court if not with courtesans. Many observers believe that pug first was applied to monkeys and, after certain facial resemblances between monkeys and the little dogs with the curly tails had been noted, the word