Pug In Costume

In nineteenth century England, the breed flourished under the patronage of the monarch Queen Victoria. Her many pugs, which she bred herself, included Olga, Pedro, Minka, Fatima and Venus. Her involvement with the dogs in general helped to establish the Kennel Club, which was formed in 1873. Victoria favoured apricot and fawn colors, whereas the aristocrat Lady Brassey is credited with making black pugs fashionable after she brought some back from China in 1886.
In paintings and engravings of the 18th and 19th centuries, they usually appeared with longer legs and noses, and with cropped ears. The modern pug's appearance probably appeared after 1860 when a new wave of pugs were imported directly from China. These pugs had shorter legs and the modern style pug nose. Ear cropping was outlawed in 1895.
The pug arrived in the United States during the nineteenth century (the American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1885) and was soon making its way into the family home and show ring. In 1981 the pug Dhandys Favorite Woodchuck won the Westminster Kennel Club show in the United States, the only pug to have won since the show began in 1877. The World Champion (Best in Show or BIS) at the 2004 World Dog Show held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was a pug, Double D Cinoblu's Masterpiece. The Pug Dog Club of America was founded in 1931 and recognized by the AKC that same year.