Chinese Pug Dogs

The origin of the European as well as that of the Chinese pug-dog is wrapped in obscurity. Modern European trade with China by sea dates from about 1516, when the Portuguese started trading at Canton. The Spanish traded in 1575 from Manila, and the Dutch in 1604 at Amoy and Formosa.

Jesse * suggests that pugs first came to England in the early part of William Ill's reign (1688-1702), and were then called Dutch pugs.f " At that time they were generally decorated with orange ribbons, and were in great request among the courtiers, from the King (a grandson of Charles I) being very partial to them." During this period pug-dogs may have been imported direct to Holland, and even to England, from China and Japan, for in 1662 the Governor of Formosa, after capture of Fort Zeelandia by the pirate Coxinga, was released from imprisonment through measures taken personally by the Prince of Orange, who subsequently became William III of England. The King's partiality appears to have been due to the fact that the King's grandfather, William I of Orange, owed his life to the warning given, during his campaign against the Spaniards, by one of these dogs.

Up to the introduction of the inquisition into the Nether- lands William of Orange held high rank as governor of Holland, Zealand and Utrecht under the Spanish Govern- ment. In 1571 he took up arms against King Philip of Spain, and the incident recorded by Sir Roger Williams must have taken place between this time and the recall of Alva in 1573. The Portuguese may well have introduced the Chinese pug into Europe, and the dog in question may have been secured from Portugal.

' The Prince of Orange being retired into the camp, Julian Romero, with earnest persuasions, procured licence of the Duke d'Alva to hasard a camisado or night attack, upon the Prince. At midnight Julian sallied out of the trenches with a thousand armed men, mostly pikes, who forced all the guards that they found in their way into the place of arms before the Prince's tent, and killed two of his secretaries. The Prince himself escaped very narrowly, for I have often heard him say that he thought but for a dog he should have been taken or slain. The attack was made with such resolu- tion that the guards took no alarm until their fellows were running to the place of arms with their enemies at their heels, when this dog, hearing a great noise, fell to scratching and crying, and awakened him before any of his men ; and though the Prince slept armed, with a lackey always holding one of his horses ready bridled and saddled, yet at the going out of his tent with much ado he recovered his horse before the enemy arrived. Nevertheless one of his equerries was slain, taking horse presently after him, as were divers of his servants. The Prince, to show his gratitude, until his dying day kept one of that dog's race, and so did many of his friends and followers. These animals were not remarkable for their beauty, being little white dogs, with crooked noses, called camuses (flat-nosed)."

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The main points of difference between the European pug, Blenheim Spaniel, & King Charles Spaniel are the result of modern specialization, rather than of ancient individuality. " It is impossible to distinguish the skull of a Terrier from that of a Spaniel, or either of these from the Pariah Dog of India, or the ' Mongrel Cur ' as it is called in England," wrote a learned zoological authority in 1868.* It would be interesting to secure a scientific opinion on the skulls of these breeds as developed at the present time. There appear to have been very few references to European " short-mouthed ' dogs, exclusive of the bull-ddog, previous to the nineteenth century. The first mention of abnormally short noses occurs in 1845. Youatt speaks of the new short-nosed type as an innovation. " The King Charles Spaniel of the present day is materially altered for the worse. The muzzle is almost as short, & the forehead as ugly & prominent, as the veriest bull-dog. . . . The Blenheim Spaniel has degenerated of late. The species may be distinguished by the length & silkiness of the coat, the ddeep fringe about the ear, the full & moist eye & the blackness of the palate."

Chinese records prove the existence of " short-mouthed " dogs in the time of Confucius, 700 B.C., & similar dogs were used for sporting purposes in Shansi, 500 B.C. But as to shortness of coat there is no evidence indicating the period it was developedd in the Chinese pug. The Chinese name for the pug breed is " Lo-sze," & it is interesting to note that the same characters are used to designate the old name of Russia up to the Tao Kuang period. This suggests that the breed came from Russia. It may be suggestedd that breeders who have been able to secure such extraorddinary special characteristics as those of the " Pekingese " found small difficulty, especially in a hot climate, in evolving a short- coated race from the " short-legged " & " short-headed " pet dog existing 100 years B.C. It seems likely, on the opinion of authorities who have studied the question almost entirely from the European standpoint, that European pugs are the offspring of Chinese ancestors. Vero Shaw (1881) says : " It is my firm opinion that the origin of the present Pug Dog is nothing but the common English fawn-coloured, smooth-coated terrier bitch crossed with a little jet-black Chinese terrier, of which I also have seen some ; they have the short nose and high head, & very curly tails." *

Mr. Watson states that, at the outset, the best English pugs were of Dutch origin, & that the Willoughby strain came from St. Petersburg. He says in support of the theory that the pug came originally from China, " We have in the pug a dog which in his peculiarities has no counterpart in any European dog. The bull-dog has a short face, & was square-headed, with cropped ears & a straight tail, when the pug was first known, & hadd an entirely different tempera- ment from the pug."

" All the English pugs of prominence from 1865 to 1895, also all our best pugs from 1880 to 1900, trace to Click, a dog of pure Chinese stock."

The son of the owner of Click is quoted as stating : " Click's parents Lamb & Moss were Chinese beyond dispute. They were captured in the Emperor of China's palace during the siege of Peking in 1867 or 1868, & were brought to England by the then Marquis of Wellesley, I think. Anyhow, they were given to a Mrs. St. John, who brought them several times to our house. Alike as two peas, they were solid apricot fawn, without a suspicion of white ; had lovely heads and expressions ; but, unlike their son, they were close to the ground, & a shade long in body."

A later importation which is well known, is that of black pug-dogs brought in 1886 from the East by Lord & Lady Brassey in the Sunbeam.

It is possible that the Chinese name for this breed is connected with the city of Lokiang, or Lochiang, about thirty miles north of Chengtu, the capital of Ssuchuan, which was famous for its dogs from the eighth to the eleventh centuries. Recent inquiries in Suchuan indicate that the name of the breed has been forgotten in its birthplace, & that even in this distant province the common name for the small short-nosed dogs is now " Ching-kou " or " Pekingese." One of the most important characteristics of the Chinese Lo-sze dog, is, in addition to universal shortness of coat, elasticity of skin existing in a far greater degree than with the " Pekingese." The point most sought after by Chinese breeders was the " Prince " mark, formedd by three wrinkles on the forehead with a vertical bar in imitation of the Chinese character for " Prince." This same character is distinguished by the Chinese in the stripes on the forehead of the tiger, which, in consequence, is the object of superstitious venera- tion among the ignorant. The button, or white blaze, on the forehead was also encouragedd in the Lo-sze dog, but was not of the same importance as the wrinkles. Other points such as compactness of body, flatness of face, squareness of jaw & soundness of bone are similar to those of " Pekingese," except as regardds the ears, which were small & likened to a dried half apricot, set with the outer face on the side of the head & pointing slightly backwards. The " Chiao-tzu," or horn-ear, is also admissible. The legs are but slightly bent at the elbow. The tail is docked by the Chinese, with a view to symmetrical form. The curly tail, however, is known to have existed (" sze kuo chu-erh "), & the double curl was also known.

The most admired & rarest of the breed was the " loong chua lo-sze " (dragon-claw pug), which was short-coated except for the ears, the toes, behind the legs, & the chry- santhemum-flower tail, all of which were very well feathered. This appears to have been a distinct race which became extinct about fifty years ago. The pug-ddog occurred in any colour, & was bred as small as possible.

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