A lot has been said and written about the origin of the Pug, and very little genuine proof has ever been found to substantiate numerous theories about the country from which the Pug originated.  Early writers speculated that the Pug came from Holland or China, some say Muscovy. 

In the 1800s to early 1900s, the dog known today as a Pug was commonly called the Dutch Pug, obviously because some people thought the dog was imported from Holland.

According to leading writers, like Robert Leighton in Book of the Dog, this theory fails to recognise the fact that the Dutch East India Company was in constant communication with the far east and that could indicate the Pug came originally from China or nearby.  Leighton supported the theory that the dog came from China, saying: "...  the trend of events would lead one to the belief that the Pug had its origin in China, particularly in view of the fact that it is with that country that most of the blunt-nosed toy dogs, with tails curled over their backs, are associated.

His view was shared by James Watson author of The Dog Book who, in 1920, said:On the other hand the strong resemblance between the smooth variety of the Pekinese dog (Chinese origin) and the Pug is too striking to be overlooked.  Watson claims the fact the Pug is missing from national breeds featured in Dutch School paintings at the Metropolitan Museum proves he almost certainly did not originate from Holland.

To quote Watson:

"From the earliest illustrations of the Pug he has always been the same dog that we have now, and is one of the few breeds which have shown no change, other than improvement directly caused by breeding for improvement and fancy. At the same time and almost as far back as We can distinguish between what the Chinese meant to be a dog and what was the dog of Fo, we find the pug-headed, curled-tailed dog that was the progenitor of the Pekinese dog. There is no getting away from the obvious, the very plain indication that the Pug was an oriental importation.

Even if that was not the actual origin of the Pug we owe a great deal to the smooth Pekinese as nearly all our Pugs trace back to one particular cross of the dog from China. Of late years there has been more of this foreign blood introduced than we think English breeders will admit to be the case, particularly to help out in the production of black Pugs."

All distinguished writers of the day agree that the best Pugs from 1880 to the early 1900s came out of 'Click' a dog of pure Chinese stock.  Click was an apricot fawn and belonged to Mrs. Laura Mayhew, of Twickenham, London, and this lady was one of the leading Pug exhibitors at the early dog shows of England.  Click's parents, Lamb and Moss,  were undeniably from China and they are said to have been captured in the Emperor of China's Palace during the siege of Peking in 1867 and brought to England by the then Marquis of Wellesley. 

Without doubt the Pug was brought to prominence in Great Britain by Lady Willoughby de Eresby of Grimthorpe, and by Mr. Morrison of Walham Green, who each grew their own kennels of Pugs with such success that all fawn Pugs eventually became known as Willoughby or Morrison Pugs.

The dog has always been a ladies' favourite which perhaps led to him being viewed, wrongly so as a lapdog and a play thing. 

Queen Victoria was a great lover of Pugs and kept one herself of which she was immensely proud. 

In 1883 the Pug Dog Club was established to set the standard of points by which judges would award prizes to the breed.  Soon afterwards the London and Provincial Pug Club emerged and set its own standards for judging which were never applied. 

In those early days only fawn Pugs were seen at shows and exhibitions, the black variety, sadly, were usually viewed as faulted and destroyed at birth.  All that changed in 1886 when lady Brassey exhibited her black Pugs at the Maidstone Show.