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Learn how to judge a Pug, focusing on correct bite examination, head structure, movement, and color standards.
Donnelle Richards
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This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, March 2019 issue.
The Pug is a thumb breed. Do not open the mouth of a Pug. AKC has a chart of all breeds and how to check their bites. This is a thumb breed, as are: Brussels Griffons, English Toy Spaniels, Japanese Chin, and Pekingese. These five breeds (as of June 23, 2018) are the ones that are examined without opening the mouth.
We have had a lot of complaints of judges wrestling with the dogs to check the teeth. Please don’t wrestle this breed.
The bite should be slightly undershot (reverse scissors), but there must be a chin—not mushmouthed. Checking the bite is quick and easy. This is a thumb breed, and you must examine on the outside of the muzzle and bite. We only state that we are slightly undershot. You can feel this with your thumb.
Cup your fingers behind the Pug’s ears. This gives you a good look at the beautiful wrinkles on the head and will help you to feel the head. As Pugs have a lot of skin on the head, it is important to feel the bone structure.
Use your thumbs to feel the top of the head, slide your thumbs down and feel the good width of the skull.
Continue to slide your thumbs down to the muzzle, which should be at least as wide as to be to the middle of the eyes. Feel for a wry bite at the same time.
Then put one thumb in front of the lips. (If your thumb bends forward slightly, you will have a correct slightly undershot bite.)
As your fingers are still cupped behind the ears, you can again see the beautiful shape of the head and expression. Your examination of the head is now over. You may judge the head last—that is fine. The Pug must have a large round head. The head of a Pug usually matures rather slowly and will generally not reach full size until after two years of age.
The rather small ears should reach only to the cheekbones. They are soft like velvet and very expressive; helping to give the Pug the sweet, soft expression we so love in our breed.
The large, dark, globular eyes are set so that the middle of the eye is at the top of the nose and the bottom of the alert ear. A light eye gives a much harsher expression to the face and should be penalized to the degree of the fault.
Pugs should appear cobby (the standard says Multum in Parvo—meaning a lot in a little). It is a heavy little dog. The standard says 14 to 18 pounds for a dog or bitch, but many today weigh slightly over 20 pounds and are still cobby.
Pugs are square (dog or bitch). Measured from the point of shoulder to point of rump and ground to top of withers. They should never be too long in body nor too short on leg. Pugs have only a slight tuck-up.
The front legs, when viewed from the front, should appear straight. There may be some muscling on the outside of the front legs, and that should not be taken as not being straight. They are set well under when viewed from the side. The pasterns are only slightly bent.
The neck should be strong and of sufficient length to hold the large head proudly. The head with no neck and set on the shoulders is not correct.
The straight topline should remain level when moving or standing. A sloping topline is not level.
The standard calls for a high-set curly tail curled over the hip. A double-curled tail is perfection. You see tails curled tightly directly on top of the back, and this is certainly acceptable. A Pug with the tail down when moving is an unhappy Pug, and today that Pug should not win.
The Pug has a double-tracking gait. There is a slight convergence as speed increases, but look at a normal speed, and you will see a slight convergence. The front and rear legs should be in a straight line. If you look at the rear going away, you should see only the rear, and when coming at you, only the front. This would be a true double-track gait.
I ask that the handler take the Pug down and back on as loose a lead as possible so that I can see the gait. If the Pug is on a tight lead, you will not see the proper double track.
The last thing you want to look at for your consideration in the ring is color. Fawn does consist of many different shades, and they may have black hairs mixed in. Smuttiness in the Fawn coloring is only a minor fault. When the standard says “clear color,” that is to say there is a clear delineation between the fawn and the black of the mask and ears on the Fawn dogs.
Black Pugs are just that—black. By saying only Fawn or Black, this should eliminate any other off-color. Just remember that Fawn does come with black hairs mixed in.
If you are a judge of junior showmanship and don’t know what to do when you ask the junior to show the bite, I ask of all juniors, “Please show me the bite and mouth as you do in the conformation ring.” I expect the junior to either explain to me (politely) that we do not open the mouth of the Pug or to show how the examination is done.
I hope this helps all of us to understand our wonderful breed and how it should be judged.
Hello, I enjoyed seeing my article again and received many positive comments thank you! I need to clarify one part of the description which can lead to a misunderstanding. I wrote “the distance between the front feet while standing should be the width of one foot.” To prevent misunderstanding I should have said PAW, meaning the anatomical foot of the dog, not the measurement of 12 inches, which is much too wide.
Tank you again for a great publication, Morton Goldfarb.
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