“Pugs Are Not Cute, [They’re] Malformed, Sick Animals That Shouldn’t Exist”: This Tumblr Thread May Change The Way You See Pugs
Pugs go all the way back to the Chinese Han dynasty (B.C. 206 to A.D. 200). Sources say that Chinese Emperors really valued this breed, and the pups were kept in luxury and even guarded by soldiers. Now, they’ve made their way into family homes all over the world. However, living with pugs isn’t just adoring them. Recently, one tumblr user shared a harsh yet truthful rant on the breed’s health problems, and it looks like these pups have a lot to worry about from their wrinkly head to tail. Continue scrolling to read more about them!
Image credits: e_haya
People (including pug owners) had a lot to say about this
I feel so so bad when I see overbred cat or dog breeds have a completely flat face and thus terrible health issues. Don't buy pugs like that, buy retropugs! (However if you get a sick pug from the shelter, that's obviously not your fault and I commend you for giving it a home)
So many breeds are deformed by a human's desire to say "look at my dog".Just look at these dogs. They're not bred like this for their own doggy pleasure, but for their owner to feel tough. https://www.ebkc.org/breeds/american-bully/
Load More Replies...I feel about pugs' cuteness pretty much the way I feel about bound feet. Something that is not ok, and should be left in the history books. *exception for the healthy "retro" pugs....but really? adopt don't buy.
*bound feet / foot binding / torture inflicted upon women in the Tang Dynasty in China.
Load More Replies...I feel sorry for every pug I see - particularly the ones who are audibly snorting and suffling. I do hope the retro ones become the norm. The Kennel Club/Crufts should change the breed "pedigree standards" in favour of the healthy characteristics. If the dogs with unhealthy traits had no chance of winning anything there would be no incentive for breeders to encourage them. Same goes for all breeds with serious health issues resulting from overbreeding to conform to a specific look.
To be fair, this would apply to more dog breeds than you'd think. Pugs have issues due to malformed skulls, dachshunds have back issues due to long spine, pretty much all large breeds(and the awesome and beloved great dane most of all - there's a reason their average life spawn is 7 years only) suffer from 450749 health issues stemming from overly large body size (body too big for the heart, legs end up too fragile under so much pressure, guts are prone to getting tangled...etc)...if you spend more time thinking about it, it's quite scary actually=x
Load More Replies...For all the people saying we still need to love them. Absolutely! But there's a HUGE difference between adopting a pug from a shelter vs giving money to someone who is responsible for breeding them. Either way, one less dog is in need of a home. But if you stop giving those people money, they will be forced to stop breeding unhappy unhealthy animals. The pugs they have already bred will eventually go to shelters, where the next person looking for a pet will see them.
What they've done with breeding in Bulldogs is the same. People want the pushed in faces and overbite. But it's not healthy for the dog.
Bulldogs have changed so much over the years, creating a grotesque body shape with huge shoulders, neck and heads. Pups have to be delivered by caserean because they won’t fit through the birth canal.
Load More Replies...Unfortunately this is happening to many different types of animals where humans do selective breeding. Arabian horses bred for a bigger dip in head where they look cartoonish, Persian cats have been over bred from the doll face traditional look. Even our food animals. Freaky chickens bred for larger breast meat.
My aunt used to breed Persian cats and she finds alot of todays persians as sickly. I cant remember if hers were that extreme but from the one kitty we borrowed it looked short then normal in the muzzle but not the "slapped with a pan" face.
Load More Replies...To be honest I don't really understand the whole pug love epidemic. Don't get me wrong, they're usually very sweet and of course deserve love but I just can't wrap my mind around why you'd want something that looks like it's rammed a wall head-on cartoon-style, almost getting its nose pointing backwards and eyes falling out of the sockets=x I mean, character is one thing but when I see all these people going AWWWWH SO CUTE over pug *faces* I just honestly don't get it. Not that they're ugly per se, just...odd and malformed. And then yes, as a direct consequence of that come health issues.
Im my opinion, pugs and other flat-faced dogs actually are ugly per se.
Load More Replies...Bulldogs are the same way. They cannot give birth without a c section and most have problems with their skin folds and eyes getting infected. Their eyelashes tend to grow inward toward the eye and they need surgery to correct it. It's just a horribly sad situation for a pet. To exist solely because we want them to, despite their discomfort and physical issues.
ENGLISH bulldogs. There are other bulldog breeds that don't have those problems, or have them to a lesser extent. If the English bulldog goes extinct, that would be a good thing -- every existing English bulldog should be with a loving family and have as long and happy a life as they can, but they should be sterilized. But while other bully breeds DO have some lines with health problems based on inbreeding, they're not the horrible problems that English bulldogs have.
Load More Replies...This is also true of German Shepherds. People have bred them to have a certain look and it causes hip displacement.
There are breeders who breed working line shepherds who are gorgeous healthy animals without the awful sloping that has become so popular. The problem is hack breeders who call their dogs "king" shepherds (that's not a thing!) And the show lines that want exaggerated features of the breed. Working lines are where it's at
Load More Replies...Although all purebred dogs have issues, pugs are some of the worst. I have so many mixed feelings. I hate that the life of a pug is naturally difficult, but the thought of them dying out is disturbing. I say breed them out. Breed them with other dogs so that, over time, yes the breed will become think but their offspring will live on. All dogs die. Perhaps we could make it better for their descendants. That’s what I like about the retropugs.
There was recently an article about how some people breed dogs to provide the market with 'pure bred' dogs, sometimes practising inbreeding. The dogs used become weak and die, all because people want 'pure bred' dogs and would pay any price for them... That's really disgusting
Inbreeding is not used "sometimes". It's a very common practice.
Load More Replies..."This Tumblr thread may change the way you see pugs" - what exactly may it change? Me seeing them as what they are? Overbred, ill, dysfunctional victims of human fashion? I'd never in my life perceive something as any kind of "cute" if it started snorting, panting and collapsing to a puddle on the floor as soon as the temperatures rise past 20°C ... What I really wish is: Everyone who goes nuts when they see dogs like this, with all the "ohmygodtheyresocuuuuute" should live one day as a Pug (or a Frenchie ... you get the point). Preferrably a 35 degree Celsius summer day.
So basically if you're going to shop, get a retro pug, but if you're going to adopt, then you can get a pug because then there aren't breeders making profit off of multiplying them.
My personal feeling is that dogs (or cats) like this should not be bred. If you are a responsible breeder, this kind of thing is inexcusable. I'm not saying we should destroy all pugs "for their own good", but stop breeding them. Please. Same with French Bulldogs. They cannot even GIVE BIRTH on their own, they have to have vet intervention with a c-section. And that's a horrible thing. When an animal breed cannot even CONTINUE TO BREED on its own, then things have gone way, way too far. I commend those who get such a beast from the shelter, and commit to giving it a good home for the rest of its life. But lets PLEASE stop buying them. IF there's no market for these animals, then there won't be any more of them.
" I'm not saying we should destroy all pugs 'for their own good'" you're not saying that but it sure sounds like the original poster is saying that.
Load More Replies...Seek out a dog at an shelter instead. Its awesome, and you end up with a mongrel of happiness!
You can get breeds that need homes too. I have one that is a breed and one that is a mutt, both rescue.
Load More Replies...Saying that pugs are not cute because they were bred to be unhealthy and malformed kind of makes it sound like it's the dog's fault. It's really not, and they are still cute despite their issues, because all dogs are cute.
I have a French bulldog. He was born with a cleft palate and no one wanted him..I heard through a grapevine he was being taken to a shelter so I stepped in and took him home. He does have a hard time breathing, and snorts like a pig. His cleft palate doesnt seem to get in the way of his eating. He's the best little friend I could have asked for and I'm glad I have him. I kind of agree with what people are saying about retropugs...and to love the ones who are already here and choose better bred versions in future. However, I think some of the things people like about pugs are what are being bred out, the stumpiness, the breathing etc. Until people change their mindset not much will change.
What I’ve been saying for so long! Thank you BP for shining some light onto this problem!
Inbreeding is never a good idea, as illustrated by the British royal family. I'm glad they've decide to bring in fresh blood. Manx cats are another animal that should not be bred. Their lack of tail is a spinal deformity. I believe that in Britain they are not allowed to be bred. I have had several manxes and love them dearly (the one I have now is a ninja despite his deformity, thank heavens) but it is unkind of people to deliberately perpetuate physical problems in pets because of some "cuteness" factor. Existing ones should be loved, but we don't need to deliberately produce more.
Try the Hapsburgs for inbreeding. Peter II or III, (or maybe VII, I can't remember; it's been a while.) We have laws about inbreeding people. We should have them for animals, too.
Load More Replies...The retro pugs are beautiful why would anyone want any other type. I blame the kennel club (UK) for a lot of these issues
Pugs looked very cute originaly(without the cropped ears of course) pug-1802-5...200606.jpg
No it's not, as long as you don't support the breeders who breed these unhealthy dogs! The dogs themselves have done nothing wrong, it's the people who suck
Load More Replies...The answer to this problem is to stop the breeders,all breeders of dogs that are prone to these awful problems.l felt like l rescued my pugs when l bought them,when they are born,what do you suggest?get the authorities to euthanasia them all.My pugs live a very happy healthy life,they have air conditioning,& regular health check ups.My oldest one is fourteen,and has good quality of life.
And how many more has that breeder produced? What sort of conditions are they raised in. How often are the bitches bred? How close are their genetics? When my mother bought my 10th birthday's birthday present (a poodle) she checked the pedigree and the breeder and the conditions before I was allowed to see the puppies. 8 generations back on each side, 15 grand champions, and none of them related at all. That dog had no health problems at all. (And we never bred him, either. The world had no need of another set of puppies just because.
Load More Replies...The change needs to start with the kennel clubs that promote the standard of how each breed of purebred dog should look.
Anything that isn't a wolf is technically an unnatural human creation. It's not just pugs. Pekinese are the same, frenchies, sometimes boxers, bulldogs, they all have some of these issues, then there's the dachshunds who end up paralyzed because of their long backs, etc. Purebreds are inbred. The best dogs are mongrels because they have had the pick of the gene pool. I love all the animals, regardless.
The kennel club and some breeders have a lot to answer for. Fashion before welfare.
Same goes for bulldogs. Breeding of dogs has gotten out of hand. These are living beings, not accessories.
Unfortunately it's not just these wonderful dogs. It seems humans have decided they need to improve on nature for everything. Look at Persian cats. They can hardly breathe. There is one specie that should be improved. Humans. They should be made more kind.
My relative and neighbor has a pug named Lily and I love her just like every other dog I regularly come in contact with and get to pet (even if I feel sorry for her because of her medical problems). She (the owner) asked me several times on more then one occasion things like "Aren't pugs great?" "Don't you like pugs?" "Aren't pugs so cute?" "Aren't pugs the best?" "Do you love pugs?" clearly expecting me to say yes (looking for my approval for some reason). I did my best to ignore it, act as if it was a rhetorical question (which it sometimes was) or as if I didn't hear it without being impolite. When I finally answered no she asked why and I told her it's because their medical problems. I tried to explain that I love Lily but don't like the breed but I don't think she got it. (She asked later again and I had to repeat myself)
That isn’t a reason to dislike pugs, it is a reason to dislike pug breeders.
Load More Replies...Nope, didn't change my mind. I have always thought that pugs should be bred. My cousins have two french bulldogs that I always feel so bad for. If you love the looks of a pug, get him from a shelter so you are not supporting the breeding of these poor dogs. That goes for any dog you want. Adopt, don't shop.
Actually, this problem is true for both dogs and cats. For instance, Persian cats, which have been bred with abnormally short noses, experience plenty of issues related to this throughout their lives.
Actually, many of the things stated on this thread are not true (as is much of the internet on a multitude of subjects... but I digress...). If a human is not able to be birthed without a c-section, does it mean that person shouldn't have children? Or be labeled as "shouldn't exist?". No, I don't think so. AND as someone who HAS HAD french bulldogs and bred them, they actually are able to birth naturally if you are a responsible and knowledgeable breeder. Ours had all 7 FINE, do not have these skin problems or breathing problems listed. They go on hikes with us all the time IN VERMONT. Do you think we should just stop breeding Rotties because they only live MAYBE 8 years? And most get painful hip dysplasia? (As do many large labs and retrievers?). Or Aussies who have an increasingly high chance of shoulder cancer? Or chocolate labs that are so inbred, they now have aggressive, unpredictable temperament? #thingstoconsider #actuallyknowwhatyouretalkingabout #LOLinternet
Or maybe the breeders of dogs prone to hip dysplasia should take a page out of the Irish wolfhound breeders of 40 years ago: x-ray all their dogs, and neuter any who show signs of the disease, using only those clean as breeding animals. It worked. How do I know? I met some of those breeders while visiting a friend; it was her aunt and uncle (and an Irish who thought she was a lap dog.) Same goes for any breed with multiple problems. I chose not to have children because I knew I would pass on medical issues, and I always thought we were supposed to love our children. How can you profess to love someone, knowing they too will live a horribly painful life? Your arguments are specious.
Load More Replies...She makes some very valid, legitimate points. Not all "fake news" like someone else.... She could have shared it in a more friendly way - her opening sentences were a bit hostile. Perhaps instead of "Pugs are not cute" say, "When you realize all the health problems pugs have, you may not think they're so cute anymore."
Irresponsible breeders are the problem, and their activities should be closely monitored by Veterinarians and authorities. Dog CACIB and similar competitions do not help either. I normally adopt, but I had a crush. My late Bella, a Bichon Frise, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bichon_Frise was 1 out of 6 pups in her litter. All of her siblings died quite young of tumors or tumor related complications. One of her siblings gave birth to an eyeless pup, that was adopted but did not make it for very long. It was at that time we, the owners of the pups, we are all friends, learned that the pup's mother died in an atrocious way, from uterus prolapse while giving birth yet to another X thousand EUR worth of litter. We were all appalled and cut all promotion/recommendation for this breeder, but there are so many others out there. My Bella blessed me with her love for 15.5 years, fearless scooter babe, went everywhere with me, and passed away because of kidney failure. Adopt, don't buy!
These pugs look like they ran into the wrong wall at platform 9 and 3/4.
I'm old enough to remember when Persian cats still had noses - and it wasn't that long ago. It makes me sad to see the flat faced modern version with the gunk dripping from the eyes. Animals shouldn't be taken too far from where nature intended them to be.
For such a long time I have seen or read about some breeds that should never have been, I agree about the pugs, so cute, but why buy when they will suffer and you watch in horror. Why is it no management for proper breeding ???
There are breeders who have brought in terriers to bring the nose back to what it used to be. Sadly we have the AKC and the showring ideal for the "rose face" and the really short nose. It's a real shame. Mine are rescues and while I am lucky not to have issues with collapsed trachea or seizures, one has hip displaysia and the other has spinal issues. I've got to say that making them super popular in movies like MIB did nothing for the breed, it has made backyarders grow exponentially. Thefts are increasing, too. But I will say that they have awesome personalities and are super attentive and lovable.
All the Kennel Clubs need to do is set a minimum nose/snout length and other changes to specifications for showing. Top breeders would have to conform to show their dogs, in order to win the competitions that make their dogs more valuable and desirable for future breeding. This would greatly improve things within a fairly short length of time. When people are looking for a pedigree dog, with the idea of puppies in the future - the preference is for one with a "good pedigree". Which is one going back 5 generations and the more show winners in there the better. The less winners with bad health defects, the better for the breed.
Load More Replies...the retro pug, looks like a puggle... (beagle/pug mix) which are adorable!!
Interesting that this appears so close to the spread on wolfhounds, another breed altered by humans to fit their fantasy. Check the average lifespan for them; you want a companion for six years, top, go ahead. Better to get a rescue, people.
Lots of breeds are altered by humans but pugs (and other short-snouted breeds) have suffered the most. Does the wolfhound have as many problems as the pug? Of course not.
Load More Replies...Honestly all that can be done is taking away the unhealthy ones ability to reproduce and caring for them till they die and all that's left are the healthy ones . And unfortunately the unethical breeders won't stop as long as it makes money and there will always be people who decide to shop for purebreds from the unhealthy source instead of adopting from health focused breeders or from places that the breeders won't make a penny from
I have a pug x for those very reasons and he came from a breeder who was trying to breed out the negative health issues. He has all the best bits I love about pugs (personality, cheekiness etc), but he has a long snout, even longer than the ones in these photos so he has none of the pug "wheezing" you always hear, no "reverse sneezing", his head isn't as small and flat and his tail isn't so tightly coiled. He is about as tall as a beagle and can handle hot Australian summers just as well as any dog. I highly recommend them. My boy is 8 years old now and the only time he's had to visit the vet is for checkups, shots and dental cleaning!
Mindaugas is absolutely right and my only complaint about his post is that it doesn’t go far enough. The truth is that dachshunds, German shepherds, English bulldogs and almost all other breeds have been OVERbred. The object: to produce dogs that bring high prices because they win prizes at the competitions run by state and national kennel clubs. The resulting dogs are indeed beautiful animals but they are suffer disproportionately from to a large number of diseases. Google “mutts vs. pedigree dogs” and you'll learn the awful truth. Get a mutt instead. And learn how to choose and keep a dog FIRST. A dog's not a pet but a responsibility.
Pugs are the most cutest thing ever to be made, I love them and they deserve as much love as any other living creature including yourself
Nobody said they didn't. Tell me: if you knew you carried genetic problems that would cause your children to die in horrible pain somewhere in their future, would you still have kids? Or would you say, this genetic problem dies with me? In the 60s, all the families in England (who knew for certain) that carried the gene for Huntington's disease (about 14 people ages 10 and up) got together and agreed to be sterilized in an effort to wipe it out. I consider them to be heroic. They cared that much about future children having it. (There is no cure.) 40 years ago the responsible Irish Wolfhound breeders made a concerted effort to wipe out hip dysplasia in their animals. What's wrong with trying to keep the dogs with the most problems from breeding? You LIKE seeing animals in pain?
Load More Replies...Most of the things discussed here are plain wrong. I am an ophthalmologist and it's ridiculous that the eyes "commonly pop out". Also, pug are among the dogs that have the LEAST incidence of dysplastic hip, which is a disease very commonly seen among retrievers, huskies and several other "normal" dog breeds. Yes, there is a little bit of wheezing, but my pugs have been happy, healthy and incredibly vigorous dogs. I advise the author to revise his rant of an article. Those are just lies upon lies.
Everything stated in this article is true to an extent. Nothing is an outright lie, but there are some half truths and some exaggerated truths, which the author of the article likely did on purpose to drive their point home. While it's true that small breeds don't tend to have hip dysplasia, for their size Pugs are prone to it. In larger dogs the high instance of hip dysplasia is affected by pediatric neutering, which increases the incidence of HD by at least 2-5 times, depending on the breed. What you people don't seem to understand is that NO amount of wheezing is in any way healthy or acceptable. No appropriately proportioned, healthy dog wheezes, not ever, no matter how hard or long they've been running. Your dogs have to live with restricted breathing, they've always had to live with it. So they adapt and make due with what they've got. Doesn't mean that they aren't suffering for an entirely cosmetic feature.
Load More Replies...Good information on how selective breeding of pugs has created a breed with serious (and cruel) health issues. Too bad the title of the thread makes the author sound like a d*ck. :-( Hopefully people will look past the title and keep reading for the information. Although many purebreds are at risk for health issues as they get older (which bad enough as it is), pugs are born with serious health issues from the beginning! With other breeds there's been a growing trend towards selectively breeding out known health risks. I hope this trend becomes standard practice for pugs as well, as suggested by the author. Intentionally breeding purebred pugs is basically a form of torture, imho. Besides, there are plenty of shelter dogs who need good homes, so why not just adopt a rescue dog?
We should have stopped breeding 100 years ago. Back then german shepherds still had a back end that didn't look broken, pugs had a snout and could eat, labradors weren't mongoloids who died of heart attacks at age 3 ... and they still all looked cute/cool/rough/tough. Totally agree with the article.
I had a friend who got a pug - paid thousands. Because they were 'cute'. That dog is insane - she hasn't trained it well, and has recently gotten an operation to widen it's nostrils. Because it also had biting issues as a puppy she actually considered having its teeth removed. Who even does that? That pug purchase was the tip of the iceberg of behaviours that made me see she wasn't a person I really want to know...
And that's another issue with rampant inbreeding: Sudden Rage Syndrome. There are no outward symptoms until the dog just suddenly goes bonkers for a few minutes...then regains its usual sunny disposition, and can't remember what it did, like a brief bout of violent insanity. Friend of mine got 20 stitches out of an episode like that--from a puppy. Can you imagine what would have happened with an adult dog? 3 months old, and they had to have her euthanized. There's no cure. No way to train it out. Need I add it was a puppy mill rescue? Inbreeding... Your friend is a product of the poodle phenomenon from my childhood: get a poodle because all the rich people had them, and you'll look cool. Most of them had no idea what to do with a dog. (Evidently dogs trained themselves. Stupid people!) My mother's sister had two toothless Pomeranians--because they were so old they no longer had teeth! They used to gum her curtains.
Load More Replies...Pugs are cute. All dogs are cute. But pugs are not good dog options, for the reasons listed. Get Retro pugs! They're cute too! An animal doesn't have to be malformed, twisted, unhealthy animals to be considered cute.
It baffles me that people still breed pugs when retropugs have all the charm without the suffering.
Some people are too stubborn to think. They decide they're right, so damn the facts.
Load More Replies...I've never understood the appeal of pugs, as their faces always looked really uncomfortable to me, not cute. I've grown up around large dogs, mostly Golden Retrievers and labs, and I know they have their own issues, but they seem to be from in-breeding for purity more than going for a desired phenotype.
To minimise all health problems for all dog breeds breed standards should allow a bit of freedom for example have a 10cm height difference, have slightly different snouts and so on. There is no “ideal” breed standard. Dogs should be judge by their performance not their looks. In the old days many people had mutts and they could perform better jobs than the breeds bred for those jobs. I’m all in for breeding dogs BUT don’t breed them to get extreme features so you get famous and rich breed them so the can perform what they should. Gsd used to be great herding dogs now I don’t see those dogs being able to perform around sheep’s whilst they drag their a*s when walking.
That's showline GSD's. Work line are just fine and fully functional. Basically, in any breed where there is a split between work and show, you know there's something show added in that makes the dog incapable of the work they were originally supposed to do.
Load More Replies...My family always ONLY gets their pets from shelters and NEVER from breeders. It's so much better and it honestly makes me so upset that people spend so much money on getting a sick (usually very inbred) dog just so it has that *specific look* Honestly, some mutts look better anyways :/
My mother went with the purebred poodle because poodles do not shed. What she didn't realize (this was 55 years ago and getting information was a lot more difficult) was that as water dogs--they are excellent retrievers--they have an oily excretions on their skin,and if you have a black poodle, it's a black oil. Which doesn't wash off white walls. You have to sand the wall down and repaint it... Reprehensively, I laughed at her. It's all a matter of perspective.
Load More Replies...i do partly agree with this, exept for the whole "pugs are NOT cute" deal
Depends on the pug. There have been some entered in those World's Ugliest Dog contests. Too much inbreeding again.
Load More Replies...That's so sad. get your hands out of the genetics and leave these beautiful babies as they were meant to be. mama mia
Thank you for helping me to put into words why I’ve always felt so uncomfortable around pugs... I knew one once, nice dog, but the poor thing was so sickly that I just felt so bad and angry at his owners that I also have never got on the pug-train. Unfortunately, the damage was done - my son bonded with the dog and to this day wants a pug of his own!
Yes i agree with all the comments regarding these poor, unhealthy, inbred dogs. It's despicable and only for human cosmetic reasons, this dogs live a painful, restrictive life. My friend had a French bulldog many years ago, he loves dogs but i watched him get sadder and sadder with Roo, she had so many problems from day one, they were thinking of breeding her but spayed her instead when vet said natural birth is impossible and very dangerous with these dogs, that was enough for him to spay her and vowed to never buy a pure breed again.
Toy dog, teacup dog, micro mini dog, all those breeders are just cruel! Some pups are so small vets don't know how to treat them. My dogs are soldiers! Rotties all the way! Tiberius, my tender soldier... dogs aren't purses, dogs are workers, they love work!! .. Breeding abominations is so awful
I do not understand the need for 'micro-dogs', they're strictly status symbols. They too have a hell of a time giving birth. And the dogs with too-large heads--why? What's the attraction? The biggest problem with rotties is that they insist on sitting on your foot!
Load More Replies...My friend's Grandma has a dog,and every time he barks,it sound like he's quaking like a duck
What a stupid, ignorant article. There's a minute out of my life that I'll never get back.
My dad used to have a colourpoint persian (he got him with a secondhand computer, no joke). He had a short nose and an overbite. My dad had to clean his eyes several times a day and the cat could snore louder than my dad. I also had a siamese with a crooked tale and cross eyed, so his owners didn't want to keep him because he was not perfect. Well he was perfect for me and if I ever want a siamese again I wouldn't want one with such a sharp triangular head, I'd want one with a round head (which are called Thai) and from a shelter.
My in-laws have a pug that they rescued. Recently it's nose started falling off. It's just crumbling away. I guess it's common.
I was about to comment saying pugs are cute, but then read this and thought: There is another type of pug that doesn't have these issues.
My major beef - "toy" Australian Shepherds. There is no such breed, it is usually a cross between different small breeds to get a dog that sort of looks like an Aussie. But for an informing documentary, watch Pedigree Dogs Exposed, https://vimeo.com/17558275
My best friend had pugs for years. The first one came from their neighbor, who was a typical backyard breeder (lots of inbreeding). I was really upset with my friend when she let her money-hungry husband and the next door neighbor talk her into breeding her female (because the puppies would be “ready to go” at Christmas time. Her female was probably bred back to it’s own father or a brother. I was shocked by how many puppies those small, pudgy bodies produce. Her dog had 7 - one died and another one had a deformed leg. Yeah, all puppies are cute - but you couldn’t pay me to have a pug or any of the other short nosed, deformed looking breeds. She ended up with 3 pugs, didn’t do any kind of training with them, over fed and they became some of the most obnoxious dogs I’ve ever been around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a dog person and haven’t been without one since the late 80s, but these pugs were awful! Plus, although short haired...they shed constantly.
Most short-haired breeds do. The longer-haired dogs usually 'blow' about twice a year--in other words, lose all their hair at once as the new comes in, so you're about knee deep in fur. Any dog left untrained is a pain in the a*s. Especially the pampered ones.
Load More Replies...There are very few pure dog breeds I like. Even labradors can have hip displasia and distemper. Mongrels are the best, but lab/collie mixes are my favourite. Collies are bred to be healthy and smart and when you mix in lab you get the most devoted, smart and fit dog you could possibly want. I hate Crufts and I despise the cruelty we put dogs through from birth. We truly do not desrve them and they sure as heck do not deserve what we do to them.
Distemper is a disease. Any dog can get it. That's why we have vaccines for it. Hip dysplasia, on the other hand, is genetic,and no dog with it in its family tree (immediate ancestors or close relatives, i.e. brothers or sisters) should be allowed to breed. You can actually breed it out of a line.
Load More Replies...I'm far from a dog expert, but it seems to me there are many dogs that suffer from many of these problems. Maybe pugs are more inbred than most dogs but doesn't purebred imply inbred? Isn't that the entire point of show dogs?
Not entirely. A responsible breeder goes as far out of the immediate family as they possibly can. In other words, they'll look out of state first for a suitable mate to produce the next generation. The worst inbred are things that are popular, like pugs (gee, thanks, MIB!), or the newer breeds, like AUstralian Shepherds, because the AKC closed the foundation studbook, so there are very few genetically diverse breed lines. (And this is as of 15 years ago now. Think what the genetics look like *now*.) The Australian Shepherd Club, which runs its own breed-specific shows, actually has a much more diverse foundation sire/dam book, because they accept dogs from Australia in the breed stud. The AKC --doesn't. It's possible to have purebreds without problems, but that takes stringent care with their breeding, and it's easier and cheaper to just use a relative, because it's probably your dog as well. And the puppy mill breeders, who love dogs the size of pugs because you can jam them.
Load More Replies...This would have been a much better article if it had started with the Retro pugs instead of just attacking pugs all the way through and it would have been a much better article if it had attacked puppy mills who breed pugs to be smaller and smaller and attacked the laws that allow puppy mills to Exist by the thousands in the United States of America
They're attacking people who breed them not pugs. It's not the dogs' fault but the breeders'.
Load More Replies...I'm pretty sure whether an animal is 'cute' or not is up to the owner. This does sound cruel and it all makes sense, I get that part. But I don't get the 'cute' comment.
Agreed. Why debate over whether they're cute or not? The issue is their health problems, and the breeders & kennel clubs who don't care about the quality of life of the animals.
Load More Replies...Why can’t they be both cute and inbred? I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive.
All dogs are the result of 30,000 years of selective inbreeding. They all have some sort of issue. Let us be like PETA wants and stop breeding domesticated animals all together.
Many dog breeds have issues, but pugs have some of the worst.
Load More Replies...Ha! Whoever wrote this article should also write one about the human race.... let’s see how many bad things you can come up with - what an idiot! Retro pugs are pugs mixed with beagles and are nothing like a pug in terms of the way they act. A beagle is a working dog, total opposite of a pug. Also before posting “facts” you might wanna take to people that know about these breeds, not just google.
Please educate yourself. Pugs crossed with beagles are called puggles. They're a so-called 'designer breed'. Retro-Pugs omn the other hand are the result of careful outcrossing to 3 'donor breeds'; Parson Russel Terrier, leggy Jack Russel Terrier, and Miniature Pinscher. The offspring of these outcrosses are then bred back into Pug's and only the offspring with the longest noses and most correct Pug temperaments are chosen to be bred to other such unrelated dogs for furthur refinement. It's a project to create a new, older version of the Pug breed. Not random crossbreeding with little thought and no end goal. Much of what this person posted is accurate, and none of it is technically false. There are some half truths, but they're still truths none the less.
Load More Replies...for all you pug haters out there , the responsibility to having any pet come with ups and down i dont give a rat a*s what type of animal you have they all have health issue weather its hip dispasia, or heart issue diabetes , the health of pugs and any other animal is the responsibility of the pet owner if the pet owner fails to properly take care of the animal then its their stupidity . so what if pug requires a little more care than most i have two labs both of wich has health problems but ya know what ,, they have out lived most labs they are 14 yrs old so take your bull s**t about pugs and shove it up your heartless asses , if you cant take the extra time an animal needs to be gromed and taken properly then ya dont need any pets , you people really show your ignorance here
There is a huge difference between health issues that just happen to be common in a breed, and health issues caused by the selected phenotype. Any health issue that is common in a breed but unrelated to phenotype can be tested for and selected against. Health issues that are directly caused by a dogs phenotype, on the other hand, cannot be selected against without changing the appearance of the dog. Most of a Pugs health issues are caused by their phenotype, therefore it's impossible to escape them without extending the snout and breeding for deeper set eyes and a straighter tail. No ones saying that pugs don't deserve love. They deserve it just as much as any other dog. It's not their fault that humans are stupid, selfish and willfully blind. We're just saying that they shouldn't exist, due to the suffering that their very appearance causes them. Yes, we should love the ones that are already here, but we need to stop the continued breeding of dogs such as this.
Load More Replies...what moron made up this c**p about them being sick and malformed? they are bred down from a mastiff. I owned a pug for 14 years and she had energy and liked sleeping. her nose worked just fine with no snorting.
Oh no :) that sucks. We really need to stop breeding pugs and start breeding retropugs. Now I'm going to be super sad for the rest of the week. ;-; (Btw if I made a spelling mistake it's because the font color is the same as the background color for some stupid reason.)
Oh shoot O.O I said :) instead of :( I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!
Load More Replies...So I guess I was just lucky because none of these applies to my pug, she's always had perfect health (even now at 9 years old) and my vet said she breathes perfectly and needs absolutely no surgery. As for reverse sneezing: I have four dogs and the one who has constant reverse sneezing is my chihuahua.
I think you *were* lucky. Men in Black did the breed no favors. It made them too popular too fast, which of course encouraged the irresponsible breeders to produce many many without taking care with the breeding. And when people realized how much trouble they could be, or simply owning a dog could be, they started getting dumped in shelters.
Load More Replies...stop attacking pugs. puppy millers breed them smaller and smaller. stop supporting puppy mills and while you're at it why don't you attack the laws that allow puppy mills to exist
No one's attacking pugs, literally all the comments are about how the breeders suck? It's not the dogs' fault they're sick, it's the breeders' fault. And not just puppy mills but "respectable" breeders as well so want to breed "cute" dogs over healthy dogs
Load More Replies...PUGS...ARE....CUTE. Who ever created this post is a complete A*****e who is a selfish d**k bag.
Wow! Because these dogs are overbred, we are not to give them homes? That sounds pretty cruel to me.
Don't buy sick pugs and give money to the breeders and encourage them to breed more sick pugs. However, if you give home to one you get from the shelter, that's fine. Adopt don't shop
Load More Replies...And I've known poodles to live to 25. What's your point?
Load More Replies...The issue is that; they're inbreed --> their skulls are malformed --> they are getting sick.
Load More Replies...Not every dog will have problems, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an increased risk.
Load More Replies...So you think struggling to breathe every day of your life is fine for animals? Sounds pretty cruel to me
Load More Replies...Well, ok - we can do nothing, so let's do nothing? Is that really a good way of thinking? No, we can't do anything about the dogs that are already alive. But what could be done is make a different, healthier standard for the show-rings. Make a minimum-snout-length, make it mandatory to have the spine x-rayed, BAN dogs that clearly can't breathe properly. So in a while, there will be healthier dogs. The often-cited German Shepherd had LOTS of issues with hip displasia, but due to a rigorous breeding-standard in Germany, those issues got less and less (they still don't ALL look like a dog should look, but the hips are better). It's not an overnight fix, and the dogs that exist now need a good home and people with money to keep them healthy. But putting the head in the sand and saying "Ah, well.. can't be changed, let's keep breeding those faceless things" is the worst solution to the problem
Load More Replies...I feel so so bad when I see overbred cat or dog breeds have a completely flat face and thus terrible health issues. Don't buy pugs like that, buy retropugs! (However if you get a sick pug from the shelter, that's obviously not your fault and I commend you for giving it a home)
So many breeds are deformed by a human's desire to say "look at my dog".Just look at these dogs. They're not bred like this for their own doggy pleasure, but for their owner to feel tough. https://www.ebkc.org/breeds/american-bully/
Load More Replies...I feel about pugs' cuteness pretty much the way I feel about bound feet. Something that is not ok, and should be left in the history books. *exception for the healthy "retro" pugs....but really? adopt don't buy.
*bound feet / foot binding / torture inflicted upon women in the Tang Dynasty in China.
Load More Replies...I feel sorry for every pug I see - particularly the ones who are audibly snorting and suffling. I do hope the retro ones become the norm. The Kennel Club/Crufts should change the breed "pedigree standards" in favour of the healthy characteristics. If the dogs with unhealthy traits had no chance of winning anything there would be no incentive for breeders to encourage them. Same goes for all breeds with serious health issues resulting from overbreeding to conform to a specific look.
To be fair, this would apply to more dog breeds than you'd think. Pugs have issues due to malformed skulls, dachshunds have back issues due to long spine, pretty much all large breeds(and the awesome and beloved great dane most of all - there's a reason their average life spawn is 7 years only) suffer from 450749 health issues stemming from overly large body size (body too big for the heart, legs end up too fragile under so much pressure, guts are prone to getting tangled...etc)...if you spend more time thinking about it, it's quite scary actually=x
Load More Replies...For all the people saying we still need to love them. Absolutely! But there's a HUGE difference between adopting a pug from a shelter vs giving money to someone who is responsible for breeding them. Either way, one less dog is in need of a home. But if you stop giving those people money, they will be forced to stop breeding unhappy unhealthy animals. The pugs they have already bred will eventually go to shelters, where the next person looking for a pet will see them.
What they've done with breeding in Bulldogs is the same. People want the pushed in faces and overbite. But it's not healthy for the dog.
Bulldogs have changed so much over the years, creating a grotesque body shape with huge shoulders, neck and heads. Pups have to be delivered by caserean because they won’t fit through the birth canal.
Load More Replies...Unfortunately this is happening to many different types of animals where humans do selective breeding. Arabian horses bred for a bigger dip in head where they look cartoonish, Persian cats have been over bred from the doll face traditional look. Even our food animals. Freaky chickens bred for larger breast meat.
My aunt used to breed Persian cats and she finds alot of todays persians as sickly. I cant remember if hers were that extreme but from the one kitty we borrowed it looked short then normal in the muzzle but not the "slapped with a pan" face.
Load More Replies...To be honest I don't really understand the whole pug love epidemic. Don't get me wrong, they're usually very sweet and of course deserve love but I just can't wrap my mind around why you'd want something that looks like it's rammed a wall head-on cartoon-style, almost getting its nose pointing backwards and eyes falling out of the sockets=x I mean, character is one thing but when I see all these people going AWWWWH SO CUTE over pug *faces* I just honestly don't get it. Not that they're ugly per se, just...odd and malformed. And then yes, as a direct consequence of that come health issues.
Im my opinion, pugs and other flat-faced dogs actually are ugly per se.
Load More Replies...Bulldogs are the same way. They cannot give birth without a c section and most have problems with their skin folds and eyes getting infected. Their eyelashes tend to grow inward toward the eye and they need surgery to correct it. It's just a horribly sad situation for a pet. To exist solely because we want them to, despite their discomfort and physical issues.
ENGLISH bulldogs. There are other bulldog breeds that don't have those problems, or have them to a lesser extent. If the English bulldog goes extinct, that would be a good thing -- every existing English bulldog should be with a loving family and have as long and happy a life as they can, but they should be sterilized. But while other bully breeds DO have some lines with health problems based on inbreeding, they're not the horrible problems that English bulldogs have.
Load More Replies...This is also true of German Shepherds. People have bred them to have a certain look and it causes hip displacement.
There are breeders who breed working line shepherds who are gorgeous healthy animals without the awful sloping that has become so popular. The problem is hack breeders who call their dogs "king" shepherds (that's not a thing!) And the show lines that want exaggerated features of the breed. Working lines are where it's at
Load More Replies...Although all purebred dogs have issues, pugs are some of the worst. I have so many mixed feelings. I hate that the life of a pug is naturally difficult, but the thought of them dying out is disturbing. I say breed them out. Breed them with other dogs so that, over time, yes the breed will become think but their offspring will live on. All dogs die. Perhaps we could make it better for their descendants. That’s what I like about the retropugs.
There was recently an article about how some people breed dogs to provide the market with 'pure bred' dogs, sometimes practising inbreeding. The dogs used become weak and die, all because people want 'pure bred' dogs and would pay any price for them... That's really disgusting
Inbreeding is not used "sometimes". It's a very common practice.
Load More Replies..."This Tumblr thread may change the way you see pugs" - what exactly may it change? Me seeing them as what they are? Overbred, ill, dysfunctional victims of human fashion? I'd never in my life perceive something as any kind of "cute" if it started snorting, panting and collapsing to a puddle on the floor as soon as the temperatures rise past 20°C ... What I really wish is: Everyone who goes nuts when they see dogs like this, with all the "ohmygodtheyresocuuuuute" should live one day as a Pug (or a Frenchie ... you get the point). Preferrably a 35 degree Celsius summer day.
So basically if you're going to shop, get a retro pug, but if you're going to adopt, then you can get a pug because then there aren't breeders making profit off of multiplying them.
My personal feeling is that dogs (or cats) like this should not be bred. If you are a responsible breeder, this kind of thing is inexcusable. I'm not saying we should destroy all pugs "for their own good", but stop breeding them. Please. Same with French Bulldogs. They cannot even GIVE BIRTH on their own, they have to have vet intervention with a c-section. And that's a horrible thing. When an animal breed cannot even CONTINUE TO BREED on its own, then things have gone way, way too far. I commend those who get such a beast from the shelter, and commit to giving it a good home for the rest of its life. But lets PLEASE stop buying them. IF there's no market for these animals, then there won't be any more of them.
" I'm not saying we should destroy all pugs 'for their own good'" you're not saying that but it sure sounds like the original poster is saying that.
Load More Replies...Seek out a dog at an shelter instead. Its awesome, and you end up with a mongrel of happiness!
You can get breeds that need homes too. I have one that is a breed and one that is a mutt, both rescue.
Load More Replies...Saying that pugs are not cute because they were bred to be unhealthy and malformed kind of makes it sound like it's the dog's fault. It's really not, and they are still cute despite their issues, because all dogs are cute.
I have a French bulldog. He was born with a cleft palate and no one wanted him..I heard through a grapevine he was being taken to a shelter so I stepped in and took him home. He does have a hard time breathing, and snorts like a pig. His cleft palate doesnt seem to get in the way of his eating. He's the best little friend I could have asked for and I'm glad I have him. I kind of agree with what people are saying about retropugs...and to love the ones who are already here and choose better bred versions in future. However, I think some of the things people like about pugs are what are being bred out, the stumpiness, the breathing etc. Until people change their mindset not much will change.
What I’ve been saying for so long! Thank you BP for shining some light onto this problem!
Inbreeding is never a good idea, as illustrated by the British royal family. I'm glad they've decide to bring in fresh blood. Manx cats are another animal that should not be bred. Their lack of tail is a spinal deformity. I believe that in Britain they are not allowed to be bred. I have had several manxes and love them dearly (the one I have now is a ninja despite his deformity, thank heavens) but it is unkind of people to deliberately perpetuate physical problems in pets because of some "cuteness" factor. Existing ones should be loved, but we don't need to deliberately produce more.
Try the Hapsburgs for inbreeding. Peter II or III, (or maybe VII, I can't remember; it's been a while.) We have laws about inbreeding people. We should have them for animals, too.
Load More Replies...The retro pugs are beautiful why would anyone want any other type. I blame the kennel club (UK) for a lot of these issues
Pugs looked very cute originaly(without the cropped ears of course) pug-1802-5...200606.jpg
No it's not, as long as you don't support the breeders who breed these unhealthy dogs! The dogs themselves have done nothing wrong, it's the people who suck
Load More Replies...The answer to this problem is to stop the breeders,all breeders of dogs that are prone to these awful problems.l felt like l rescued my pugs when l bought them,when they are born,what do you suggest?get the authorities to euthanasia them all.My pugs live a very happy healthy life,they have air conditioning,& regular health check ups.My oldest one is fourteen,and has good quality of life.
And how many more has that breeder produced? What sort of conditions are they raised in. How often are the bitches bred? How close are their genetics? When my mother bought my 10th birthday's birthday present (a poodle) she checked the pedigree and the breeder and the conditions before I was allowed to see the puppies. 8 generations back on each side, 15 grand champions, and none of them related at all. That dog had no health problems at all. (And we never bred him, either. The world had no need of another set of puppies just because.
Load More Replies...The change needs to start with the kennel clubs that promote the standard of how each breed of purebred dog should look.
Anything that isn't a wolf is technically an unnatural human creation. It's not just pugs. Pekinese are the same, frenchies, sometimes boxers, bulldogs, they all have some of these issues, then there's the dachshunds who end up paralyzed because of their long backs, etc. Purebreds are inbred. The best dogs are mongrels because they have had the pick of the gene pool. I love all the animals, regardless.
The kennel club and some breeders have a lot to answer for. Fashion before welfare.
Same goes for bulldogs. Breeding of dogs has gotten out of hand. These are living beings, not accessories.
Unfortunately it's not just these wonderful dogs. It seems humans have decided they need to improve on nature for everything. Look at Persian cats. They can hardly breathe. There is one specie that should be improved. Humans. They should be made more kind.
My relative and neighbor has a pug named Lily and I love her just like every other dog I regularly come in contact with and get to pet (even if I feel sorry for her because of her medical problems). She (the owner) asked me several times on more then one occasion things like "Aren't pugs great?" "Don't you like pugs?" "Aren't pugs so cute?" "Aren't pugs the best?" "Do you love pugs?" clearly expecting me to say yes (looking for my approval for some reason). I did my best to ignore it, act as if it was a rhetorical question (which it sometimes was) or as if I didn't hear it without being impolite. When I finally answered no she asked why and I told her it's because their medical problems. I tried to explain that I love Lily but don't like the breed but I don't think she got it. (She asked later again and I had to repeat myself)
That isn’t a reason to dislike pugs, it is a reason to dislike pug breeders.
Load More Replies...Nope, didn't change my mind. I have always thought that pugs should be bred. My cousins have two french bulldogs that I always feel so bad for. If you love the looks of a pug, get him from a shelter so you are not supporting the breeding of these poor dogs. That goes for any dog you want. Adopt, don't shop.
Actually, this problem is true for both dogs and cats. For instance, Persian cats, which have been bred with abnormally short noses, experience plenty of issues related to this throughout their lives.
Actually, many of the things stated on this thread are not true (as is much of the internet on a multitude of subjects... but I digress...). If a human is not able to be birthed without a c-section, does it mean that person shouldn't have children? Or be labeled as "shouldn't exist?". No, I don't think so. AND as someone who HAS HAD french bulldogs and bred them, they actually are able to birth naturally if you are a responsible and knowledgeable breeder. Ours had all 7 FINE, do not have these skin problems or breathing problems listed. They go on hikes with us all the time IN VERMONT. Do you think we should just stop breeding Rotties because they only live MAYBE 8 years? And most get painful hip dysplasia? (As do many large labs and retrievers?). Or Aussies who have an increasingly high chance of shoulder cancer? Or chocolate labs that are so inbred, they now have aggressive, unpredictable temperament? #thingstoconsider #actuallyknowwhatyouretalkingabout #LOLinternet
Or maybe the breeders of dogs prone to hip dysplasia should take a page out of the Irish wolfhound breeders of 40 years ago: x-ray all their dogs, and neuter any who show signs of the disease, using only those clean as breeding animals. It worked. How do I know? I met some of those breeders while visiting a friend; it was her aunt and uncle (and an Irish who thought she was a lap dog.) Same goes for any breed with multiple problems. I chose not to have children because I knew I would pass on medical issues, and I always thought we were supposed to love our children. How can you profess to love someone, knowing they too will live a horribly painful life? Your arguments are specious.
Load More Replies...She makes some very valid, legitimate points. Not all "fake news" like someone else.... She could have shared it in a more friendly way - her opening sentences were a bit hostile. Perhaps instead of "Pugs are not cute" say, "When you realize all the health problems pugs have, you may not think they're so cute anymore."
Irresponsible breeders are the problem, and their activities should be closely monitored by Veterinarians and authorities. Dog CACIB and similar competitions do not help either. I normally adopt, but I had a crush. My late Bella, a Bichon Frise, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bichon_Frise was 1 out of 6 pups in her litter. All of her siblings died quite young of tumors or tumor related complications. One of her siblings gave birth to an eyeless pup, that was adopted but did not make it for very long. It was at that time we, the owners of the pups, we are all friends, learned that the pup's mother died in an atrocious way, from uterus prolapse while giving birth yet to another X thousand EUR worth of litter. We were all appalled and cut all promotion/recommendation for this breeder, but there are so many others out there. My Bella blessed me with her love for 15.5 years, fearless scooter babe, went everywhere with me, and passed away because of kidney failure. Adopt, don't buy!
These pugs look like they ran into the wrong wall at platform 9 and 3/4.
I'm old enough to remember when Persian cats still had noses - and it wasn't that long ago. It makes me sad to see the flat faced modern version with the gunk dripping from the eyes. Animals shouldn't be taken too far from where nature intended them to be.
For such a long time I have seen or read about some breeds that should never have been, I agree about the pugs, so cute, but why buy when they will suffer and you watch in horror. Why is it no management for proper breeding ???
There are breeders who have brought in terriers to bring the nose back to what it used to be. Sadly we have the AKC and the showring ideal for the "rose face" and the really short nose. It's a real shame. Mine are rescues and while I am lucky not to have issues with collapsed trachea or seizures, one has hip displaysia and the other has spinal issues. I've got to say that making them super popular in movies like MIB did nothing for the breed, it has made backyarders grow exponentially. Thefts are increasing, too. But I will say that they have awesome personalities and are super attentive and lovable.
All the Kennel Clubs need to do is set a minimum nose/snout length and other changes to specifications for showing. Top breeders would have to conform to show their dogs, in order to win the competitions that make their dogs more valuable and desirable for future breeding. This would greatly improve things within a fairly short length of time. When people are looking for a pedigree dog, with the idea of puppies in the future - the preference is for one with a "good pedigree". Which is one going back 5 generations and the more show winners in there the better. The less winners with bad health defects, the better for the breed.
Load More Replies...the retro pug, looks like a puggle... (beagle/pug mix) which are adorable!!
Interesting that this appears so close to the spread on wolfhounds, another breed altered by humans to fit their fantasy. Check the average lifespan for them; you want a companion for six years, top, go ahead. Better to get a rescue, people.
Lots of breeds are altered by humans but pugs (and other short-snouted breeds) have suffered the most. Does the wolfhound have as many problems as the pug? Of course not.
Load More Replies...Honestly all that can be done is taking away the unhealthy ones ability to reproduce and caring for them till they die and all that's left are the healthy ones . And unfortunately the unethical breeders won't stop as long as it makes money and there will always be people who decide to shop for purebreds from the unhealthy source instead of adopting from health focused breeders or from places that the breeders won't make a penny from
I have a pug x for those very reasons and he came from a breeder who was trying to breed out the negative health issues. He has all the best bits I love about pugs (personality, cheekiness etc), but he has a long snout, even longer than the ones in these photos so he has none of the pug "wheezing" you always hear, no "reverse sneezing", his head isn't as small and flat and his tail isn't so tightly coiled. He is about as tall as a beagle and can handle hot Australian summers just as well as any dog. I highly recommend them. My boy is 8 years old now and the only time he's had to visit the vet is for checkups, shots and dental cleaning!
Mindaugas is absolutely right and my only complaint about his post is that it doesn’t go far enough. The truth is that dachshunds, German shepherds, English bulldogs and almost all other breeds have been OVERbred. The object: to produce dogs that bring high prices because they win prizes at the competitions run by state and national kennel clubs. The resulting dogs are indeed beautiful animals but they are suffer disproportionately from to a large number of diseases. Google “mutts vs. pedigree dogs” and you'll learn the awful truth. Get a mutt instead. And learn how to choose and keep a dog FIRST. A dog's not a pet but a responsibility.
Pugs are the most cutest thing ever to be made, I love them and they deserve as much love as any other living creature including yourself
Nobody said they didn't. Tell me: if you knew you carried genetic problems that would cause your children to die in horrible pain somewhere in their future, would you still have kids? Or would you say, this genetic problem dies with me? In the 60s, all the families in England (who knew for certain) that carried the gene for Huntington's disease (about 14 people ages 10 and up) got together and agreed to be sterilized in an effort to wipe it out. I consider them to be heroic. They cared that much about future children having it. (There is no cure.) 40 years ago the responsible Irish Wolfhound breeders made a concerted effort to wipe out hip dysplasia in their animals. What's wrong with trying to keep the dogs with the most problems from breeding? You LIKE seeing animals in pain?
Load More Replies...Most of the things discussed here are plain wrong. I am an ophthalmologist and it's ridiculous that the eyes "commonly pop out". Also, pug are among the dogs that have the LEAST incidence of dysplastic hip, which is a disease very commonly seen among retrievers, huskies and several other "normal" dog breeds. Yes, there is a little bit of wheezing, but my pugs have been happy, healthy and incredibly vigorous dogs. I advise the author to revise his rant of an article. Those are just lies upon lies.
Everything stated in this article is true to an extent. Nothing is an outright lie, but there are some half truths and some exaggerated truths, which the author of the article likely did on purpose to drive their point home. While it's true that small breeds don't tend to have hip dysplasia, for their size Pugs are prone to it. In larger dogs the high instance of hip dysplasia is affected by pediatric neutering, which increases the incidence of HD by at least 2-5 times, depending on the breed. What you people don't seem to understand is that NO amount of wheezing is in any way healthy or acceptable. No appropriately proportioned, healthy dog wheezes, not ever, no matter how hard or long they've been running. Your dogs have to live with restricted breathing, they've always had to live with it. So they adapt and make due with what they've got. Doesn't mean that they aren't suffering for an entirely cosmetic feature.
Load More Replies...Good information on how selective breeding of pugs has created a breed with serious (and cruel) health issues. Too bad the title of the thread makes the author sound like a d*ck. :-( Hopefully people will look past the title and keep reading for the information. Although many purebreds are at risk for health issues as they get older (which bad enough as it is), pugs are born with serious health issues from the beginning! With other breeds there's been a growing trend towards selectively breeding out known health risks. I hope this trend becomes standard practice for pugs as well, as suggested by the author. Intentionally breeding purebred pugs is basically a form of torture, imho. Besides, there are plenty of shelter dogs who need good homes, so why not just adopt a rescue dog?
We should have stopped breeding 100 years ago. Back then german shepherds still had a back end that didn't look broken, pugs had a snout and could eat, labradors weren't mongoloids who died of heart attacks at age 3 ... and they still all looked cute/cool/rough/tough. Totally agree with the article.
I had a friend who got a pug - paid thousands. Because they were 'cute'. That dog is insane - she hasn't trained it well, and has recently gotten an operation to widen it's nostrils. Because it also had biting issues as a puppy she actually considered having its teeth removed. Who even does that? That pug purchase was the tip of the iceberg of behaviours that made me see she wasn't a person I really want to know...
And that's another issue with rampant inbreeding: Sudden Rage Syndrome. There are no outward symptoms until the dog just suddenly goes bonkers for a few minutes...then regains its usual sunny disposition, and can't remember what it did, like a brief bout of violent insanity. Friend of mine got 20 stitches out of an episode like that--from a puppy. Can you imagine what would have happened with an adult dog? 3 months old, and they had to have her euthanized. There's no cure. No way to train it out. Need I add it was a puppy mill rescue? Inbreeding... Your friend is a product of the poodle phenomenon from my childhood: get a poodle because all the rich people had them, and you'll look cool. Most of them had no idea what to do with a dog. (Evidently dogs trained themselves. Stupid people!) My mother's sister had two toothless Pomeranians--because they were so old they no longer had teeth! They used to gum her curtains.
Load More Replies...Pugs are cute. All dogs are cute. But pugs are not good dog options, for the reasons listed. Get Retro pugs! They're cute too! An animal doesn't have to be malformed, twisted, unhealthy animals to be considered cute.
It baffles me that people still breed pugs when retropugs have all the charm without the suffering.
Some people are too stubborn to think. They decide they're right, so damn the facts.
Load More Replies...I've never understood the appeal of pugs, as their faces always looked really uncomfortable to me, not cute. I've grown up around large dogs, mostly Golden Retrievers and labs, and I know they have their own issues, but they seem to be from in-breeding for purity more than going for a desired phenotype.
To minimise all health problems for all dog breeds breed standards should allow a bit of freedom for example have a 10cm height difference, have slightly different snouts and so on. There is no “ideal” breed standard. Dogs should be judge by their performance not their looks. In the old days many people had mutts and they could perform better jobs than the breeds bred for those jobs. I’m all in for breeding dogs BUT don’t breed them to get extreme features so you get famous and rich breed them so the can perform what they should. Gsd used to be great herding dogs now I don’t see those dogs being able to perform around sheep’s whilst they drag their a*s when walking.
That's showline GSD's. Work line are just fine and fully functional. Basically, in any breed where there is a split between work and show, you know there's something show added in that makes the dog incapable of the work they were originally supposed to do.
Load More Replies...My family always ONLY gets their pets from shelters and NEVER from breeders. It's so much better and it honestly makes me so upset that people spend so much money on getting a sick (usually very inbred) dog just so it has that *specific look* Honestly, some mutts look better anyways :/
My mother went with the purebred poodle because poodles do not shed. What she didn't realize (this was 55 years ago and getting information was a lot more difficult) was that as water dogs--they are excellent retrievers--they have an oily excretions on their skin,and if you have a black poodle, it's a black oil. Which doesn't wash off white walls. You have to sand the wall down and repaint it... Reprehensively, I laughed at her. It's all a matter of perspective.
Load More Replies...i do partly agree with this, exept for the whole "pugs are NOT cute" deal
Depends on the pug. There have been some entered in those World's Ugliest Dog contests. Too much inbreeding again.
Load More Replies...That's so sad. get your hands out of the genetics and leave these beautiful babies as they were meant to be. mama mia
Thank you for helping me to put into words why I’ve always felt so uncomfortable around pugs... I knew one once, nice dog, but the poor thing was so sickly that I just felt so bad and angry at his owners that I also have never got on the pug-train. Unfortunately, the damage was done - my son bonded with the dog and to this day wants a pug of his own!
Yes i agree with all the comments regarding these poor, unhealthy, inbred dogs. It's despicable and only for human cosmetic reasons, this dogs live a painful, restrictive life. My friend had a French bulldog many years ago, he loves dogs but i watched him get sadder and sadder with Roo, she had so many problems from day one, they were thinking of breeding her but spayed her instead when vet said natural birth is impossible and very dangerous with these dogs, that was enough for him to spay her and vowed to never buy a pure breed again.
Toy dog, teacup dog, micro mini dog, all those breeders are just cruel! Some pups are so small vets don't know how to treat them. My dogs are soldiers! Rotties all the way! Tiberius, my tender soldier... dogs aren't purses, dogs are workers, they love work!! .. Breeding abominations is so awful
I do not understand the need for 'micro-dogs', they're strictly status symbols. They too have a hell of a time giving birth. And the dogs with too-large heads--why? What's the attraction? The biggest problem with rotties is that they insist on sitting on your foot!
Load More Replies...My friend's Grandma has a dog,and every time he barks,it sound like he's quaking like a duck
What a stupid, ignorant article. There's a minute out of my life that I'll never get back.
My dad used to have a colourpoint persian (he got him with a secondhand computer, no joke). He had a short nose and an overbite. My dad had to clean his eyes several times a day and the cat could snore louder than my dad. I also had a siamese with a crooked tale and cross eyed, so his owners didn't want to keep him because he was not perfect. Well he was perfect for me and if I ever want a siamese again I wouldn't want one with such a sharp triangular head, I'd want one with a round head (which are called Thai) and from a shelter.
My in-laws have a pug that they rescued. Recently it's nose started falling off. It's just crumbling away. I guess it's common.
I was about to comment saying pugs are cute, but then read this and thought: There is another type of pug that doesn't have these issues.
My major beef - "toy" Australian Shepherds. There is no such breed, it is usually a cross between different small breeds to get a dog that sort of looks like an Aussie. But for an informing documentary, watch Pedigree Dogs Exposed, https://vimeo.com/17558275
My best friend had pugs for years. The first one came from their neighbor, who was a typical backyard breeder (lots of inbreeding). I was really upset with my friend when she let her money-hungry husband and the next door neighbor talk her into breeding her female (because the puppies would be “ready to go” at Christmas time. Her female was probably bred back to it’s own father or a brother. I was shocked by how many puppies those small, pudgy bodies produce. Her dog had 7 - one died and another one had a deformed leg. Yeah, all puppies are cute - but you couldn’t pay me to have a pug or any of the other short nosed, deformed looking breeds. She ended up with 3 pugs, didn’t do any kind of training with them, over fed and they became some of the most obnoxious dogs I’ve ever been around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a dog person and haven’t been without one since the late 80s, but these pugs were awful! Plus, although short haired...they shed constantly.
Most short-haired breeds do. The longer-haired dogs usually 'blow' about twice a year--in other words, lose all their hair at once as the new comes in, so you're about knee deep in fur. Any dog left untrained is a pain in the a*s. Especially the pampered ones.
Load More Replies...There are very few pure dog breeds I like. Even labradors can have hip displasia and distemper. Mongrels are the best, but lab/collie mixes are my favourite. Collies are bred to be healthy and smart and when you mix in lab you get the most devoted, smart and fit dog you could possibly want. I hate Crufts and I despise the cruelty we put dogs through from birth. We truly do not desrve them and they sure as heck do not deserve what we do to them.
Distemper is a disease. Any dog can get it. That's why we have vaccines for it. Hip dysplasia, on the other hand, is genetic,and no dog with it in its family tree (immediate ancestors or close relatives, i.e. brothers or sisters) should be allowed to breed. You can actually breed it out of a line.
Load More Replies...I'm far from a dog expert, but it seems to me there are many dogs that suffer from many of these problems. Maybe pugs are more inbred than most dogs but doesn't purebred imply inbred? Isn't that the entire point of show dogs?
Not entirely. A responsible breeder goes as far out of the immediate family as they possibly can. In other words, they'll look out of state first for a suitable mate to produce the next generation. The worst inbred are things that are popular, like pugs (gee, thanks, MIB!), or the newer breeds, like AUstralian Shepherds, because the AKC closed the foundation studbook, so there are very few genetically diverse breed lines. (And this is as of 15 years ago now. Think what the genetics look like *now*.) The Australian Shepherd Club, which runs its own breed-specific shows, actually has a much more diverse foundation sire/dam book, because they accept dogs from Australia in the breed stud. The AKC --doesn't. It's possible to have purebreds without problems, but that takes stringent care with their breeding, and it's easier and cheaper to just use a relative, because it's probably your dog as well. And the puppy mill breeders, who love dogs the size of pugs because you can jam them.
Load More Replies...This would have been a much better article if it had started with the Retro pugs instead of just attacking pugs all the way through and it would have been a much better article if it had attacked puppy mills who breed pugs to be smaller and smaller and attacked the laws that allow puppy mills to Exist by the thousands in the United States of America
They're attacking people who breed them not pugs. It's not the dogs' fault but the breeders'.
Load More Replies...I'm pretty sure whether an animal is 'cute' or not is up to the owner. This does sound cruel and it all makes sense, I get that part. But I don't get the 'cute' comment.
Agreed. Why debate over whether they're cute or not? The issue is their health problems, and the breeders & kennel clubs who don't care about the quality of life of the animals.
Load More Replies...Why can’t they be both cute and inbred? I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive.
All dogs are the result of 30,000 years of selective inbreeding. They all have some sort of issue. Let us be like PETA wants and stop breeding domesticated animals all together.
Many dog breeds have issues, but pugs have some of the worst.
Load More Replies...Ha! Whoever wrote this article should also write one about the human race.... let’s see how many bad things you can come up with - what an idiot! Retro pugs are pugs mixed with beagles and are nothing like a pug in terms of the way they act. A beagle is a working dog, total opposite of a pug. Also before posting “facts” you might wanna take to people that know about these breeds, not just google.
Please educate yourself. Pugs crossed with beagles are called puggles. They're a so-called 'designer breed'. Retro-Pugs omn the other hand are the result of careful outcrossing to 3 'donor breeds'; Parson Russel Terrier, leggy Jack Russel Terrier, and Miniature Pinscher. The offspring of these outcrosses are then bred back into Pug's and only the offspring with the longest noses and most correct Pug temperaments are chosen to be bred to other such unrelated dogs for furthur refinement. It's a project to create a new, older version of the Pug breed. Not random crossbreeding with little thought and no end goal. Much of what this person posted is accurate, and none of it is technically false. There are some half truths, but they're still truths none the less.
Load More Replies...for all you pug haters out there , the responsibility to having any pet come with ups and down i dont give a rat a*s what type of animal you have they all have health issue weather its hip dispasia, or heart issue diabetes , the health of pugs and any other animal is the responsibility of the pet owner if the pet owner fails to properly take care of the animal then its their stupidity . so what if pug requires a little more care than most i have two labs both of wich has health problems but ya know what ,, they have out lived most labs they are 14 yrs old so take your bull s**t about pugs and shove it up your heartless asses , if you cant take the extra time an animal needs to be gromed and taken properly then ya dont need any pets , you people really show your ignorance here
There is a huge difference between health issues that just happen to be common in a breed, and health issues caused by the selected phenotype. Any health issue that is common in a breed but unrelated to phenotype can be tested for and selected against. Health issues that are directly caused by a dogs phenotype, on the other hand, cannot be selected against without changing the appearance of the dog. Most of a Pugs health issues are caused by their phenotype, therefore it's impossible to escape them without extending the snout and breeding for deeper set eyes and a straighter tail. No ones saying that pugs don't deserve love. They deserve it just as much as any other dog. It's not their fault that humans are stupid, selfish and willfully blind. We're just saying that they shouldn't exist, due to the suffering that their very appearance causes them. Yes, we should love the ones that are already here, but we need to stop the continued breeding of dogs such as this.
Load More Replies...what moron made up this c**p about them being sick and malformed? they are bred down from a mastiff. I owned a pug for 14 years and she had energy and liked sleeping. her nose worked just fine with no snorting.
Oh no :) that sucks. We really need to stop breeding pugs and start breeding retropugs. Now I'm going to be super sad for the rest of the week. ;-; (Btw if I made a spelling mistake it's because the font color is the same as the background color for some stupid reason.)
Oh shoot O.O I said :) instead of :( I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!
Load More Replies...So I guess I was just lucky because none of these applies to my pug, she's always had perfect health (even now at 9 years old) and my vet said she breathes perfectly and needs absolutely no surgery. As for reverse sneezing: I have four dogs and the one who has constant reverse sneezing is my chihuahua.
I think you *were* lucky. Men in Black did the breed no favors. It made them too popular too fast, which of course encouraged the irresponsible breeders to produce many many without taking care with the breeding. And when people realized how much trouble they could be, or simply owning a dog could be, they started getting dumped in shelters.
Load More Replies...stop attacking pugs. puppy millers breed them smaller and smaller. stop supporting puppy mills and while you're at it why don't you attack the laws that allow puppy mills to exist
No one's attacking pugs, literally all the comments are about how the breeders suck? It's not the dogs' fault they're sick, it's the breeders' fault. And not just puppy mills but "respectable" breeders as well so want to breed "cute" dogs over healthy dogs
Load More Replies...PUGS...ARE....CUTE. Who ever created this post is a complete A*****e who is a selfish d**k bag.
Wow! Because these dogs are overbred, we are not to give them homes? That sounds pretty cruel to me.
Don't buy sick pugs and give money to the breeders and encourage them to breed more sick pugs. However, if you give home to one you get from the shelter, that's fine. Adopt don't shop
Load More Replies...And I've known poodles to live to 25. What's your point?
Load More Replies...The issue is that; they're inbreed --> their skulls are malformed --> they are getting sick.
Load More Replies...Not every dog will have problems, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an increased risk.
Load More Replies...So you think struggling to breathe every day of your life is fine for animals? Sounds pretty cruel to me
Load More Replies...Well, ok - we can do nothing, so let's do nothing? Is that really a good way of thinking? No, we can't do anything about the dogs that are already alive. But what could be done is make a different, healthier standard for the show-rings. Make a minimum-snout-length, make it mandatory to have the spine x-rayed, BAN dogs that clearly can't breathe properly. So in a while, there will be healthier dogs. The often-cited German Shepherd had LOTS of issues with hip displasia, but due to a rigorous breeding-standard in Germany, those issues got less and less (they still don't ALL look like a dog should look, but the hips are better). It's not an overnight fix, and the dogs that exist now need a good home and people with money to keep them healthy. But putting the head in the sand and saying "Ah, well.. can't be changed, let's keep breeding those faceless things" is the worst solution to the problem
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