408 British Dogs. 



assumed, obtained the breed through the servants, and his careful 

 breeding has established a strain that bears his name, and by this 

 we see that both the Willoughby and Morrison strains are strong 

 in Dutch blood, the Morrison being, in fact, the most purely Dutch. 



No doubt there were many other sources to which the present race 

 of pugs is due, and it is now usual to call every fawn or stone coloured 

 pug a Willoughby, and the paler yellowish ones Morrison's ; but the 

 two strains have been frequently united, and in a class of twenty 

 almost every shade of colour between the two that mark these strains 

 is met with. 



The popularity which the pug has again enjoyed for the last quarter 

 of a century is an instance of the caprice of fashion. A writer on the 

 breed says of him, " perhaps in the whole catalogue of the canine 

 species there is not one of less utility or possessing less the power of 

 attraction than the pug dog ; applicable to no sport, appropriated to 

 no useful purpose, and susceptible of no predominent passion and in 

 no way remarkable for any extra eminence, he is continued from era 

 to era for what alone he might have been originally intended, the 

 patient follower of a ruminating philosopher, or the adulating and 

 consolatory companion of an old maid." With these views and senti- 

 ments I have no sympathy, as my friends who are pug lovers, whether 

 "ruminating philosophers," maids or matrons, may rest assured. I 

 am not so utilitarian as the writer, who I presume to have been a 

 cantankerous old bachelor, caring for nothing but his pipe, his 

 pointer, and his gun. 



The pug, when made a companion of, shows a high intelligence ; as 

 house dogs they are ever on the alert, and promptly give notice of a 

 stranger's approach, and from their extremely active, I may say merry, 

 habits, they are most interesting pets, and well repay by their 

 gratitude any affection and kindness bestowed on them. One quality 

 they possess above most breeds, which is a strong recommendation 

 of them as lap dogs, and that is their cleanliness and freedom from 

 any offensive smell of breath or skin. 



Many ladies, by lavishing mistaken kindness on their pugs, do them 

 serious harm. Over feeding, feeding too often, and on too rich diet, 

 together with insufficient exercise, cause obesity, with a host of evils 

 in its train, asthma among others, which make the dog's life a 



