Concerning hobbits pugs.

So up until two days ago I knew NOTHING about pugs except that they are really cute and supposedly energetic and hilarious.

All of which are 100% true.

I loves me some flat-faced bulldog breeds, but part of my reticence with pugs is the fact that they're not related to bulldogs at all, despite the flat faces. They're more related to Shih-Tzu's and Pekinese. And I'm like "meh" about both of those breeds.

Here's what I didn't know.

They're actually most closely related to English Mastiffs. Like Hagrid's dog Fang. This makes total sense, because if you blew a pug up like 10 times, it'd be a mastiff. Fawn fur, black face, tail. Everything. That's HARDCORE.

Yet. Like the bully breeds that I so love, they have that stocky build--heavy in the shoulders, square head, flat face and what I call "the mushroom nose." Observe.



SAME, Y/Y??? Sassy had an adorable mushroom nose, and so does Bixby. I LOVE IT.

Also, loads of famous powerful people throughout history had pugs. Like Genghis Khan (LOL), Marie Antoinette, Josephine and Napoleon (she used her pug, Fortune, to send secret messages to Napoleon. THAT IS AWESOME), Voltaire, Queen Victoria (who had like, 25), Winston Churchill, Andy Warhol and Valentino (not really an emperor. Just in fashion. WHICH COUNTS). JUST to name a few. A pug supposedly saved the life of William the Silent (lol, it would suck to be known for being SILENT). They were popular with sailors and pirates for their antics and trade-ability ("I'll give you this flintlock if you give me that ridiculous looking animal").

Some ridiculous art featuring pugs:







Valentino, "The Last Emperor," and his pugs.



And of course, my favorite. Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette and her pug. :)


No, I don't think I'll start running around in powdered wigs and lugging Bixby with me everywhere. Still.

Now you're all educated! YAY FOR LEARNING.