by Donnelle Richards JUDGING THE PUG
T he 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, Eng- lish Toy Spaniels, Japanese Chin and Pekingese. These five breeds (as of June 23, 2018) are the ones that are examined without opening the mouth. Wehavehada lot of complaints of judg- es 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. Check- ing 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 un- dershot. You can feel this with your thumb. Below is how you should go about judging the head of a Pug.
beautiful shape of the head and ex- pression. 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 cheek bones. They are soft like velvet and very expressive; help- ing to give the Pug the sweet soft ex- pression 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 they should be penalized to the degree of the fault. Pugs should appear cobby (standard says “Multum in Parvo”—meaning a lot in a little). It is a heavy little dog.
EXAMINING THE PUG HEAD CORRECTLY 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 im- portant 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 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 be- hind the ears you can again see the
“The head of a Pug usually matures rather slowly AND WILL GENERALLY NOT
REACH FULL SIZE UNTIL AFTER 2 YEARS OF AGE.”
52 • T op N otch T oys , S eptember 2021
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