Country of Origin: The Pug is also known as the ‘Carlin’, ‘Mops’ (the name of Marie Antoinette’s Pug), or ‘Chinese Pug’. ‘Pug’ derives either from the Latin for ‘fist’ (referring to the Pug face’s resemblance to a clenched fist) or the Old English ‘Pugg’ for ‘playful little monkey’ (deriving from ‘Puck’, as in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’). Unlike other toy breeds, the Pug descends from mastiffs. It was originally bred as an Emperor’s pet in China during the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) and became a popular pet for Tibetan monks. Pugs were imported to Holland by the Dutch East Indies Trading company, where one saved a Prince’s life by barking at an assassin, and a Pug later accompanied King William III of England on his journey to claim the throne. Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife Josephine had a Pug named Fortune, which she used to deliver messages to Napoleon while in prison in 1794, and in the late 1800’s Queen Victoria had many favored Pugs which she bred personally. In addition to their extreme popularity as pets, Pugs served as guard dogs, scent hounds, and fashionable coach footmen. In short, Pugs have done just about everything short of delivering the Gettysburg Address. They were recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1885. Famous Pugs include ‘Frank’ from ‘Men in Black’ and ‘Odie the Talking Dog’ from David Letterman, who won ‘Top TV Moment of 2004’ from America Online.