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50 free Pugs trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Pugs were bred to do nothing but keep people company, and they have been doing it for roughly a thousand years, from the imperial courts of Song-dynasty China to the laps of Dutch princes, English queens and Hollywood agents. Behind the flat face and curled tail is an unusually well-documented history involving the Dutch East India Company, a dog that foiled an assassination, a Napoleonic prison courier and a secret society of Catholic Freemasons named after the breed. These 50 questions cover the breed standard, from 'rose' and 'button' ears to the Latin motto multum in parvo; the ancient Lo-Sze and the Happa dogs looted from the Old Summer Palace; Hogarth's Trump, Josephine's Fortune and Queen Victoria's Olga, Pedro and Venus; the Morrison and Willoughby lines; the only Pug to win Westminster; and the 'retro pug' counter-trend. There are health questions too, on brachycephaly, life expectancy and the inbreeding study, plus pop-culture stops at Mansfield Park, EastEnders, Dune and Men in Black. Every answer is cited to the page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or share it with a pug person.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01From which country were Pugs brought to Europe in the sixteenth century?
China
The Dutch East India Company carried them west; they later spread to Tibet and other parts of Asia.
Q 02Which two colours are Pug coats most often?
Fawn or black
Apricot fawn and silver fawn are also recognised shades.
Q 03What shape does a Pug's tail normally take?
Curled over the hip
The breed's other signature traits are a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and a compact, square body.
Q 04How does the American Kennel Club describe the Pug's personality?
Even-tempered and charming
The breed was developed purely as a companion, not for hunting, herding or guarding.
Q 05The Pug's Latin motto, multum in parvo, translates as what?
Much in little
The AKC glosses it as 'a lot of dog in a small space'.
Q 06What nickname do Pugs earn for following their owners from room to room?
Shadows
They tend to be sensitive to their owners' moods and eager to please.
Q 07Which pet monkey is one theory for the origin of the name 'Pug'?
Marmoset
The flat face was thought to resemble the 'pug-monkey', a fashionable 18th-century pet.
Q 08The theory that 'Pug' comes from Latin pugnus links the breed's head to what shape?
A closed fist
Cropped early Pugs supposedly cast a fist-like shadow when seen from the side.
Q 09In what year is 'Pug-dog' first attested, according to the Oxford English Dictionary?
1749
The word 'pug' had been applied to squirrels, hares, foxes and monkeys since the late 16th century.
Q 10What are the two recognised Pug ear shapes?
Rose and button
Breeders prefer button ears; rose ears are smaller and fold back against the head.
Q 11What colour should a Pug's claws be under the breed description?
Black
The feet are small and the toes well split-up.
Q 12What dental trait is normal in Pugs?
An under-bite
The lower teeth protrude further than the upper ones.
Q 13What was the name of the short-coated Chinese dog considered the Pug's ancestor?
Lo-Sze
The full name, Lo-Chiang-Sze, distinguished it from the similarly built Pekingese.
Q 14During which Chinese dynasty was the Lo-Sze popular at the imperial court?
Q 21Which toy breed may have acquired Pug-like features from 17th-century crossings?
King Charles Spaniel
The crossing is thought to have happened after William and Mary arrived in England.
Q 22Which Spanish painter is noted for painting Pugs?
Goya
In Italy the dogs rode up front on carriages in jackets matching the coachman's.
Q 23Which English painter's 1745 self-portrait includes his Pug, Trump?
William Hogarth
The painting hangs in London's Tate Gallery.
Josephine's Pug Fortune carried secret messages while she was confined in which prison?
Song
It was carried to Europe in the sixteenth century by the Dutch East India Company.
Q 15Which trading firm brought the Pug's ancestor from China to Europe?
Dutch East India Company
The breed was popularised in Western Europe by the House of Orange.
Q 16Which animals, looted from the Old Summer Palace in 1860, reshaped the modern Pug?
Happa dogs
They had shorter legs, the modern-style nose and were often black and white.
Q 17In which Asian region did Buddhist monks keep Pugs in their monasteries?
Tibet
Pugs had earlier been guarded by soldiers as prized pets of Chinese emperors.
Q 18Of which royal dynasty did the Pug reportedly become the official dog in 1572?
House of Orange
A Pug named Pompey had alerted the Prince of Orange to approaching assassins.
Q 19What was the name of the Pug said to have saved the Prince of Orange from assassins?
Pompey
The rescue is the story behind the breed becoming the House of Orange's official dog.
Q 20A Pug travelled with which royal couple when they took the English throne in 1688?
William III and Mary II
The Pug may then have been crossed with the old-type King Charles Spaniel.
Les Carmes
The dog alone had visiting rights, before her marriage to Napoleon.
Q 25Which of these was one of Queen Victoria's Pugs?
Olga
Her kennel also included Pedro, Minka, Fatima and Venus.
Q 26Which Pug colours did Queen Victoria favour?
Apricot and fawn
Lady Brassey later made black Pugs fashionable after bringing some from China in 1886.
Q 27In what year was the Kennel Club, which Victoria's dog interest helped establish, formed?
1873
The American Kennel Club recognised the Pug twelve years later.
Q 28Which two British Pug strains became prominent in the 19th century?
Morrison and Willoughby
Willoughby dogs were a stone fawn with too much black; Morrison dogs a richer yellow fawn.
Q 29Which famous stud Pug, bred from Moss and Lamb, merged the two British lines?
Click
He was bred to bitches from both the Willoughby and Morrison strains.
Q 30Which British aristocrat made black Pugs fashionable after a trip to China in 1886?
Lady Brassey
Until then fawn shades dominated the show ring.