Pug Dog, The Blue Boy, painting by Riccoboni. Pugs were a favorite dog breed of British royals William III and Mary II when they ascended to the throne of Great Britain in 1688 Many of his paintings can be seen at his studio in Spanish Village art Center in Balboa Park San Diego, California. The Pug as a breed begins in ancient China, known as "short mouthed" dogs are described in writings that date to about 600 B.C. the forerunners of the modern breed that we call the Pug today. In 950, A.D. Emperor Kang Hsi, commissioned a dictionary of all the Chinese characters, and in it there are two references describing the Pug: - dogs with short legs - and - a dog with a short head. By the 1300s there were three main types of dogs that are identifiable as founders of breeds of today: the Pekingese, the Japanese Spaniel, and the Pug. In the late 1500s, China began trading with European countries such as Portugal, Spain, Holland and England. Small Pug dogs presented as gifts by the traders as they returned from the Orient, and Pug in popularity in Europe spread.