Pugs have been around for centuries, dating back over 2,000 years. The breed originated in China and eventually spread to Japan and Russia from how popular the breed was becoming. Over the years people started to selectively breed pugs to the point where the breed is unrecognizable from its ancestors. Poor selective breeding has led to health issues in many dogs.
What is selective breeding in dogs?
According to the website Britannica it states “Selective breeding, the practice of mating individuals with desired traits as a means of increasing the frequency of those traits in a population.” These desired traits can be improved health, becoming more resistant to disease, and appearance. But there can also be many negatives to selective breeding. Although different breeds of dogs have benefitted from being selectively bred, there have been some dogs who have been impacted negatively from selective breeding. These dogs include French Bulldogs, English bulldogs, pugs, and Shih Tzu’s. These breeders prioritize looks over health, causing badly bred dogs to have multiple health issues, affecting their daily life.
Health issues
There are many health issues that dogs suffer from selective breeding. Discover Magazine states, “Breathing problems can lead to a number of problems in these brachycephalic (pugs, French bulldogs, English bulldogs, shih tzu’s) breeds. For example, they can have trouble with heat and physical exercise since they can’t take in enough oxygen to fuel their activity.”
These dogs can very easily and quickly get overheated because of their breathing issues and flat faces. Brachycephalic breeds are also very prone to dental issues. Since their jaws are too small for their heads, teeth can become very crowded in their mouths and can even be stuck up in their gums. Skin infections are also very common within the breed. Excessive wrinkles can cause bacterial and fungal overgrowth.
Can we stop selective breeding?
While we can’t stop selective breeding, breeders can reduce its negative side effects on dogs. According to Sentient, “Where it is identified that some breeds have so few dogs fit to breed from that the gene pool is reduced, these dogs would need to be judiciously outcrossed with healthier, closely related breeds for a few generations.” Veterinarians also have an important role in reducing the negative effects of selective breeding. Vets are able to not feature dogs with extreme brachycephalic features in advertisements.
Litzy • Jan 13, 2026 at 2:12 pm
I didn’t know that Pugs have been around from centuries originating in China.
Alexis pineda • Jan 13, 2026 at 2:10 pm
I Learned pugs came form China
Gerardo • Jan 13, 2026 at 9:57 am
Something I didn’t know is that breeding dogs can have some benefits also.
Eli • Jan 13, 2026 at 9:48 am
something I learned is that pugs came from china and I have a pug which this is very cool to learn where they first were made from.
sebastian • Jan 13, 2026 at 9:47 am
this is really cool and I didn’t know pugs are 2000 years old