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Black Pugs
While we have chosen to limit our breeding program to the fawns, this is a matter of personal choice...there is certainly nothing wrong with a black pug. In fact, they are beautiful dogs. The following is intended to provide some information on black pugs and the intricacies of breeding black pugs. Please read on if you are considering purchasing or breeding this type of pug.
Generally, it is not acceptable to breed a black pug to a fawn. Crossing colors will not improve the pigment of a fawn, head or substance on black pugs or the coat and color of either type. This is because the color genes behind fawn and black pugs are blue, black, liver, yellow, brown, white, silver fawn, tan, and apricot-fawn. Because of the wide array of colors involved, it is important to know that improper breeding can destroy the proper color genes in pugs, which is why we are seeing so many odd colored pugs these days.
If a fawn is bred to a black, a breeder may luck out and have two clear black puppies, but what about the rest of the litter? Over the years, there have been pugs born out of these types of breedings that have been zebra striped, black and white, fawn with black heads, black with fawn legs, fawn with white legs, and almost any combination imaginable. This is simply not acceptable, and an example as to why careful breeding is so important.
A pug should be double coated, and there are too many pugs being shown with single coats. This is due to black and fawn crosses. Most black pugs are single coated - blacks having fewer hair follicles to the inch than fawns - and due to these crosses, we are seeing more fawns with single coats. These types of crosses obviously will not improve the quality of blacks, but will reduce the strength of both black and fawn lines. Coat and pigment color will be diluted, and smudgy pugs will result. By breeding a fawn to a black, you will see a washed out coat that is extremely light, white toenails and a mask that is not as black as it should be - that is, even if you have a clean coat to begin with. Most of the time, the coats will be smudgy, and the blacks will have fawn or rusty hairs running through their coats.
A breeder develops a pure, sound black line by breeding black to black. If interested in a black pug, be sure to check the pedigrees of the dam and sire to see what lines the pup comes from. Ask your breeder about cross breeding and where his/her lines have come from. A reputable breeder will be glad to answer these questions and more for you.
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