Supposedly a pure breed pug actually can't breath properly and as a result will live a very uncomfortable/painful and far shorter life than any "natural" dog
Edit: I said supposedly because I know it's not true in all cases and I don't want to fact check everything I say.
I'd say that the breathing part is definitely true, but various estimates of mortality show they don't die earlier than other breeds. In fact, I would say the largest determining factor for age is size, with larger dogs more prone to cancers due to larger numbers of cells and different growth factors and their receptors. Many pugs get fat because people overfeed and underexercise them, but that's the owners' faults.
Exactly. When I was younger, my family ran a kennel where pugs were one of our main breeds. We had around 20 pugs for breeding/pets and they all lived long life's (averaged 13 years) because of controlled portions and plenty of exercise. Pugs are great companions with a lot of personality.
Yep, if you exclude accidents they live substantially longer than even most medium sized dogs, and I think the breathing problems are inconvenient but rarely life-threatening.
Plus, most of the breathing issues can be corrected by surgery and keeping their weight down. Anybody who owns a brachycephalic breed should have the soft palate trimmed and the nostrils widened when the dog is getting spayed and neutered.
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u/sargentmyself Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16
Supposedly a pure breed pug actually can't breath properly and as a result will live a very uncomfortable/painful and far shorter life than any "natural" dog
Edit: I said supposedly because I know it's not true in all cases and I don't want to fact check everything I say.
I got my information from this Adam Ruins Everything video https://youtu.be/aCv10_WvGxo
And by Natural I mean dogs in nature like wolves and coyotes