... A Brief History of
Bit O' Gold Pugs ...
(a view of the San Juan Mountains from our deck)
Cindy grew up with pugs; there was always one snorting around her mom and dad's house. Jim, on the other hand, was not raised with dogs, and was not too happy when, in 1981, he inherited a pug, along with a wife and a severe case of culture shock.
Although it was not love at first sight, Scooter and Jim got along well enough that in 1983, we purchased our first "show dog," another pug, and became involved in the sport of dog shows. We worked very hard to finish our first champion, Christfer, and became hooked on the sport of dog showing. Since that time, we have been extremely dedicated to the pug breed and have worked very hard to support and (hopefully) improve the breed.
Once we realized that the best way to observe the differences in pugs from across the country was to attend breed specialties, we started attending National, Regional, and Club specialties. Unfortunately, living in the West has put us at a large disadvantage, as dog shows are not very prevalent in this part of the country. Since becoming involved in the sport, we have traveled literally hundreds of thousands of miles to dog shows and specialties. We started showing in Denver, Colorado, where there are several shows each year within a two hour drive. In 1990 we moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where there are only eight shows each year within a two hour drive. This move added at least nine hours to most of the shows that we normally attended, although it did bring us closer to a handful of western shows. Fortunately, in 1994, we moved back to western Colorado (Montrose, to be exact), and although we are not located in the Denver area, we are still a lot closer to shows than we were in Utah.
Over the years, our perseverance has paid off in that with limited breeding, we have produced both Specialty and Best in Show winning pugs. Pugs that were bred and owned by us have won over one hundred Group I, seven Specialties and five Best in Shows. In 1996 we retired the Fancy Pants Memorial Trophy, which was a traveling trophy awarded to the Best of Opposite Sex winner at a Regional or National Specialty. To retire the trophy, it had to be won three times by dogs/bitches of the same owner(s). We have also attended the Westminister Kennel Club Show in New York City on several occasions, both with and without a dog to show, and visited the AKC offices on Madison Avenue.
We have been members of the Pug Dog Club of America for several years and have attended every National Specialty since 1987. We also served as editors of the PDCA Bulletin for five years.