AKC Toy Group · No. 38 in 2025

How to identify a Pug

The Pug is a square, cobby toy dog, ranked No. 38 by the AKC in 2025. Look for deep wrinkles over a short, square muzzle, large round eyes and a tail curled tightly over the hip. Pugs are fawn or black only, and fawns have a black mask and a black line down the back.

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Pug standard.

1. “Large and deep” wrinkles above a “short, blunt, square” muzzle
2. Tail “curled as tightly as possible over the hip”; “the double curl is perfection”
3. Fawn or black only; fawns show a black mask, ears and a black “trace” down the back
4. “Square and cobby” body; small, soft ears “like black velvet” and very large, round eyes

Tell them apart

Pug or French Bulldog?

Check the ears and the tail. A Pug has small, soft, black velvet ears and a tail curled tightly over the hip. A Frenchie has large, erect bat ears and a short tail. Pugs are only fawn or black, while Frenchies are never black.

Pug

1. “Large and deep” wrinkles above a “short, blunt, square” muzzle
2. Tail “curled as tightly as possible over the hip”; “the double curl is perfection”
3. Fawn or black only; fawns show a black mask, ears and a black “trace” down the back
4. “Square and cobby” body; small, soft ears “like black velvet” and very large, round eyes

French Bulldog

1. “Bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top,” carried erect
2. Large, square head with a soft roll of wrinkles over an “extremely short nose”
3. “Roach back,” with the loin higher than the shoulder
4. White, cream, or fawn, with brindle or piebald patterns; never black, blue, or merle

More Companion & Toy breeds

• Boston Terrier
• Bull Terrier
• Bulldog
• Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
• Chihuahua
• Dalmatian
• French Bulldog
• Havanese
• Miniature Schnauzer
• Pomeranian
• Poodle
• Shiba Inu
• Shih Tzu
• Yorkshire Terrier

Sources

• AKC Pug breed standard
• AKC most popular dog breeds of 2025