Whew! That took me a whole cuppa coffee to read through!
OP, welcome to Chaz, cute pup!
If you deliberately got a non standard color dog, seems to me like I'd be growing a thicker skin. Its kind of like when people get great danes then complain that everyone comments on how big they are.
Obviously you know pugs don't come in brindle as you admit your breeder is trying to reintroduce the color. So you KNOW that most dog people will not have seen a brindle pug and therefor you're going to get comments on it.
If you didn't want the comments don't go out of your way to get a nonstandard dog.
Just in case its not clear, I have nothing in the world against mutts and mismarks, in fact my whole crew right now is made up of exactly that. Two "all american dogs" and two merle great danes. 'Cept mine are rescues and I didn't deliberately support irresponsible breeding practices when I acquired them.
And yes, I do think it is irresponsible for a breeder to focus on color (unless we're talking about avoiding health problems associated with certain colors like not breeding merles to avoid sensory defects).
With a breed like pugs who suffer from so many health problems anyway, its incomprehensible to me that a breeder would focus on bringing back brindle instead of say trying to clear their line of hip and knee problems.
In other words, this:
That said... are we really supporting and defending a breeder who appears only to be breeding for new colors? I have no problem with breeders breeding for new colors as long as they are still being responsible breeders - health testing, and proving their dogs in some sort of venue. What I will not support is a BYB whose main goal is to introduce or bring back color, just for color's sake.
Yes, the majority of show pug breeders have made their breed into an abomination - fat, flabby dogs with smooshed faces that can't seem to do anything except waddle around a show ring. But does that automatically mean that every non-show Pug breeder is acceptable and worthy of defending? I sure hope not! One faction's negative impact on a breed do not negate the wrongdoing and irresponsibility of another.
Based on the above, I find it incredibly frustrating that you would happily go to this breeder again.
Everyone makes mistakes, and when one knows better hopefully one does better. Knowing better and still choosing to perpetuate the cycle of irresponsible breeding is disappointing to say the least.