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Why French Bulldogs Can't Breathe: The Truth About Breeding for Looks · The Animal Advocate

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What if I told you that America's most popular dog breed
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can't breathe properly, can't mate without assistance,
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and can't give birth without surgery? And that we did
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this to them on purpose because we thought it
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looked cute? Welcome
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to the Animal Advocate, where we arm animal lovers with
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the information and inspiration you need to become effective
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advocates. I'm your host, Penny Ellison, and I've taught
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animal and advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania since
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2006. If you've ever thought someone
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should do something about that, I'm here to guide you on your
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journey to being that someone. You can find us on
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the web@animaladvocacyacademy.com
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and that's where you'll find show notes and resources. And you can
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send us your comments on episodes and ideas for topics you'd like
0:57
to hear on future shows. So, on to today's
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topic.
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Today, I want to talk to you about something that might make you a little
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uncomfortable. If you've ever stopped to admire a French
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bulldog on the street, or cooed over
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a pug's wrinkly face, or thought about adding a
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flat faced dog to your family, this episode is for
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you. Because what I'm about to share changed how I
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think about these dogs and the choices we make when we bring them into
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our lives. The French bulldog just claimed the
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title of America's most popular dog breed for the third year running.
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Now, this is according to the akc, so it excludes shelter and
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rescue dogs, but among dogs registered with the akc, they are
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the most popular. They dethroned the
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Labrador retriever who held that spot for 31 years.
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And I understand the appeal. Those bat ears, that
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compact size, that goofy personality. But
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here's what most people don't know. When they fall in love with that face,
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many of these dogs struggle to breathe every
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single day. We're going to talk about selective
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breeding. What it is, how it's created dogs that
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suffer because of the way they look and what we can do about it. And
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I promise, by the end of the episode, you'll have concrete actions you can
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take to be part of the solution. Let's start with the
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basics. What is selective breeding?
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It's the process of intentionally mating dogs with specific traits
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to reproduce those characteristics in their offspring.
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Humans have been doing this for thousands of years. We
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bred dogs to help us hunt, to guard our homes, to
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herd our livestock. We selected for speed,
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strength, intelligence and stamina.
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I'll be honest, for most of my life, I assumed that all these
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dog breeds that we know about today just always existed.
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I thought a bulldog was always a bulldog. A German shepherd was always a German
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shepherd. And when different breeds got together, that's when you got a
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mixed breed or a mutt. It really surprised me
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and made me feel maybe a little bit dumb to learn that it's
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actually the other way around. Dogs used to be much more similar
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to each other. They were just dogs. All these distinct
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breeds we recognize today were created by humans
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over the past few hundred years, deliberately selecting and
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breeding dogs with particular traits until those
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traits became exaggerated and, and fixed.
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And for most of that history, we bred dogs for
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function, for jobs they needed to do.
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But something changed about 200 years ago. We
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started breeding dogs primarily for how they look.
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And that shift has created serious problems.
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So something about genetics that most people don't realize is when you select
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for one trait like a shorter snout, you can't
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do it in isolation. You bring along other genes
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too, including ones that cause disease. And
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when breeders use a champion show dog repeatedly because he has
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the perfect look, any genetic problems he
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carries spread through the entire breed before anyone
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even knows there's an issue. The result?
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Purebred dogs have dramatically higher rates of inherited
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disorders than mixed breeds. They also live
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significantly shorter lives. Research from the UK
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found that brachycephalic breeds, that's the scientific name
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for flat faced dogs like bulldogs, pugs and
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French bulldogs, live an average of 8.6 years,
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compared to 12.7 years for dogs with normal length
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snouts. That's four fewer years with your best friend.
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Let's talk specifically about these flat faced breeds because they're a
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perfect example of selective breeding. Taken too far,
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the condition they suffer from has a name, Brachycephalic
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obstructive airway syndrome, or boas.
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It means their airways are compressed, their nostrils are
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too narrow, their soft palates are too long
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and their windpipes are too small.
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You know those snorting and snuffling sounds that people think are cute?
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That's the sound of a dog struggling to breathe. These
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dogs aren't making happy noises, they're fighting for air.
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And breathing problems are just the beginning. These dogs suffer from
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eye problems because their skulls are too shallow to properly
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protect their eyes. You know, you see how their eyes kind of bug out of
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their heads. They have dental issues because their teeth are
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crowded into shortened jaws. They can't regulate their
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body temperature properly because panting, a dog's primary way
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that they cool themselves, doesn't work well when you can barely
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breathe. Many of them can't exercise normally.
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Some have such difficulty breathing that they adopt unusual sleeping
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positions to keep their airways open. Sitting up,
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elevating their chins, or even sleeping with a toy in their mouth to
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prop their airway open. Research shows that about
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a third of flat faced dogs actually stop breathing for multiple
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seconds during sleep and
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reproduction. Bulldogs have been so altered
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that most can't mate naturally. The females birth
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canals are too narrow for puppies, oversized heads,
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so the majority require cesarean sections.
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We've created dogs that literally cannot reproduce
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without human surgical intervention.
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If you look at photographs of bulldogs from the 1850s, and there
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was a great article about this in the New York Times Magazine years ago that
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I'll link to in the show notes, you'll see a very different
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animal. They were athletic, energetic dogs
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with elongated muscles. More like what we now call a pit
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bull terrier. The squat, struggling dog we know
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today was deliberately created over generations of breeding
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for increasingly extreme features.
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And it's not just the flat faced breeds. Cavalier King Charles
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spaniels have a 50% chance of developing a debilitating
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neurological condition called syringomyelia,
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where the skulls are too small for their brains.
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And a lot of people know that German shepherds are plagued by hip dysplasia.
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Dachshunds frequently develop spinal problems that can leave them paralyzed.
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And Great Danes have an average lifespan of only
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seven to 10 years, with some studies suggesting that the real average
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is closer to six and a half years, about half the lifespan
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of many smaller breeds. And something that really
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gets me. Watch what happens when a shelter posts a
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bulldog or a French bulldog on social media. The
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applications pour in. That dog will be
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adopted out within days, if not hours.
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Meanwhile, a perfectly healthy pit bull mix, athletic,
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friendly, with a body that works exactly the way it should,
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will sit in that same shelter for weeks or months.
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Think about that for a second. We're racing to adopt
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dogs that have been bred to struggle while passing over
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healthy dogs who would make wonderful companions.
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Our obsession with certain looks isn't just driving
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irresponsible breeding. It's contributing to shelter
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overcrowding and euthanasia. And the dogs paying the
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price are the ones whose only flaw is not being
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trendy enough. So since
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we usually talk about advocacy around here, what does the law say
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about all this in the United States? Almost nothing.
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There are no federal or state laws that specifically regulate
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breeding practices. State kennel laws and
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the Animal Welfare act cover a lot of breeding operations,
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but they focus on basic care, shelter, food,
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water, not on whether it's ethical to breed those dogs. In
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the first place. Now other countries have moved further.
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Germany has integrated animal welfare into its constitution
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and specifically prohibits breeding animals likely to produce
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offspring with hereditary problems. The UK
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requires breeders to consider whether breeding from a dog could have
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a detrimental effect on its health or on the health
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of its offspring. And in 2022,
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Norway made headlines when a court ruled that breeding English
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bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles spaniels violates the
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country's animal welfare laws because of the severe health issues
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these breeds face. The Netherlands has gone even
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further, banning the breeding of dogs whose snouts are shorter than
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one third the length of their skulls. And they're now considering bans
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on ownership and even public display of images
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promoting these breeds. The UK's Kennel
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Club has also taken steps. Starting in 2025,
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Pugs, Bulldogs and French bulldogs must pass a
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respiratory function test to compete at Crufts,
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the world's largest dog show. Dogs that fail
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those graded as having severe breathing problems can't enter the
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competition. So hopefully that
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changes the ideal confirmation that breeders are looking
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for. So what can we do? Well, the
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solution isn't simple or straightforward, but it starts with something that is
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just awareness. Research shows that most
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people who buy brachycephalic dogs have no
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idea about the health problems until they're dealing with veterinary emergencies
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and thousands of dollars in medical bills. And that's no joke.
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It happens all the time. Three quarters of owners
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weren't aware of breed related health issues before they made their
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purchase. So that's where you come in.
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Every time you share information about these issues, you might reach someone
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who's thinking about getting a flat faced dog. Thinking about
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patronizing one of these breeders that's creating dogs that
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suffer and you might help them make a more informed
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choice. And collectively, of course, it's a
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supply and demand issue. When consumer demand shifts,
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breeding practices have to follow if they want to keep making money.
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We also need better breeder accountability. Many
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advocates are pushing for mandatory genetic screening before breeding,
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education requirements for breeders, and extended warranty
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periods that would make breeders financially responsible for
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inherited health problems. Right now, most
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so called puppy lemon laws only cover issues
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that show up within days of purchase. But many
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inherited disorders don't appear until later in a dog's life.
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The good news is that breeders can make a difference when they commit to health
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over appearance. One geneticist spent
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decades crossbreeding Dalmatians to eliminate a gene that
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caused painful urinary problems in that breed. After
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15 generations, he produced healthy Dalmatians
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that still had their distinctive spots. So it's
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definitely possible to improve breed health, but it takes
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commitment and time.
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So now for our Q and A. Today's question comes from
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Jessica. Jessica writes, I already own a
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French bulldog and I love him. Does that make me a bad person?
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What should I do now? Jessica Absolutely
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not. Loving the dog you have is exactly what you should do.
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The dogs that already exist need homes and care and
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they deserve owners who adore them. The issue isn't with
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people who love their pets or already have French bulldogs or other flat faced
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breeds. It's with a system that keeps producing dogs
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predisposed to suffer. So here's what I'd suggest.
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Work closely with your vet to monitor for breed related health issues.
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Learn to recognize signs of respiratory distress.
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Keep your dog at a healthy weight because extra pounds make breathing even
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harder. Be careful in hot weather since these dogs
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overheat easily. And if your dog does need
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corrective surgery to breathe better, know that you're not alone.
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About one in five owners of flat faced dogs report
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their pets have needed surgery related to their physical
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features. Going forward, when people
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maybe compliment your dog, you have an opportunity to gently
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educate them about the health challenges these breeds face.
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Not to shame anyone, just to spread awareness.
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Now for today's Be the Change segment, I have one
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simple action that takes about 15 minutes. I'm dropping
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a link to the British Veterinary Association's Breed to Breathe
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campaign. Read through their materials about
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brachycephalic health issues, then share one thing
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you learned on social media. Maybe tag a friend
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who might be thinking about getting a dog. Here's another
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idea. If you see a flat faced breed in an advertisement, whether
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it's selling cars, insurance or anything else, consider reaching
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out to that company. Let them know that using these breeds in
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advertising normalizes their suffering and contributes to
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demand. The UK's end of the Trend campaign
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has successfully gotten major brands to stop using these
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breeds in their marketing. And if someone you know is
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thinking about buying one of these breeds, share what you've learned today.
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Not to judge their choice, but to make sure they have the information
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they need. Point them toward breed specific health
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resources so they understand what they might be signing up
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for and can find a breeder who prioritizes health
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testing. If they still decide to buy one.
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Or better yet, of course you know what I'm going to say.
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Invite them to visit your local shelter. Introduce them to one of
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those healthy, overlooked dogs waiting for a home. Sometimes
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meeting the right dog in person changes what they thought they
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wanted. Change happens one
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conversation at a time and your voice can
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be part of shifting the tide. Hey, we
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created these breeds. We can uncreate the suffering that comes
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with them. It won't happen overnight, and it won't
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happen without a lot of us speaking up. But every time we
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choose health and personality over appearance,
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every time we share information about these issues,
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every time we support breeders who prioritize welfare,
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we move closer to a world where loving dogs doesn't
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mean condemning them to lives of struggle.
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Our dogs, we all know they give us everything they have.
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They deserve bodies that let them breathe freely, run
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joyfully, and live long, healthy lives.
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Let's be the advocates they need.
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That's it for today. The Animal Advocate Podcast is brought to you
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brought to you by the Animal Advocacy Academy. You can find
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episodes and show
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notes@animaladvocacyacademy.com
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along with a link to our Facebook and LinkedIn pages where we
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discuss our podcasts, and we'd love to discuss your thoughts and
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experiences there. If you're interested in learning more about
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protecting animals, subscribe to the show so you get every
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episode when it comes out. If you have any questions on
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this or any other topic related to animal law, email
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them to podcastnimaladvocacyacademy.com
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and we'll make sure to get them answered. We'll either email you back
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or feature them in a future episode, or both.
17:37
And remember, compassion is great, but
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compassionate action is infinitely better. Until
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next week, Live with Compassion.