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Tuesday, 15 January 2013

The bum note in 'dem bulldog blues

This video has been doing the rounds for a while and has been universally promoted - including by the dog's owners - as cute, funny and adorable (see stupid article in the Daily Mail today).

It is nothing of the sort of course. What you're seeing here is a Bulldog trying to deal with an itchy bum but prevented from doing so via normal means by his conformation. Note how the dog makes licking motions. (And nope, not a guitar lick...). The poor boy just can't reach because of the way he's been built and that's the case for most bulldogs.

Not a massive problem here - the resourceful dog has found another way (although rather their carpets than mine...). But many Bulldog bitches (and indeed other breeds with similar body proportions selected for by man) cannot reach round to help whelp their pups. That is on the rare occasion where they are allowed to whelp naturally as opposed to by C-section that is the most common way to bring Bulldog pups into the world.

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27 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 January 2013 at 21:36

    A real journalist would have Actual facts/figures/Stats to back up a claim like "That is on the rare occasion where they are allowed to whelp naturally as opposed to by C-section that is the most common way to bring Bulldog pups into the world." but when having proof ever been your reason to print anything? Well least the National Press have take the same move as the BBC distance themselves from you, where will you rant over Crufts this year?........well there always Dogs Today, if they have space between the chinz dog bowls and crystal covered leads.

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  2. Jemima Harrison15 January 2013 at 21:54

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20136998

    C-section rate for UK bulldogs: 86.1%

    Only the Boston Terrier higher at 92.3%.
    Mastiff: 64.6%
    French Bulldog 81.3%
    Scottish Terrier 59.8%
    Miniature Bull Terrer 52.4%
    GWP 47.8%
    Cumber Spaniel 45.2%
    Peke 43.8%
    Dandie Dinmont 41.4%
    St Bernard 41.2%
    Irish Wolfound 40.3%

    I would expect the C-section rates for Bulldogs to be a bit lower than this 2004 survey shows given the recent emphasis on Bulldog health and the new limits on C-sections. But not that much lower.

    Thank you for your concern over my career. We're busy working on a major BBC2 project at the moment - the reason why it's been a bit quieter on the PDE Blog.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous16 January 2013 at 02:24

      A Major BBC2 project..............can they afford the Ofcom fees then? Wonder who you have fooled now?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16 January 2013 at 02:27

      Thanks for the data link where it says "The frequency of caesarean sections was ESTIMATED as the percentage of litters that were reported to be born by caesarean section" not found, not reported not facts but ESTIMATED

      Delete
    3. Jemima Harrison16 January 2013 at 10:21

      You misunderstand. Estimated does not mean "guess". The percentages are based on real data - gathered in the 2004 KC/BASAVA survey.

      "The questionnaire contained three sections pertaining to the health status of all dogs including questions covering the body systems, breeding of females and occurrence of birth defects.... Section B contained seven questions on the breeding history of all dogs owned and bred in the previous 10 years of which the questions “How many litters have your female dogs had in total?” and “How many litters were delivered by caesarean section?” were used in this study...Data were available for 36,006 live dogs of 169 breeds (as the German Shepherd Breed Club did not participate) and owners reported reproductive conditions as open-ended responses in the first section of the questionnaire.

      "In this analysis, 151 breeds were included on which data were available for at least 10 litters (range 10 to 1415): this represented 13,141 bitches which had whelped 22,005 litters. The frequency of occurrence of caesarean sections was estimated as the percentage of litters that were reported to be born by caesarean section, and these are referred to as caesarean rates for each breed."

      Delete
    4. Bodil Carlsson16 January 2013 at 17:39

      What, is this true? Here was I worrying over your blog absence... :-) That is certainly good news! Any guess as to when this BBC2 project will be aired? Would like to tell people here to be on the look-out for it.

      Never mind about Anonymouse of 02.27, he/she does not wish to understand and/or is trying to deflect from the impression which the video makes.

      Delete
  3. Taina16 January 2013 at 06:39

    Hello there,

    That's just horrible video to watch, can't believe Daily Mail not realizing that. Here in Finland a blog has been published (http://olennaisestisairaampi.com/) about why no one should buy an english bulldog. It's very sad to read (google translate does a pretty good job, if you're interested and haven't yet noticed it), but very good that people write about it in public here also.

    I'm your regular reader and 100% behind your thoughts, keep up the good work! Looking forward to your next project.

    - Jemima from Finland :)

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  4. Cathy16 January 2013 at 16:02

    How sad and horrible, the poor dog, and others like him.

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  5. Anonymous16 January 2013 at 16:03

    This is so sad. Really breaks my heart.
    It's even more sad that the majority of people who watch this video, don't understand what's really going on.

    sigh/

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  6. Anonymous16 January 2013 at 16:10

    "We are no longer accepting comments on this article." - Daily Mail

    I wonder why!

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  7. Anonymous16 January 2013 at 16:17

    Poor dog. I didn't find it funny or cute at all.

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  8. Tina Clark16 January 2013 at 19:31

    Jemima, I'm just wondering something: Do the people who post disparaging comments on your blog EVER post as anything but 'anonymous'? Sounds like cowardice to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous27 January 2013 at 08:07

      Also very cowardice when you don't even show your face in your profile pic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous27 January 2013 at 08:08

      Tina Clark can also be a made up name too.

      Delete
    3. Tina Clark7 February 2013 at 17:50

      Yes, it could, but it's not. Names can be checked out. I have a blog, a Facebook page, etc. And not having a profile picture is not even close to posting as "anonymous." I simply didn't take the trouble. My profile picture is on my blog, also on blogspot, but apparently didn't show up. I'm not hiding anything. Apparently you are.

      Delete
  9. Dorothea Penizek16 January 2013 at 20:24

    I am shocked at saddened by the video and the cesarean statistics. What have we done to our dogs???

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  10. Fiaraz18 January 2013 at 10:07

    hi.
    poor things.horrible people.
    please do some thing about blue great dane.and siberian husky are they carrying horrible problems as well.

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  11. Anonymous19 January 2013 at 09:02

    A web page about "why no one should ever buy a bulldog" was launched a while ago in Finland. Its purpose is to inform people who are considering to buy a bulldog. It gives health statistics, stories from owners of sick bulldogs and statements from veterinarians and other experts about the condition of the breed.

    Check it out if you're interested (unfortunately its only in Finnish) and google "olennaisesti sairaampi" (loosely translated in English: "substantially more disabled" - the name of the page is derived from a legendary quote from the Finnish breed club of English bulldogs that states that "bulldogs are NOT substantially more disabled than any other breed...")

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    Replies
    1. Fran21 January 2013 at 15:06

      Can you provide a link to the blog? It's not something that's easily searchable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21 January 2013 at 23:37

      I think it is this: http://olennaisestisairaampi.com/

      Some Google translate links to the more relevant posts:

      http://goo.gl/2bVaS - Essentially sicker: the reality of the statistics
      http://goo.gl/QPb0t - Blog section. The first post(scroll all the way down) is worth reading.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous23 January 2013 at 07:26

    a while ago i was going to buy a bulldog just as a pet i loved and do love though not modern bulldogs i went to an assured breeder who had some pups they wanted 800 pound now as i said ive always wanted one but even the guy selling them said they wasn't worth the time or money the bitch was huffing and blowing poor thing could hardly breath or walk she had a huge incision line just about healing she had had to have a c- section pups head got lodged in birth canal he even told me the cant even mate without help but to be honest even though i wanted one i was absolutely disgusted with myself and so called kc those poor dogs cant nurse there pups cant breath cant scratch have constant skin infections cant run cant mate or give birth rarely live beyond 5 or 6 yrs old have bad eyes teeth epilepsy cancers etc list is endless needless to say i got a rescue dog i cant believe how bad these dogs are she looked so sore and just had no spark in her eyes she wasn't much past 2 yrs old had two surviving pups and he was keeping bitch pup to breed with i reported him to rspca but so far zilch as usual im am sick of these so called kc regulators destroying dogs breeders just turning profit i wanted a functioning dog not an obese blob that could die at a moments notice and i heard kc giving dog lover 's bad press because they except cross breeds etc well good for them though it needs to be stricter ie welfare of dogs health but id have a puggle over a pug that overheats anyday

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  13. Anonymous23 January 2013 at 21:11

    And the pills on the table...

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  14. Beth25 January 2013 at 00:16

    This does not relate directly to this particular blog post, but it does relate to the overarching theme of how rulemakers in sports can step in to ban certain practices, given enough pressure. The "Big Lick" in Walkers always reminds me of the flying trot in GSD's. Since you can't really breed a horse to go uphill on its own, they used artificial shoes to create the uphill stance and for a similar reason: to get an unnatural gait that a minority of people seem to find exciting. Here's hoping AKC here in the States starts making similar rules about unnatural methods, including extreme conformation:

    http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/01/25/new-rule-protecting-walking-horses-wins-praise/#.UQHN0I6v3pA

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  15. Jemima Harrison25 January 2013 at 10:14

    Oh this is *such* good news Beth. I investigated the walking horses for another possible film and was horrified.

    Of course GSD show breeders do NOT do this kind of thing to their dogs.

    Jemima

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  16. Beth26 January 2013 at 20:51

    Oh yes, Jemima, I realize that most GSD owners are not soring or beating their dogs!

    Still, the extreme uphill conformation results in a highly stylized gait similar to the big lick of Walkers who are built up in front, and just like the Walker people think it's ok despite the horror of the rest of the horse world, the GSD people think they are doing right despite the horror of everyone else in the dog world. In this case the parent organization for the horse shows had to step in and stop it (and thank heavens they finally did), and I think AKC/ Kennel Club should step in and stop the pinning of GSD's who are built so uphill. It's horrible that in the herding group, full of natural and athletic dogs, GSD's seem to win group so often over their healthily conformed peers.

    The horse world has more than its fair share of horrors, but the equestrian federations seem a little more willing to intervene in the worst of it than the dog organizations do.

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  17. Fran30 January 2013 at 13:14

    I saw a bulldog this morning on my walk. I don't normally see them. There are plenty of breeds I'm not keen on, temperament-wise, but few make me recoil in horror because of their conformation, like the brachycephalic breeds do.

    Just before it started coughing and choking, I thought, that dog would be better off on a harness than a collar.

    There comes a point where it becomes unethical to continue breedings certain breeds, because the odds of the dog having a good quality of life, are just too slim.

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  18. Dog glands4 February 2013 at 09:10

    What a cutie! :) he make my day better! :)

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