This is Ch Eastonite Randy Andy who won Best of Breed at Crufts last week and it is incredibly depressing that we are still seeing Pugs like this being rewarded at the very highest level in the show-ring.
First up.... pinched nostrils and a squiff eye (strabismus) that is a result of the shallow eye sockets that are a feature of the breed (to the point that their eyes sometimes pop out).
Here's what the KC standard says re eyes.
So how did this dog win Best of Breed?
Perhaps eye tests should be mandatory not just for Pugs (they're not btw) but for Pug judges, too?
Second up, the Kennel Club database reveals just how inbred this dog is.
Let's consider that cousins would have a co-efficient of inbreeding (COI) of 6.25%
And that a grandfather/granddaughter mating would produce puppies with a COI of 12.25%.
And then look at this.
Why do breeders think it is OK to breed like this?
Surely I don't have to spell out the cost of inbreeding to this degree?
So have we seen any progress? Well sure... this dog was carrying a bit less weight than those in the past and he moved OK.
Oh, and we now have a Pug Health Scheme ... But it shows that 70% of Pugs that have been tested aged 3-7 are clinically affected with Brachycephalic Obstructed Airway Syndrome. Read that again... thousands and thousands and thousands of Pugs suffer from air-hunger.
Now on the main Pug Health website those results are only up to the end of 2017. Maybe things have improved since then? Well who knows... no one has bothered to update the results since then.
And I can't tell you if this particular dog has passed any breathing because it doesn't list the names of the dogs.*
In early February, the KC announced the launch of a new respiratory grading scheme for Pugs (and Bulldogs and Frenchies) which should mean the results will be made available. Unfortunately the KC hasn't actually bothered to update its website to reflect that this scheme is actually up and running.
These dogs suffer and the complacency stinks.
*The Northern Pug Club does list some health-test results here.
What the heck does it even mean to say that eyes must be "lusterous" and when excited "full of fire"? Breed standards are like horoscopes and fortune cookies. They are full of such vague and ridiculous language that they can be interpreted to mean whatever the reader wants them to mean. How about we get breed standards that actually give objective, measureable criteria for healthy form and function rather than euphemisms for deformity and dysfunction? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteTo describe eyes as lustrous means they should be sparkling and bright, as opposed to dull and dead-looking which indicates either illness or stupidity (or both). To describe them as appearing to be full of fire means that you should see an intense lively personality in the expression of the eyes. This is not vague fortune cookie language, this is descriptive language describing in no uncertain terms how you can see the animal's personality in its facial expression. You can't possibly be unfamiliar with the concept of looking into a person's eyes and being able to tell that they're bright, healthy, intelligent, exciting just by their eyes, can you? That an animal should have bright eyes full of intensity is not hard to interpret in any shape or form. Unless you, I don't know, can't read English or something.
DeleteIt's no wonder you decided to post this anonymously. Once you threw in the ad hominem remarks you really lost the argument.
DeleteI'm with Fraser on this. Breed standards should be objective and measurable. What one judge sees as 'lustrous' or 'full of fire' another may see as 'deranged' Both descriptions are subjective and ridiculous, they mean nothing.
DeleteBreed standards should be about functionality. Aesthetic standards will follow on naturally from sound functionality. If a dog is physically well made, it will be more pleasing to the eye than one who is poorly conformed.
It's honestly disgusting how these breeders treat standards. When it's minor cosmetic changes such as slightly different colors, or even just dogs that are more moderate than they're used too, breeders won't stop talking about the horrible break from standards. But when it's something that both breaks standard and causes the dogs immense suffering, none of them care. It's blatant hypocrisy, and I am in amazement that none of them notice it.
ReplyDeleteThe Australian National Kennel Council states this for Pug's eyes:
ReplyDeleteDark, not too large, round in shape, soft and solicitous in expression, very lustrous, and when excited, full of fire. Never protruding, exaggerated or showing white. Free from obvious eye problems.
Well said!
ReplyDeleteIt's all about breeding deformities now, the more breeders can make a dog suffer, the more they will. I challenge these breeders to walk around and sleep for a week with a spring peg on their noses... live as a deformed pug for a week..
ReplyDeleteOh, lets face it, crufts, and the kennel club is just about making money.... they don't give a flying one about the dogs, just the price tags.... I have an 8 year old rescue Cav dying of heart disease at present, because she spent her first 6 years in a breeder's run, not being exercised, and not being shown affection... not in a puppy mill, but by a kc registered breeder... when she came to me through a rescue charity, she had a name, but didn't know it, and wouldn't walk though doors (apparently they learn that if they try, they get kicked)... but hey at £1000 a puppy, what did her welfare matter?
ReplyDeleteI hope the kennel club, collectively, get mange.
ah yes "apparently" I love the sob stories people are willing to believe.. as if everyone is kicking pugs to the curb if they try to go through a door and 6 years in a "run" and damn straight NOT a whit of "affection".. tell it to your dog park buddies.. they usually carry halo polish
DeleteAnonymous, could you be protesting a little too much? Why so dismissive and defensive? Do you not believe that appallingly cruel, inhumane practices exist amongst pedigree breeders and outside of puppy farms?
DeleteI would like to draw your attention to the campaign we are currently running in Norway. Unethical breeding is illegal in accordance with Norwegian legislation (and I believe this is the case in several countries). Norwegian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), is taking legal steps to end this crime against animals. The first step is making the governmental body aware of the problem. Please se our letter below:
ReplyDelete"Animal Welfare organization is asking the authorities to act on law breaching breeding of pedigree dogs.
On January 7, 2019, the Norwegian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) sent 20 official notifications of concern to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority regarding unethical breeding of show dogs.
In the notifications, NSPCA asks the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to order withdrawal from future breeding of certain individuals with very short snouts, and that these dogs receive the necessary examination and treatment by a veterinarian for disorders caused by extreme breeding. NSPCA also requests that the breeders of these individuals are put under restrictions prohibiting further breeding without making changes to the way the dogs are breeding. This is done based on §25 in the Norwegian Animal Welfare Law.
Drastic measures
Breeding of different dog breeds with a specific appearance as the main breeding goal has over the years resulted in many hereditary diseases. Today we have about 700 hereditary diseases in dogs. Some of these are related to the dog's extreme appearance, but most are a consequence of many years of inbreeding. In the long run, today's breeding practices will provide even more hereditary diseases and unnecessary suffering. Today's breeding of purebred dogs is neither robust, sustainable nor ethically justifiable.
The backbone of today's breeding of purebred dogs is largely governed by the International Kennel Union (FCI). NSPCA, The Norwegian Veterinary Association and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority have for a long time tried to improve dog breeding in Norway through information campaigns, but this seems to have little effect. The NSPCA has therefore deemed it necessary to take more drastic steps to stop unnecessary suffering in future generations of dogs.
Changes to improve dog health and welfare
Over the past 50-100 years, systematic inbreeding has led to dogs changing their appearance and genetic material. In old pictures one can see that the different breeds had a different look than they have today. Prolonged focus on purebred inbreeding provides each new generation with less variation in the genetic material than their parents had. Small genetic variation explains why the dogs have gained several hereditary diseases, and it also explains why it is hard to get rid of hereditary diseases through breeding schemes. Some breeds have so little genetic variation that they are at the brink of extinction. Routine use of healthy dogs from other breeds / mixed breeds has the potential to relatively quickly provide health benefits for breeds that are inbred. Such a strategy is a form of historical reversal of the breeds that allows for healthier appearance and fewer hereditary diseases.
Want regulations
The NSPCA sees it as imperative that we get permanent structural changes in the way the breeding work is carried out; where the animal's, health, quality of life and intrinsic value are the main focus.
The NSPCA believes that all breeding must be done in accordance with current scientific knowledge, and that breeding of dogs, cats and rabbits must be legally regulated in a legal regulation on breeding of family animals pursuant to the Norwegian Animal Welfare Law §25. The Norwegian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals asks that the Food Safety Authority initiate the work to prepare such a regulation to ensure that future breeding provides healthy and robust individuals.
Åshild Roaldset
CEO
Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge ( SPCA)
Thank you for posting this, very helpful and something we might want to replicate here in the UK.
DeleteAre a new generation of judges needed...with different opinions?
ReplyDeleteBecause a lot of judges do NOT CARE for Health!!! When the weather will get hotter, this poor animal will have big problems breathing.
ReplyDelete"In early February, the KC announced the launch of a new respiratory grading scheme for Pugs (and Bulldogs and Frenchies) which should mean the results will be made available. Unfortunately the KC hasn't actually bothered to update its website to reflect that this scheme is actually up and running."
ReplyDeleteScroll down one line and you'll see the scheme is noted as up and running: https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/breed/health.aspx?id=6164
Interesting to see your reporting is as unbiased and accurate as always.
The Kennel Club seems to ignore parts of the breed standard that refer to health, or contradict the currently-fashionable look of the breed.
ReplyDeleteMy pug was sired by 2010's best of breed yorlander ronaldo. My pug was born 2009.hes suffered with epilepsy his entire life and had stenotic nares surgery at 6 months old. I commented on this matter on crufts YouTube video featuring the sore winning best of breed and they proceeded to block me and delete my comment. Disgusting
ReplyDeleteOla boa noite. Meu nome eh Matthaus, sou do Brasil. Como faço para ter acesso a todos os episódio do documentário PEDIGREE DOGS EXPOSED?
ReplyDeleteDid you read about the study about how the screwtail in English and French bulldogs and pugs is linked to a recessive gene that acctually also causes basically their whole general appearance? And if these breeds were crossbred to remove the screwtail and spine deformities and the flat nose, they would lose their appearance overall and not look like bulldogs and pugs anymore (I don't see the problem with that but I guess a lot of people would). And the gene causes Robinow's syndrome in humans.
ReplyDeleteSo breeding these 3 breeds specifically means intentionally (since we now know about this) breeding deformed animals.
And if we want to retain these breeds, we have to accept they will not look the same at all. But character and personality are always cited as the things people like so much in their bulldogs and pugs soo... I don't see a problem, but of course a lot of hypocritical people are going to.
The dogs are still being inbred because breeders would struggle to find and mate two dogs that aren't closely related.
ReplyDelete