Guess what I saw at Crufts?!

Well, I wish. What the T-shirt actually said was this.

Most show Frenchies have terribly stenosed nostrils. It is a potentially life-threatening fault and yet it's non-standard colours that get the French Bulldog show peeps hyperventilating. They are obsessed with the increasing popularity of French Bulldogs that are the 'wrong' colour - and loathe that non-show breeders take advantage of the recessive colours that lurk in the breed. 

Now there is certainly reason to worry about merle - it's a gene in a double-dose that can certainly cause defects and it was almost certainly introduced into Frenchies from another breed. But chocolate, blue and black and tan? These are just cosmetic issues. The genes are there recessively in the breed. 

(Blue in some breeds can by associated with a condition called colour dilution alopecia, but there's no evidence of it in blue Frenchies.)

Both the UK and FCI standards call for open nostrils - and in fact "totally closed nostrils" is a disqualifying fault in the FCI standard.  And yet this is routinely ignored. This dog, shown at Crufts on Thursday, is absolutely typical of what you see in the ring. No wonder that, according to recent research, 50 per cent of Frenchies have problems breathing.

Yep. You guys do indeed need to read the breed standard.

EXCLUSIVE: Crufts winner Bert Easdon breeds crossbreeds

Isn't it just great when you discover that a top show breeder is willing to embrace genetic diversity?

There was I thinking that the breeder of the winner of the Crufts 2016 Toy Group would be a dyed-in-the-wool purist. But no! Here are just some of the ads placed by Peke breeder Bert Easdon and his partner Philip Martin, of the famous Yakee kennel, on the internet site Pets4Homes in the past two years.

Of course, they breed purebred dogs too. Lots of 'em!

Given that their 70-acre country estate in Dumfriesshire, which they bought for £975,000 in 2002, is rather remote, they even kindly offer to save you the journey to collect your puppy.

How do I know it's them?  Well, helpfully, there's this...Same basket... same blanket.. same stuffed toys. Plus although the contact details have been removed from these ads because the pups have been sold, the name listed when the ads are live is Philip Martin, Bert's partner.

Click to enlarge

Now I'm genuinely pro-crossbreeding when it's done well. I have no inherent objection to people making money out of dogs as long as their dogs are carefully bred and well-raised/kept. Maybe, although they don't mention it, all their stock is fully health-tested. Maybe pimping your puppies in cutesy-pie wicker baskets surrounded by soft toys is just fair-enough marketing these days. And while I am not a fan of breeding kennels, maybe these ones are exemplary and all those dogs get to run about their 70 acres every day.

I hope so.

Last night, the TV coverage of Crufts on More4 had a repellent piece of pro-purebred propaganda which said it was a myth that crossbreeds were healthier and implied there was no reputable crossbreeding - singling out the Cavachon as one designer cross being flogged on the internet by people with no morals for loadsamoney. The item also blamed the rise in the popularity of the designer dog for a 70 per cent increase in imported puppy-farmed pups from eastern Europe. (The reality is that many if not most of those imports are purebred pups - French Bulldogs, Pugs etc)

Here's (some of) the offending footage (NB: may not be available in every country).

Crufts 2016: watery-eyed, exercise-intolerant maggot wins the Toy group

Tonight, the Toy Group at Crufts 2016 was won by a Pekingese, Ch Yakee Ooh Ah Cantona.  I confess I yelled "Nooooo!" so loudly that all my dogs ran out of the room.

But at least they could.  Poor Eric had to be carried in the ring tonight by his rather creepy joint-owner Bert Easdon; and when the poor little thing was made to waddle for the judge, out popped a U-shaped tongue (seriously, can any Peke move at all without panting?) and the dog did his best to take a short-cut.

Afterwards, a tired Eric sat watery-eyed on the sofa with Easdon, who explained that his top show-dogs didn't actually live in the house because if they were allowed to mix when in full show-coat, they would chew each other's ears.

Thus denied even this one act of revenge on the humans who have bred them, Eric and his fellow hostages are doomed to spend their show careers crated or kennelled on their own. I bet they don't get out much, either.

The judge was awful too, making a point of dipping her pasty face into every dog's face, even pursing her lips to kiss one or two of them.  She may love her dogs, but she should know better than to do this with strange dogs - even the supposedly fondle-friendly runway models at Cruft's. The Italian Greyhound , the Crestie and the Pug recoiled visibly.

For those that don't know, Eric is the grandson of Yakee A Dangerous Liaison (aka Danny the Peke) who won Crufts in 2003,  After Danny's win, a rumour spread that Danny had had "a facelift". Owner Easdon denied it, saying that the dog had had an exploratory operation for tonsillitis.

In fact, as we revealed in Pedigree Dogs Exposed, Danny had had surgery to treat BOAS (brachycephalic obstructed airway syndrome) before his big win. I've never published this before, but now seems as good a time as any to show you this statement from Glasgow Vet School.

Despite this, the Kennel Club allowed Danny's win to stand. 

Danny sired over 49 puppies from 19 litters. His grandson Eric has already sired 59 puppies from 22 litters. 

There are no necessary health tests for Pekingese - and none listed for either dog on the KC's database.

Eric celebrated his win by chewing off what remained of his legs

Related post: Crufts winner Bert Easden embraces genetic diversity

RIP Darby

Shocking videos reveal the extent of breathing problems in short-faced breeds

This distressing video is included in a new online initiative by a team at Cambridge Vet School aimed at educating owners, breeders and veterinarians about the breathing problems in short-faced dogs (what's known as brachycephalic obstructed airway syndrome - BOAS for short).

The Bulldog above, for instance, is demonstrating the impact of an elongated and thickened soft palate.

What you can hear with this Pug, below, is laryngeal noise.  As the team explains:  "It is called 'stridor' and it is a high-pitched noise, similar to wheezing and different from low-pitched noises like snoring or snorting. Usually this type of noise indicates a narrowed or collapsed larynx."

It is also often obvious in the way the body heaves when trying to take in air.

Then there's this noise which indicates nasal obstruction - when nostrils are pinched (stenotic) or because the nose is blocked by scrolls of bone and cartilage called nasal turbinates.  This can be accompanied by nasal flaring, where muscles around the nose contract as the dog tries to suck in air - very evident in this short clip.

Here's a mix of both pharyngeal and nasal noise.

 

And, finally, this is reverse sneezing -  very common in brachycephalic breeds and not as bad as it looks because it rarely last for more than a minute. It's actually something many dogs do, including some of my own (non-brachy) dogs.  I've never seen anything as severe as this, though.

I am sure the Cambridge BOAS research group would like me to point out that these are quite extreme examples. Not every Bulldog, French Bulldog of Pug suffers like this. I should say, too, that it is important for owners to seek help way before their dogs' breathing gets this bad - and to remember that BOAS is progressive. Dogs that are only mildly effected when young can go on to suffer. BOAS experts now advise that surgery early on is more effective than waiting.

The Cambridge team is specifically looking for brachycephalic dogs with no respiratory issues to help with their research.  If you have a Pug, Frenchie of Bulldog with whisper-quiet breathing, find out how you can help here.

It is the first time researchers have put together videos to show how different types of respiratory noise reflect where the problem lies internally.  The problem in the dog that is.

The real problem for Bulldogs, Frenchies and Bulldogs lies in a small part of some people's brains that releases a neurochemical hit in response to seeing a dog with a face like a baby's, even if the poor creature is blue with the effort of trying to suck in air.

Hopefully, we can cauterise it with education. 

BREAKING NEWS: KC survey reveals apocalyptic drop in purebred dog longevity

There has been a catastrophic decline in purebred dog longevity, according to the results of a long-awaited health survey released by the Kennel Club yesterday.

It has taken the KC over a year to report on its 2014 health survey - the largest ever survey of its kind - and a follow-up to its 2004 survey.  It makes for grim reading.

Across all the breeds, median longevity has dropped by 11 per cent in a decade. Kennel Club registered dogs now live on average to just 10 years old - down from 11yrs 3 months in 2004.

Some breeds have seen jaw-dropping decreases compared to the 2004 survey.

Bull Terriers now die on average at just seven years old - down from 10yrs in 2004 (a 30% decrease)

Beagles: down from 12yrs 8mths to 10 yrs old.

Dobermanns: down from 10yrs 6mths to 8 yrs today.

Dalmatians: down from 12yrs 6mths in 2004 to 11yrs now.

Border Terriers: down from 14yrs to 12yrs

Irish Wolfhounds: down from 7yrs to 6.5yrs

Rhodesian Ridgebacks: down from 11yrs to 9yrs.

Bulldogs: down from 6yrs 3mths to an even worse 6yrs.

Boxers: now living to 9yrs, compared to 10yrs 3mths in 2004.

Cavaliers: now dying at 10, as opposed to 11yrs 5mths in 2004.

Irish Setters: now dead on average at 11 - down from 12 in 2004.

Whippets: down from 12yrs 4mths to 10yrs.

Even the nation's favourite dog, the Labrador,  is dying younger - at 11yrs old compared to 12yrs 3mths in 2004.

I found a few breeds with modest increases: Flatcoats now live to 10yrs - 2 months longer than they did in 2004. Great Danes died at 6yrs 6mths in 2004 and now survive on average to 7yrs. The Old English Sheepdog now lives 3 months longer (11yrs as opposed to 10yrs 9mths). Bernese Mountain Dog longevity has stayed the same at 8.

But, at this rate, many Kennel Club breeds could be extinct in 100 years' time.

It is a disappointing that the KC chose not to mention this decline in the release accompanying the survey findings (see here).

Now don't get me wrong  -  it is genuinely great that the KC is doing these surveys; it just needs to be honest and not play down negative findings.

I remember how the KC maintained both in and after Pedigree Dogs Exposed that 90 per cent of KC registered dogs were "perfectly healthy" - despite its own survey (the 2004) one finding that almost 40 per cent of KC dogs suffered from one or more health issues.

This time, as before, the KC reports that the main cause of death is old age - reassuring until you look at the actual figures.  In 2004, 17.8% of dogs died from old age. In 2014, it dropped to 13.78%.

Headline: more than 85% of KC registered dogs today do not make it to old age - and almost all die, or are put to sleep, because of disease.

(Trauma/accidents/behavioural issues account for only a tiny percentage of deaths reported.)

The new findings shouldn't be a huge surprise. Despite frequent claims by many that dogs are living longer today than ever before - it has been pretty obvious that an increasing number of breeds are tottering on the brink of viability. It does not, however, make the findings any less heartbreaking for everyone who loves dogs.

The reason for the decline? Closed gene pools... obsession with purity.. popular sires.. dogs being judged on looks not health... and the erroneous belief that breeders can health-test their way out of trouble.

Now there's some wiggle-room in this survey for those who want to question the results.  There were far fewer deaths reported than in the 2004 survey.  And while the 2004 survey was sent out to breed clubs; the 2014 survey was sent out more widely to owners of KC-registered dogs. This means that the surveyed populations were not identical.

When I talked to the KC about the survey in June 2014, though, they were at pains to point out that it would be backwards-compatible with the 2004 survey. 

This is important because, as the KC itself said when the 2004 survey findings were released: "Data gathered from this survey will provide baseline information against which the success of future control schemes can be measured."

The KC has, in fact, withheld certain data that it feels is not statistically significant in the 2014 survey  - e.g. if fewer than 30 deaths have been reported in a breed; hence, rather disappointingly, why there is no median death data reported for many of the current breeds of concern: Pugs, French Bulldogs, Bostons, Dogue de Bordeaux and Neapolitan Mastiff. (Although, frankly, it is telling that so few owners/breeders of these breeds, who these days so often spout a commitment to health, contributed to such a well-publicised survey.)

The Kennel Club needs to encourage these breed clubs to run ongoing health surveys to monitor longevity in these breeds, as well as to find a way to encourage more people to contribute to their next survey (which will presumably be in 2024).

In the meantime, the current findings should be a call to arms. There are some breeds today that are little more than ghosts of what they were.

But I suspect we'll get the usual denial.. the deflecting blame on to vaccines, commercial dog food, puppy millers, vets or big pharma... 

And all the while the dogs we purport to love so fiercely will continue to wither and wane.

---------------

How did your breed do?

See the 2014 survey results here.

Compare to the 2004 survey results here.

BOAS: airway surgery helps but does not cure

This YouTube video above was posted by this French Bulldog's owners in an effort to help raise over $5000 for surgery to help the dog.

Thousands and thousands of short-faced dogs need this surgery - the consequence of our obsession with flat-faced "cute" dogs.

I don't know if Panda's owners were successful or not. I hope so. The dog was clearly suffering.

But, as a new paper reveals, while airway surgery can help some dogs, it is not a cure.

The team at the University of Leipzig featured in Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years On looked at the success of the surgery they perform on brachycephalic dogs.

The owners of 62 dogs (37 Pugs and 25 French Bulldogs) completed a questionnaire following surgery.

The findings:

• life-threatening events reduced by 90% (choking decreased from 60% to 5%; collapse from 27% to 3%
• sleeping problems decreased from 55% to 3%
• the occurrence of breathing sounds declined by 50%
• there was a marked improvement in exercise tolerance
• there was a modest improvement in heat tolerance

But is was not a cure. As the authors say: "...despite the marked improvement perceived by dog owners, these dogs remained clinically affected and continued to show welfare-relevant impairments caused by these hereditary disorders."

We also know that BOAS is progressive and this study only looked at dogs up to six months post-surgery.

There's also the rather large point that we should not be breeding dogs with a high risk of choking, collapse, sleep problems, raspy breathing, and intolerance to exercise and heat.

Not quite sure how many times I can say that. But I'm not going to stop until we see more progress.