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In January, I wrote to the UK Boxer Breed Council Health Committee enclosing some pictures of Boxers taken at UK shows in the past couple of years. I pointed out that I felt that stenotic nostrils (nares) in the breed was a growing problem and that I hoped it could be nipped in the bud.
As some will know, I am currently on a bit of a mission re Pug, Frenchie and Bulldog noses via the CRUFFA Facebook page. Pinched nostrils are a huge problem in these breeds, particularly in Frenchies (a blog to come on that).
We produced some nice stickers to help get the message across - and I even offered to let the French Bulldog club have the artwork without CRUFFA's name on it. Sadly, I wasn't taken up on the offer (we're the enemy...) and I was forbidden from distributing the stickers at Crufts. As it happens, just mentioning on CRUFFA that I wanted to, created a big and rather silly fuss in the dog press, so we managed to get the message across that way.
"While the Boxer Breed Council’s Health Committee does not believe that pinched nostrils are a significant issue in Boxers we will take the opportunity of reminding Breed Clubs that open nostrils in the broad, black nose required by the Breed Standard are desirable. We will be doing this by circulating your original email together with this response."
I wrote back and thanked them.
Unfortunately, though, stenotic nares are now a major problem in this breed, as the picture above and those below show - all taken at Crufts last Sunday.
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It is astonishing that I even have to say it, but clearly I do:
While the show-ring continues to obsess about minor cosmetic points, completely ignoring basic necessities for life, it deserves all the crap it gets from campaigners like me.
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Dogs are obligate nose breathers. They exhale hot air through their mouths when panting, but all the air they draw into their lungs is through their nose, so a fully functioning nose is important.
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Dogs don't sweat like we do, so their nose and airways are critical - and particularly in an active breed like the Boxer that suffers from heart problems. (NB we know that heart problems can be a consequence of the continual fight for air in the extreme brachycephalics).
As Professor Gerhard Oechtering wrote in the Guardian a few years ago:
"...the noses of wolves and dogs are not just for smell; they are an indispensable tool to control body temperature. Dogs are not able to sweat like humans or horses. They need the large mucosal surface of the nasal turbinate and a specific gland producing "water" in hot weather or when internal heat is produced after physical exercise. Vaporising this water on the large intranasal turbinate surface is the cooling principle; the tongue plays only a minor role in canine thermoregulation. This is the reason why dogs are obligatory nose breathers. No nose – no thermoregulation – no health – no animal welfare."
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Meanwhile, the KC's Breed Watch has absolutely nothing listed as a health concern for the Boxer.
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Perhaps now the KC will add stenotic nares? And while they're at it, the ectropion, too.
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I feel very fortunate that my probably pet bred Boxer has extremely open nares...he is so active I couldn't imagine how he would cope with such pinched nostrils.
ReplyDeleteMy first Boxer was slightly pinched, nothing so bad as those photos, but he had some trouble in hot weather.
Nothing will change, if that's what is winning. It's nice that the breed club "acknowledges the problem", too bad they didn't see fit to do anything about it.
Don't believe all you read, shes a witch this woman!!!! She will make sure she finds just enough to make her story sound realistic
Delete"Anonymous 16 March 2017 at 21:28" you have just displayed classic breed club mentality. Anyone questions the breeding of your breed, and you point at them chanting "Witch." It's the 21st century, not the middle ages. Grow up!
Delete@Anonymous16 March 2017 at 21:28
DeletePinch your nose and pull your eyelids down, then go for a run and tell us how it feels.
You calling her a witch is irrelevant. All the name calling in the world will never change the reality of the situation.
@ anonymous 16 March 2017 at 21;28
DeleteNo need to worry that I'm being gullible or misled; the photos demonstrate stenotic nares very clearly.
Melissa - as a boxer owner you can help: if anyone expresses interest in your boxer and talks about getting a boxer or asks about finding a breeder, recommend they find one who takes health into primary consideration and breeds for wider nostrils and longer snouts, and explain to the potential new owner why (you can point out your boxer has the wider nostrils and is healthier because of it).
DeleteIt may come with a lot more clout coming from a boxer owner than if the owner of another breed (without the smushed face) said it. The more people that go out and look for the healthier dogs the better - eventually there'll be no market for the pinched nostril dogs and the breeders will have to adapt to market demand.
This is a real problem, anonymous. The next time you are feeling a bit stuffed up, try to breathe only through your nose for an extended period of time. How would you like to do that all day, every day?
ReplyDeleteShe is not a witch. She just writes what others do not wish to hear, but is nevertheless true. Attacking the person rather than the argument is the hallmark of someone who knows deep down that they are wrong.
Those pictures don't lie.
ReplyDeleteThese pics maybe not but what about the other 200 entries!!!
DeleteGood for the other 200 entries then. It doesn't change the fact that THESE dogs have a problem though.
DeleteThe good doesn't negate the bad.
I am disappointed with so many breed clubs.They really could not care less!Health of the breed should be the imperative,certainly not the "Crufts" look!
ReplyDeleteAnother breed that will soon die out due to so many typical money grabbing,ignorant breeders.
This problem in the UK Boxer has been noted many years ago by one of the most internationally respected breeder-judges. This website must be at least 15 years old now and just as relevant as ever; this article within it is there since about 2010:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.worldwideboxer.com/style10.html
Contrast with the state of the nostrils of the North American Boxer:
http://www.worldwideboxer.com/style9.html
And the Boxers from Continental Europe typically trend towards an even shorter muzzle, also with pinched nostrils:
http://www.worldwideboxer.com/style11.html
However, this breed is in dire straits for a multitude of health reasons, and to be honest the nose issue is pretty much one of the least of them. I gave up on my 10-year quest to ever have a Boxer and switched to another breed, because it was just impossible to find a sound, typy dog without severe health implications in its pedigree. The situation has only got worse since I gave up. I feel so bad for breeders faced with the impossible task of rescuing this breed from the state it's in. I'm not sure it can be done.
Did you notice all the boxer faces were shaved and chalked... Isn't that against the show rules? Nobody cares at the show? What an unnecessary procedure.
ReplyDeleteI guess not. I've seen people color in their black dogs with sharpie markers.
DeleteThank you for continuing to go after these breeders who don't really care about the dogs, just the ribbons. I am a former show breeder of whippets, and my breed doesn't have any of the ridiculous health issues that the bracy breeds do. But give them time, I am sure they will mess up my breed too.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous person above who attacked the truth, if you believe your position, why hide? You lack credence by be a coward. Wake up and look at your dogs. Jemima is RIGHT. Sorry you cannot see this!
ReplyDeleteDog's nose is an important organ. Dogs sniff on a continuous basis and if that organ is not functioning properly then dog will not live a normal life.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with all you said in this post, and that standards definitely need to change, however, i am a veterinary student and one small thing to point out is unlike horses, rabbits and rodents, dogs are not obligate nose breathers, and the problems with brachycephalic breeds tend to be a long soft palate which can obstruct the trachea when air is inspired, more so than small nostrils.
ReplyDeleteEctropion, stenotic nares and a shot jaw. and that's just the face.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess.
Ectropion, stenotic nares and a shot jaw. and that's just the face.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess.
yo jemima, have you heard about the bmd vitality outcross project?
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing up the BMD Vitality Project. I hadn't heard of it until you mentioned it, but went to their website and read every page. They are doing an absolutely STELLAR job. I love that they are keeping the breeds and participants anonymous to outsiders, while keeping meticulous breeding and health records. I wish every breed with longevity issues would do something like this...
DeleteI do not understand why a dog breeder would not pay close attention to their dogs MAIN AIRWAY. Thank you for bringing light to this growing issue. Seeing programs like BMD Vitality Project, stated above, is a good reassuring that others are taking the issue serious.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for bringing attention to this issue. I don’t have much knowledge as it relates to boxers, so the information provided above was very helpful. Very informative post, and the stickers are awesome! Thanks Jamima
ReplyDeleteThe sentiment of french bulldog breeders (and most owners) is summed up fairly well on this page I found while researching tracheostomy: http://florestafarm.com/brachycephalic-syndrome/ the page lists the issues with pinched nostrils, elongated palate and even mentions laryngeal collapse; however it advises people to seek out "early corrective resolution and management" (I. E. spend thousands of pounds on surgery to fix the issues the breeders deliberately put there) for these issues, rather than find a breeder who breeds for less extreme frenchies.
ReplyDeleteThe worst line of the whole page for me was "These problems cannot be easily overcome unless we want our breed to look like a greyhound.."
Apparently every dog that can breathe properly must look like a greyhound too?
@Lucu Lencia,
DeleteI went to the page, and the first sentence I read was "Brachycephalic syndrome and the French Bulldog are synonymous."
Okay... the French Bulldog club doesn't want to allow Blue Merle as an acceptable color because of the low risk of deafness in heterozygous dogs, but they're perfectly fine with breeding dogs with a 100% rate of breathing problems?
Sheesh! Talk about misplaced priorities!
Interestingly, the site I went to about the Merle gene said that while double Merle dogs who were blind and deaf could live happy lives if well cared for, a responsible breeder wouldn't breed two Merle dogs because "...while such dogs can make wonderful companions, those with normal hearing and vision do have an easier time in life..."
http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-breeds-breeding-merle-patterns
Scrolling through these photos again, and it appears that the boxer is becoming a long-legged bulldog. More is always better in the showring, it seems :( Which is really sad I think - can't folks appreciate understated beauty anymore?
ReplyDeleteS.K.Y Why so they can unscrupulously scam,con,and trick good breeders out of good well bred dogs for their mutt breeding project?
ReplyDeleteI remember when you could easily find a good boxer breeder whose dogs were elegant, had tight eyelids and facial skin, flews were droopy but not excessive, had no underbite, and wide nostrils. Good luck finding a breeder of dogs like that these days. I have noticed an uncomfortable trend to breed severel breeds more like some form of bulldog.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the Tibetan Spaniel, once a beautiful breed, now just a few generations away from a Pekingese replica. Their nose is less than half the length it used to be, their eyes have started to bulge, their coat is getting fluffier and the legs are getting shorter because the human race never learns and if there's one organisation that always manages to do the exact opposite of preserving a breed despite claims, it's the KC.
Hi Jemima - me and my partner are looking to buy a boxer later this year, he has grown up with the breed and adores them. Could you recommend a good starting point for finding a responsible breeder, in light of the above issue? My partners family are little help as they are obsessed with short nosed dogs…
ReplyDelete