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LIMITED MUZZLE – LIMITED HEALTH
By David Hancock

  In The Telegraph Magazine of the 2nd of February 2019, Charlotte Rea, a vet, wrote an enlightened piece on her experiences with unhealthy pets, including her feeling utterly depressed after her first solo airway surgery on a French Bulldog. She wrote: “Like many brachycephalics (a group of conditions resulting from the body conformation of dogs with short noses), Frenchie can’t really breathe. For years he has struggled to walk more than a few metres without his tongue and mucous membranes (gums) turning slightly blue.” The coverage pointed out that this breed was now the most popular one in the country, closely followed by Chihuahuas and Pugs.  Not disclosed was the fact that both these latter breeds have breed-disposed health defects causing suffering too.  There is much opposition from dog-breeders to the European Convention on Pet Animals which seeks to limit exaggerated features in dogs, to the detriment of their health. One element in this seeking of healthier dogs is the focus placed on the 'short-faced' breeds, such as the Bulldog, the Pug, the Pekingese, the Boston Terrier and the French Bulldog. One of the problems in these breeds is that today's specimens are shorter in the face than the prototypal ones; the show-ring has produced a shorter face in these breeds than is typical. There is no shortage of medical evidence to prove that the short face in dogs brings with it a wide range of disadvantages. Difficulties in breathing, giving birth, keeping cool and coping in stressful conditions are well documented, but there are other significant anatomical problems too.

     In their book, Dogs (Scribner, 2001), the Coppingers, both biologists, write on the Bulldog: 'Their faces are so squashed that the turbinate bones in their nostrils are tiny. Turbinate bones are covered with respiratory epithelial tissue, which helps the dog to breathe and cools its brain. As a result of the tiny turbinates, bulldogs and the other flat-facers have poor brain cooling, poor breathing, and low oxygen tension in their blood'. In their authoritative 'Breed Predispositions to Disease in Dogs and Cats' (Blackwell, 2004), Gough and Thomas devote more words to the Bulldog than any other breed, stating that brachycephalic upper airway syndrome (BAOS) is common in the breed (and in the Boston Terrier, Pekingese and Pug), with 55% of cases of hypoplastic trachea being found in this breed.

 The short-faced or brachycephalic head shape is the result of an inherited defect in development of the bones of the base of the skull; the skull is of normal width but is significantly reduced in length. The soft tissues of the head are not proportionately reduced, so too much tissue is crammed into the space available, leaving little space for the passage of air. Other breeds show this defect through having too deep a stop, e.g. American Cocker Spaniels, St Bernards and some Boxers, but to a lesser extent. Bulldogs often have elongated soft palate. Bull-bitches have an unusually hard time whelping, with one study stating that only 6% of Bull-bitches whelp naturally. The seeking of a relatively large head in this breed contributes to this, with the head shape not helping. In some Toy breeds, like the Brussels Griffon and the spaniels, the shortened muzzle is often accompanied by bulging eyes, vulnerable to all kinds of physical threats, runny eyes, prone to infection, too small a skull, resulting in a cramped brain, and too small a mouth, leading to dentition difficulties. A simple outcross could so easily remedy this flaw but, as always, the worship of pure-breeding, ahead of animal welfare, wins the day!

  The short face also imposes scenting limitations, with such a construction imposing a loss of 80% of scenting ability. With scenting power meaning as much to dog as sight to us, this is comparable to a loss of 80% of sight in a human being, some handicap. Eye problems occur in dogs with the short face; Boston Terriers can suffer from outward turning of the eyes, making it difficult to achieve binocular vision, as well as protrusion of the eyeballs, which can lead to their eyes popping out of their sockets, from even moderate trauma. The Pug, with shortened nasal passages, suffers from chronic sinusitis and other respiratory infections. Some Pug owners actually find their dog's snoring 'comforting'! Breeding dogs for the psychological needs of humans is not very admirable but I've read of Pekingese owners liking the look of a permanently 'crying' pet and of pop-eyed breeds being desired because they look vulnerable, and they are! Eyeballs that protrude excessively expose the eye to drying, even difficulty in closing the eyes properly, and risking corneal injury. Too short a muzzle also leads to dental problems; the upper and lower jaws are not equal in length and the jaw is so short that the teeth are overcrowded. The short face also results in skin problems; deep folds or wrinkles around the nose attract bacterial infection, leading to surgical removal of some folds. Folds around the mouth tend to trap saliva and debris, causing at least a foul smell, at worst dermatitis.

   From 1840 the breed of Bulldog changed from a mainly white, rat-tailed, thick-eared, broad-mouthed, strongly muzzled, hard muscled canine gladiator into a very different animal. In his authoritative "Dogs: Their History and Development" of 1927, Edward Ash wrote, on the Bulldog: "When bull-baiting and dog-fighting ended, the dog was bred for 'fancy', and characteristics desired at earlier times for fighting and baiting purposes were exaggerated, so that the unfortunate dog became unhappily abnormal. In this translation stage, huge, broad, ungainly heads were obtained, legs widely bowed were developed, and frequently the dog was a cripple. Then gradually the desired points were rounded off and the transition stage had passed. How these changes of type were obtained is difficult to say." These "changes of type" had been obtained by using the blood of a short-nosed, compact, close-knit, cobby, unaggressive, black-masked, smaller dog called a Pug. In his "The New Book of the Dog" of 1907, Robert Leighton wrote on the Pug: "...and it is known that it has been bred with the bulldog for the anticipated benefit of the latter." He expresses no doubt about this cross-breeding. He was the acknowledged authority of his day, taking great pains to be accurate. In his "The Dog Book" of 1906, James Watson recalls visiting a dog show at Alexandra Palace at the end of the 1870s and being briefed by the famous Bulldog man Bill George's son, Alfred, with the words: "...there has been a great change since you went away. You will see some of the old sort at father's, but they don't do for showing." Memorable words! There is a significant painting by Cresswell Desmond at the end of the 19th century, depicting two Bulldogs of markedly differing types, one advancing and the other retreating, under the caption: “The Old Order Changeth, Yielding Place to New”; illustrating most aptly the distinct change in preference by fanciers.  

   The pursuit of fad breed points is a curse in any pedigree breed and the Bulldog has suffered more than most. In one decade a well out at shoulder front is desired, in another a grotesquely undershot jaw is all the rage and then the great essential is a mass of wrinkle. The degree of wrinkle on the contemporary Bulldog is not historically correct. Wrinkle on a Pug is a breed feature. Misguided breed fanciers used these words in the Bulldog standard of 1875: "The forehead should be flat...and the skin upon it and about the head very loose, hanging in large wrinkles." I know of no portrayal of a bull-baiting dog with large wrinkles on its forehead. At the turn of the century, the Kennel Club recognised Toy Bulldogs and authorised classes for them. These dogs had to weigh less than 20lbs and some weighed as little as 13lbs. If you look at photographs of specimens at that time such as Leda, Little Monarch, Bite, Little Jemima and, especially, Champion Harpton Floss, then the influence of the Pug can be seen quite clearly. Unadmitted cross-breeding was not confined to Bulldog and Pug breeders, who should not be stigmatized for so doing. It is the denial of such activity that is tiresome; many, many pure-bred dogs of today come directly from the skilful blending of the genes of more than one breed.

 The short face in the Bulldog and derivative breeds, like the Bullmastiff, comes from the Pug cross not from the baiting ring. Following the banning of bull-baiting in 1835, the bull- baiting dogs not surprisingly suffered a decline. From 1840 the breed of Bulldog changed from a mainly white, rat-tailed, thick-eared, broad-mouthed, strongly muzzled, hard muscled canine gladiator into a very different animal. In his "The Bulldog --a Monograph" of 1899, Edgar Farman notes that: "From that time forward the breed began to deteriorate, and, with the era of modern dog shows, the appearance of an up-to-date specimen became a caricature of the active and plucky animal that baited the bull." This caricature had been obtained by using the blood of a short-nosed, compact, close-knit, cobby, unaggressive, black- masked, smaller dog called a Pug. Out-crossing can boost a breed's virility and correct faults imposed by close breeding but breeding for exaggeration can never be wise. The 19th century Bulldog breeder who promoted the sale of his pups by boasting that he had bred 'the shortest faced Bulldogs in London' epitomises those breeders who see merit, and profit, in exaggeration, exaggeration which harms dogs and restricts their lives, but fattens the breeders' wallets. Such breeding has to stop. We must now face up to our responsibilities.

     Writers have not been kind to this breed or its breeders down the years. Goldsmith, in his 'Animated Nature' of 1840, wrote of the Bulldog: "Their life is short, though their development is slow, they scarcely acquire maturity under eighteen months and at five or six years show signs of decrepitude." Concern has been expressed in recent years too about the short lifespan of the breed. Vero Shaw, writing in 1879, related that "The Bull-dog has undoubtedly suffered considerably from his association with the lower classes of the community...amongst other undesirable practices which have crept in...is the abominable mutilation resorted to by some breeders to shorten the length of the upper jaw, and turn the nose well up. No words can express our repugnance at the horrible cruelty thus inflicted upon the unhappy  puppies..." Three years earlier, two Bulldogs had been disqualified for such 'faking' by the veterinary inspector at a major London show but the KC permitted a second vet to pronounce them 'honest' and restored their prizes. This was not exactly the most admirable or encouraging decision for the governing body to make for the breed. The near muzzle-less skull and squat build introduced by Pug blood (a cross denied by many but verified by six quite different Victorian writers) was not admired by every Bulldog admirer. James Watson, in his masterly 'The Dog Book' of 1906, writing: "It is useless for fanciers either here (i.e. the USA) or in England to argue that the present-day dog is the same as the old sort; those who say so cannot have any personal knowledge of what Bulldogs were..." 

    Half a century later, the well-known writer Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald was to write in his 'The Domestic Dog': "...Thus we developed the Bulldog. But it must not be thought that the Bulldog of the bull-ring bore any resemblance to the squat and wheezing barrel that bears his name today...breeders have produced an animal that is a travesty of the old English Bulldog. The exaggeration of the peculiarities in the breed has been done, of course, for show purposes." One expert on the breed, Barrett Fowler, in his 'Bulldogs and all about them' of 1925, supported this view, writing: "It was the aim of some breeders to produce the most exaggerated specimens possible. They misread the standard and taught others to misread it also."   He was a Bulldog devotee. It is fair to ask what the Kennel Club, with its self-appointed mandate of 'the improvement of dogs' was doing whilst this was going on. But that body has often in the past just responded to breed clubs rather than truly overseeing them. That light rein has its merits when things are going well, not so much so when unsound unhealthy dogs result. Barrett Fowler also wrote: "...a vast number of crippled, unhealthy and grossly exaggerated specimens of the breed were being exhibited, and, what is worse, winning prizes." Those prizes were won at shows run by the KC, the guardian of breed standards, whose declared purpose is ‘the improvement of dogs’..

   For quite a number of purebred KC-registered breeds of dog, such as Pugs, French Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Pekes, other Toy breeds like the Affenpinscher, Brussels and Brabancon Griffons, spaniels and the Japanese Chin, as well as some Boxers and just about every show-ring Bulldog, to be bred knowingly with defects causing daily discomfort, is a sad reflection on the selfish whims of man inflicted on hapless sentient creatures – originally intended to give us pride in owning them. There is no pride whatsoever in the breeding, the exhibiting and indeed the owning of deformed dogs; the perpetuation of handicapped dogs by those who paradoxically claim to ‘love’ their animals, with that being condoned by kennel clubs around the world, tells you a great deal about the human race – none of it good!