- Kindly follow all links in the text below to sources and references -
ON BREATHING PROBLEMS
The French and English Bulldog breeds are together in an American Trachea Hypoplasia X-ray data screening project with the OFA.
In Sweden only English Bulldogs participate in a similar Trachea X-ray project (Info in Swedish) to promote normal air pipes in breeding - in cooperation with the English Bulldog Club of Sweden SKEB, the Swedish Kennel Club SKK and the SLU Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - Dept of Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Imaging.
The French Bulldog Breed Club FBK has so far not been interested in an initiative to X-ray the airways of the Frenchies.
The two bulldog breeds both are known to have malformed and narrow breathing tracts just like Pugs and other short muzzled breeds. The windpipe can inherently be so tight and weak as it can be compared to the dog being forced to constantly breathe through a drinking straw.
A dog must have a neck long enough to allow a normal developement of the windpipe. Compare a Scandinavian champion from 1975 with today's winners:
A lot would be gained in breeding if only Frenchies with a normal windpipe were bred - in case all breeders had the tracheas of their sires and dams X-rayed before mating. Trachea X-rays are less complicated and no sedation is used, so the procedure is simpler and cheaper than Hip Dysplasia X-ray, which is required for many other breeds - without any money cashback to the owners.
The muzzle has often pinched nostrils from birth, which turn inward during inhalation and cause the muzzle airways to be constantly congested and stuffy.
Go to acvs.org to see examples of stenotic or pinched nares (fig. 3) and normal nares (fig. 3a) and more.
The mucous membranes in the airways swell and are cronically thickened, as the dog constantly has to strain to get sufficient air down to the lungs. To make things worse, the soft palate is often too long and blocks the throat with every breath. What this looks like is shown on the video published on the website of a German veterinary clinic:
A short faced dog has the same structures in its muzzle and throat as a dog with a normal length muzzle - but in a much smaller and crumpled area. CT- scan from the University of Leipzig Animal Clinic of the airways of a breed with a normal foreface and that of a short faced breed:
A dog must have a muzzle foreface long enough to allow a normal length soft palate. It is scarcely possible for a very short faced breed to breathe normally.
Pinched nostrils
A dog must have wide open nares to allow normal breathing through the nose.
Discrete surgery on long soft palates and pinched nostrils is sometimes performed - and there are French Bulldogs, who seem to be able to move around and breathe without problems. Of course a dog who needed this surgery should not be used in breeding. This Frenchie just got home after a long walk and has lots of energy to go, without obviously being short of breath - operated on or not:
French Bulldogs like all short faced breeds have a limited breathing capacity especially during stress and exercise in hot weather, because few are able to breathe effectivly with an open mouth and panting tongue. It can end real bad in case the saliva is whipped into a stiff mousse by the troubled breathing and the long soft palate, like whipped meringue egg whites, which can cause suffocation. The lathery saliva froth can sometimes be melted by squeezing lemon juice from a plastic lemon inside the dog's cheek pouches.
IT IS IMPORTANT NEVER TO LET A SHORT FACED DOG BECOME TOO HOT AND STRESSED OR EXERTED IN HOT WEATHER
- Cool the dog off by splashing plenty of not too cold water all over the body -
--- and keep it still, in the shade ---
At the worst a Frenchie or Pug or other short muzzled breeds can suffer a Heat Stroke or a Tracheal Collapse, which can be immediately life threatening.
The windpipe (trachea) looks like an oldfashioned bathroom shower hose and is kept open by thin rings of cartilage - which can break and squeeze together - like used staples - when the strain on them gets too heavy.
French Bulldog Louis in Berlin has a tail, a muzzle foreface and open nostrils.
No breeder wants to engender and sell disabled puppies.
All owners would prefer a Frenchie with normal breathing capacity:
why not turn back a little to good old vintage show ideals
for a sounder health and fitness for the future?
A long enough muzzle foreface with open nostrils ensures good breathing and a good quality of life
