#retromops

YES! Down with pure-bred (inbred) dog lines, and up with ethical, health-centered dog breeds!

That’s another important thing about these guys- they don’t have a closed studbook! Genetic diversity is very important, and they bring in additional bloodlines to cross with regularly.

Okay, so we can all agree that dogs having a muzzle that’s too short is bad for their welfare and we shouldn’t be doing it, but how short is too short?

Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome is a collection of conditions associated with the shortening of the muzzle (flat faces) that make it difficult for the dog to breathe. Elongates soft palate, everted laryngeal saccules and hypoplastic tracheas need an Xray or anaesthetic to diagnose, so how can you tell whether a puppy you’re considering purchasing might be affected? And consequently make judgements about that breeder and whether you want to give them your hard earned money.

You look at the nostrils. If the dog has stenotic nares, it almost certainly has the other conditions too.

Stenotic nares are a narrowing of the nostrils. They’re apparent by a few weeks of age and easy to spot once you’re looking for them. Compare these couple of dog noses...

You can see there is a spectrum to how pinched closed or ‘stenotic’ they are. The more closed they are, the worse that dog will breathe. And now you’ve seen it, I encourage you to go and look at all the bulldogs, pugs and pekingese you see and judge their noses. Even just crawl through the tags for those breeds on tumblr. Go look, see how many are affected and how severe they are.

Breeders of brachycephalic dogs should be selecting for longer muzzles and more open nostrils to minimize Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome so be consumer aware.

(Note, some dogs will have little scars where they’ve had corrective surgery on their nostrils to open them up more. This is great for the dog, but the trait will still be passed on to any of their offspring.)