11 Jul 2022
Owners should avoid “extreme body shapes” before choosing a pet, RVC researchers have warned.
Some of the most popular dog breeds have the highest risk of developing a painful skin condition, a new RVC report has said.
The latest VetCompass programme research suggests flat-faced breeds such as the English bulldog are up to 49 times more likely to develop skin fold dermatitis than cross-breeds.
Scientists said the findings place an additional burden on owners both before and after they take on a new pet.
Report lead author Dan O’Neill said: “This study adds to the growing evidence of the substantial harms that extreme body shapes can have on our dog’s health, and will hopefully encourage prospective owners to ‘stop and think’ about avoiding extreme body shapes before choosing which breed to purchase.”
The study examined anonymised data, dating back to 2016, from more than 900,000 dogs.
In all, one in 300 of them (0.37% of dogs diagnosed annually) was found to have a formal diagnosis. But around three times as many flat-faced dogs were found to be affected than those with typical medium-length skulls (1% compared to 0.3%). Those levels climbed to 2.1% among the pug, 2.6% in the French bulldog and 6.1% in the English bulldog.
Researchers said those breeds were around 16, 25 and 49 times more likely to develop the condition than cross-bred dogs, with the basset hound also nearly 11 times more likely.
Other breeds that were found to be more likely to have the condition included the cocker spaniel (×7.5), Shar Pei (×6.4), boxer (×4.6) and cavalier King Charles Spaniel (×4.5).
The study also suggested dogs that weighed the same or more than the mean for their breed are more likely to have the condition that those that weighed less (40.04%; 37.78%).
Most cases were recorded around the lips (36.76%) and around 22% in the facial area more generally or in an unspecified location.
Co-author Anke Hendricks said: “Skin fold dermatitis is a common problem in dogs with skin folds or pockets.
“It is not always easy to spot where folds are deep, nor is it necessarily recorded in the health records, and as such this study is likely to underestimate the problem.
“Prevention or treatment of infection requires very frequent skin care or medication throughout a dog’s life, and adds a considerable care burden and cost to living with an affected dog.”
The research was partially funded by The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which has joined other organisations in urging owners and breeders to do their part to prevent animals from suffering unnecessarily.
Bill Lambert from The Kennel Club said owners should clean their dogs’ skin folds daily, keep them dry and ensure their pets are not overweight.
He added: “It is also vital that people make informed puppy buying choices and avoid those dogs that are bred for extreme wrinkles – which are far removed from what’s described in breed standards – and instead ‘stop and think’, and find a responsible breeder who has their dogs’ welfare at heart.”
Laura Hamilton, a veterinary surgeon and French bulldog breed health coordinator, expressed disappointment at what she described as the “recent trend of rogue breeders producing increasingly extreme brachycephalic dogs such as bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs for profit.
“We urge members of the public to do their research, speak to their local breed clubs and veterinary professionals, and stop and think before buying a flat-faced dog. We would recommend the public to move towards purchasing dogs with less exaggerated skin folds and, therefore, less health and welfare issues relating to this exaggeration.”
The full study, “Ironing out the wrinkles and folds in the epidemiology of skin fold dermatitis in dog breeds in the UK”, can be found in Nature Scientific.
