I'd ban the breed outright. I am sorry, but an animal that is born suffering with immense health issues should not be bred. This does NOT mean you should euthanize every pug. Some pugs are in fact decently healthy and can have a good quality of life, but the breeding of pugs should be completely stopped. I am however for the restoration of the breed. Some people are attempting to breed a healthier pug with a longer snout and less health issues. I believe this should be supported, but if it proves impossible, that may need to be stopped as well. The welfare and wellbeing of the animal is more important than having a cute dog.
Oh it's an easy solution (on paper) we just need to make sure that the breed standard is appropriately updated and the public well educated. It is entirely possible to breed healthy pugs with longer noses that have all of the traits people love about pugs without the health problems it's just a matter of will. Same goes for the rest of the brachiocephalic breeds, it's not the short nose that makes those breeds special it's the individual personalities and other traits. I go out of my way to look for individuals with more appropriate body proportions in the breeds that I love that have an unfortunate history of being deformed. I think if the breeding clubs would update it so that members are not required to inbreed but can actually outcross and as long as the offspring still meet the standard they qualify for the breed that would help tremendously. Then again there's backyard breeders intentionally making the most deformed messed up versions of these breeds imaginable to sell to people who don't know any better, so there may come a point where additional reinforcement maybe needed in some way :/
We're already starting to- the long-muzzled pug is starting to crop up and people are starting become more educated (thankfully videos like your own, included!) so they're starting to break away from that short muzzle.
@@GayCherryJuice Banning breeds is never a great option. I worked for a dog shelter in the UK (where there are a good handful of 'banned breeds') and it causes nothing but issues. Itt also doesn't stop them being bred. As with most things; banning or making it illegal doesn't stop the problem, it merely pushes it underground and makes things worse and more dangerous for all involved. Plus people will just import them from other areas. And because banned breeds come with so many hoops to jump through, it makes them virtually impossible to hand to shelters, and impossible to rehome (because you cannnot trade banned breeds), so the dogs are either euthanised, or in the case of no k*l shelter, they're stuck with a life of living in kennels. More regulations on breeding and changing the breed standard is the way forward, plus most importantly raising awareness of the issues these breeds face.
This is why i am so opposed to the Kennel Clubs. They did all this! Rescue or buy a puppy from a family home whose pets had puppies like people always used to for hundreds of years! The kennel clubs have smeared home breeders calling them "backyard breeders" and implying they don't know what they are doing when the reality is that when average loving dog people let their pets have a couple litters, its much better for genetic diversity than a few breeders using a small number of studs controlling an entire breed!
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I have subglottic stenosis, which I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Having "air hunger" like that is absolutely awful and terrifying. Yes, you learn to cope, but you are suffering. I do at least get some respite of good breathing between surgeries, before it closes up again. Being born with a restricted airway like the pugs etc just to suite our fancy is completely despicable. They do not deserve the suffering.
This is why i am so opposed to the Kennel Clubs. They did all this! Rescue or buy a puppy from a family home whose pets had puppies like people always used to for hundreds of years! The kennel clubs have smeared home breeders calling them "backyard breeders" and implying they don't know what they are doing when the reality is that when average loving dog people let their pets have a couple litters, its much better for genetic diversity than a few breeders using a small number of studs controlling an entire breed!
Ive had re-occurring pneumothorax through my life. I’m eight lung surgeries deep at the moment. Waking up and not being able to take a breath in was the most scary moment of my life. I thought I was going to die, and when they ran into my hospital room to start an emergency chest tube, the nurse started putting anesthesia thru my IV. I did not see that she was doing this, so I thought that I was just “passing” on to the other side as everything faded away. Waking up after that and realizing it was just anesthesia was one of the most relieving feelings ever
@@OakwiseBecoming There's problems at both ends: most backyard breeders I've seen are either the ones cranking out designer breeds with no regards to the genetics and create even MORE genetic problems, are neglectful constant "oops litter" generators just causing even MORE issues of overbreeding (look how many mutts are in shelters compared to purebreds), or just don't test their dogs for genetic issues before breeding and end up selling dogs that are going to end up with chronic conditions. And that's when they're not going the puppy mill lucrative route. The best medium is a grassroots registered breeder movement like the one that's formed around many of the cat breeds: they've started entering their cats in a worldwide genetic database to breed the issues out and find good healthy matches that still maintain (sane) breed standards. Scottish folds are completely excluded from that database, as are munchkins, because both of those have a genetic disease as a breed standard, and the siamese has its own database because the enthusiasts are trying to fix the neurological issues. The Applehead Thai breed is the one that Siamese owners tell non-breeders to get instead of the Siamese until the Siamese is healthy neurologically again. Breed standards with dogs don't start and end at kennel clubs, there's plenty of breed standards that deliberately REJECT showdogs and want working dog standards instead. (nowhere is that clearer than with the German Shepherds, showdog standard has a spinal deformity, but K9 and shepherd standards demand the absence of that "sloped back" defect. Part of the problem is also that honestly, a lot of the people that want dogs should just go buy a 3DS and Nintendogs instead. So many shitty pet owners who want living toys, not actual sapient creatures.
When you see pug crosses and retro pugs, they're often very intelligent and energetic dogs. I feel like this means that all pugs could be equally energetic if they weren't stymied by the deformities we've bred into them.
I have a rescue pug with a longer snout and it really does make a world of difference. I’ve had him for around a year and haven’t run into any of the breed related issues they normally experience. He’s the third pug rescue Ive owned and by far the healthiest.
yeah i had a pug/chihuahua mix, she was quite slim up until she reached her "senior" years with a longer face and didn't have many problems. she would snort a bit sometimes when specifically lunging and biting at the same time (as while trying to catch a ball or frisbee in the air) so there was still a mild respiratory issue but the vet always otherwise emphasized how healthy she was
Part of why pugs behave the way they do is sadly because of dementia. Pugs brains don’t develop correctly, they stay more puppy like their entire life, which means that by age 8 almost all pugs have dementia. Dementia is extremely common in pugs and that’s part of why they behave “stupid” and confused
I picked an abandoned senior-ish pug off the road four or so years ago and quickly found out why she was abandoned. She had HORRIBLE skin allergies. She smelled so rancid when I found her I straight up thought she had been eating only roadkill for weeks. Her entire underside was raw and cracked. When I took her to the vet they told me her skin was in some of the worst condition they'd ever seen. I ended up holding onto her for only two more years before she got an aggressive skin tumor, and she was already so gray in her face, I just wasn't willing to put her through that and let her sleep. She was literally one of the happiest rescues I've ever adopted despite her body falling apart from the second I found her. What I'm getting at is I'm always grateful to see more people put the truth of pugs out there. Just because pugs can be as happy as any other dog doesn't mean they're not spending every second in discomfort and pain. Dogs can't express chronic pain like we can, but they feel it. And they just don't deserve it.
i saw a pug/black lab cross (not sure how that happens) at the park and it was a lovely little dog. lean, energetic, visible snout, ran circles around my dog with completely silent airways, wish they all looked like that one.
@@Mhidraum I had a friend who had a male Yorkie and a female Aussie shepherd. The Yorkie weighed five pounds soaking wet. The Aussie weighed 60 pounds. They had a litter of puppies, and they were so cute. The puppies were different sizes when born. Some were itty-bitty, others were pretty big. (Jan Griffiths).
When I see photos or paintings of old school pugs, they look so similar and yet so, so much healthier. An actually protruding muzzle, while still being short and stout and cute. Modern pugs look like their faces were smashed in with a frying pan in comparison :( its so sad
Pugs, Frenchies, english bull dogs, these breeds you can kill by just doing an exam. We had a pug come in for lameness. it got so stressed by WALKING INTO THE CLINIC that it upper airway obstructed and needed the vent talk.
When u think about it it’s leaving shelter going into a bumpy car that’s too cold/hot. The owner is stressed because they’re gonna end up spending thousands of dollars. Very bad recipe for dog stress.
I wish you would also cover why Pits have been bred for violence and how they are designed by breeding for destruction, extra strong bite, propensity to snap and attack, and statistics of more likelihood to attack but different from other breeds who may bite but the damage is nothing like how Pits don't only bite but they MAUL. In Britain, they've made the XL Bully to get around the Pit ban and they've had to ban the XL Bullies due to insane attacks resulting in death or disfigurement. People are not understanding how breeding has resulted in breeds far more likely to attack and do unimaginable damage when they do attack. People try to compare it to breeds like GSDs but there is no comparison in the number of attacks or the intensity and results of the attacks. Surgeons have spoken about severed limbs and unrepairable nerve damage, children actually scalped or losing their faces, grandmothers killed, etc. This is important because people who have experienced "the good ones" take it personally and they refuse to understand what is biologically happening. Banning breeding is NOT cruel. It just means we won't be breeding anymore and this has happened to numerous dog breeds whose intended purpose fell out of use (see the Turnspit Dog for example). Please take this up because it's unfair to the dogs and people are at risk.
@@OakwiseBecoming Bully XLs are basically bred from one line of pitbulls iirc. Doesn't make breeding dogs, especially pitbulls, any better. There are so many in shelters, but some people love the idea of having a big, dangerous, and most of all *expensive* dog. They also seem to hate training and adequately socializing their dogs.
@@narrgamedesigner2747 We could say there is some biology to it. A more flat round face naturally triggers our human brains to relate to it, since it more similar to our natural form of faces. Of course, it’s not people (in general) intentionally going out of the way in projecting direct human qualities to dogs, but just the face shape of a pug is more young primate to our brain.
My dad raised pugs back in the 60s when I was a kid. They were taller, had a muzzle, could breathe normally, eyes didn't bug out as much. They didn't have as bad skin folds as today's pug. I think they were cuter back then. My dad had 5 dogs---the male and one female were fawn, a black female, an apricot female, and a silver fawn female. It was my job as a kid to walk his dogs. I don't remember them having any health issues. (Jan Griffiths).
For what it's worth the lineage of pugs you're talking about still exists and I see them every now and then. They are so much better than what has been done to them by the AKC and similar clubs. All of the good parts of the pug none of the bad parts of the pug.
I'm glad my country now prohibits breeding dogs with a too short muzzle. It has to be at least half of the length of the skull, no snorting sounds while resting, the nostrils have to be open and wrinkles at the muzzle aren't allowed, the white part of the eyes shouldn't be visible. This goes for all breeds. It means it's basically impossible to breed Pugs or French Bulldogs in my country because the breeding standard and the law are conflicting. It could land you in legal trouble if you were to follow the breeding standard. I wish more countries would follow. I think in the end changing the law is the only way to really force those breed organizations to change their breeding standards.
@K.C-2049 The Netherlands. I think it's the same in some other European countries (Norway and Germany iirc and maybe others). I recently saw a Pug run for several kilometres (he was in front of me on a hike). I couldn't hear him breath at all, even when he ran right past me. He was just being a happy dog (and well trained too, the owner didn't have to recall him once). That's the way it should be.
I definitely think legislation may be needed at some level, but we are going to have difficulties with the fact that it isn't always necessarily the choice of the breeder when you end up with an animal with a short nose It can happen spontaneously for a number of reasons which kind of makes it little weird. I guess the law would have to be specifically you can't sell animals that show those signs or something except puppies always have short noses so how do you actually do the enforcement and the nuances?
It will remain a mystery to me how adult humans can just ignore that their friend is basically fighting for their life for them to get the 'cuteness' of the snoring and the baby face. Maybe I'm biased because I have a family member who suffers from Laryngospasm (a spasm of the vocal folds that leads to extreme breathing distress once it's happening) and who is - unlike our furry friends - able to speak the words to describe what suffocating feels like. No one should want or accept that for a loved one. Sometimes we have a choice. It's humans who breed dogs, and it's humans who pick the breed standards. We really need to pick more responsibly.
This is why i am so opposed to the Kennel Clubs. They did all this! Rescue or buy a puppy from a family home whose pets had puppies like people always used to for hundreds of years! The kennel clubs have smeared home breeders calling them "backyard breeders" and implying they don't know what they are doing when the reality is that when average loving dog people let their pets have a couple litters, its much better for genetic diversity than a few breeders using a small number of studs controlling an entire breed!
Those same people will allow themselves to become a 300pd pile of mashed potatoes. If they don't care about themselves they won't care about a dog's life.
Worth mentioning ear infections, probably the most common reason a GP will see them. The lack of really any open ear canal + allergies means it’s basically normal for pugs to have an ear infection, and almost all I see for routine vaccinations have them without the owners knowing. Not to mention that the two factors that cause them make them practically impossible to get control of or prevent effectively without outright surgically removing the whole ear canal and their ability to hear with it. Very high risk of vestibular disease from otitis media too, the classic head tilted pug. Plus dental disease. Most pugs will probably need 60-100% of their teeth removed by the age of 6 due to the disease that overcrowding causes.
They were my favourite breed, until I heard this message, and many times over, and saw in my own pug these issues. Now I can never again own a pug, at least not until there are major changes to their physical structure. I will love her until she leaves us, she's 12 now, but any new dogs won't be pugs. I just can't, it's unfair to them.
Yeah... Problematic breeds like this are so commonplace and normalized that it can be hard to even think of this stuff as a possibility before you hear about it. Then in hindsight it's all so clear : [ I wish your girl the best; she sounds like she's in good hands 💜
If you want healthy dogs get mutts. Genetic diversity is very important. My bulldog boxer mix is about to turn 13. Almost unheard of with the breeds he's made from. Plus he was free and extremely loyal because I saved him from a very bad life.
Sometimes I wonder if corss-breading pugs with small non-brachycephalic dogs (for example, corgi or jack russells) would fix most of those problems. Though that'd be probably by restoring some non-existent parts of their head and making them less pug-like, but that cluld be for the best. As a kid I had a pekingese - not quite a pug, but close enough to share most of the issues. It was very problematic dog, but my parents bought her mostly because they thought she's "safe" for a kid, unable to bite with that silly face. Dina was a nice pet, but I really wish she was of a different breed. She had troubles walking, eating, pooping, seeing, breathing and just generally living. She kept brushing her eyes on carpets or anything until there were holes on them, so she was almost blind most of her life - not a long one, I must say. By the end she was a very sick dog. I even had to drain her stomach from excess air because she could no longer get rid of it herself. I literally had to puncture through belly with a syringe twice a day for several months, and I was like 14 back then. And that somehow prolonged Dina's life for a few months, but eventually she died of heart and lungs issues that could've pass for "old age", except that 7-8 years isn't exactly that old for most dogs. After that I knew that if I ever get another dog, it won't be a brachycephalic breed. Or any breed with extra short legs that makes them nearly immobile by design, or any other "vanity" quality that makes their life worse. I'd rather have something small, but closer to normal dog-shape.
As someone who owns a dog boarding facility & no longer take brachycephalic dogs thank you for these videos! It helps me learn the science & facts surrounding this topic! Your videos definitely helped me come to a conclusion on our new policy
2:11 as the owner of a boxer, even their “mild” brachycephaly is still a huge quality of life issue. i love my dog but it’s hard to watch him struggle with his breathing in the heat or during exercise
This. My brother bought an olde English bulldogge because he thought it would be healthier and seeing him struggle in the barely summertime temperatures we have in Scotland is sad.
I have a boxer American bulldog mix. He does ok but in summer we only walk in the shade by rivers. He gets hot real fast. Luckily being a mutt he has been otherwise healthy and almost 13 years old.
I worked in a no-k* dog shelter in the UK (for a pretty known charity). I'm not lying when I say almost all of the pugs and french bulldogs handed into us needed surgery to help with their breathing, literally like 90% of them couldn't even breathe without corrective surgery. And the trouble is people keep buying them without doing research, and from poor breeders (tbh the 'good' ones aren't much better), and then when they're told this expensive surgery needs doing, they just get rid of the dog. It's incredibly expensive for the shelter to do. The shelter won't even use any type of brachycephalic breeds in ay of their advertising, so stuff like pugs aren't allowed to be put in tv ads, posters, flyers or anything. Only time you see a brachy on their site is when ones up for rehoming and it's picture is up. I LOVE pugs, they were always one of my favourite breeds to care for at the shelters. But by god I'd never buy one from a breeder, it's literal animal abuse. Things like chugs are the way forward (and the breeders that are bringing long noses back in).
I had a pug who would run for HOURS in the backyard full blast. Lived to 12 with no issues until the last couple months of life. He was pure bred akc registered. The difference was i didn't get him from a backyard breeder who bred for optimal Instagram cuteness. So his nose was a smidge longer and so were his legs. The ones you see with the most issues are the ones that are deemed the "cutest" with the insanely flat faces, short legs, and fat rolls for days. Now I have a rescue frenchie from a horrid breeder who bred soley for rare colors. Horrible breathing issues. We just spent $2k getting him BOAS surgery from one of the best surgeons in the state. Let me tell you: it didn't help AT ALL. Dog was in pain for weeks and we're broke and he still can't sleep without choking and stopping breathing for a whole min at a time. Again I say: it's all in the breeding.
But yeah let's not shame people for not getting this surgery which apparently doesn't even work! Sure wish we'd never done it. And he had everything but his tonsils done, which they said were fine.
@@SaunterVaguelyDown Yes, it's in the breeding, no one was denying that. But the registered ones can be just as bad, if not worse. As this video states, the actual registered breed type ECNOURAGES this behaviour. Many high end breeders will actively push for squashed noses as it's the breed standard and its what people deem 'cute'. The breeders who are ignoring breed standard and purposefully pushing for responsible practices by crossing them with longer nosed dogs are to be praised, not the ones that stick to outdated and cruel standards. 'Registered' means nothinng, I saw it first hand at the shelter. Edit: And the surgery DOES work. It's extremely rare that it doesn't. i saw it fail maybe once in 2 years of working there, and that was due to other underlying issues.
@SaunterVaguelyDown commenting on all the comments that speak badly on the breeding of pugs makes you seem very very desperate to defend yourself in the worst way. Very insecure behavior
@@SpamhardI have noticed that whenever this topic of breeding for extreme brachycephaly comes up anywhere, you get these same stock responses, blaming the health issues entirely on “backyard breeders” and “rare colours”, and not on the breed standards themselves. (Yes, backyard breeders are *a* problem, but not, in this case, *the* problem).
The news caster calling it cute that the poor pug can’t even breathe. I don’t blame her, many people don’t know the struggles that pugs have to endure. I didn’t know until I found this channel.
So glad to see people speaking out about this -- especially a vet! I knew pugs had issues, but I didn't realize how many and how serious they were. I'd also love your opinion on why Golden Retrievers are developing so much cancer. I've heard they are currently THE most cancer-ridden dog breed and that their life expectancy is dropping because of it.
2 very popular sires that were half brothers and both died young of cancer. You will be hard pressed to find any GR in the US that does not have one of them turn up at least once, with the exception of imports. European bred GR's have about a 38% chance of cancer as opposed to the US bred 60%.
We've had 4 GR and it was heartbreaking to have to put such a relatively young dog down due to cancer. I didn't know this was such a common issue for others. 🩷
@skyeiron5872 This is why closed stud books are such a stupid idea. In a sensible world, it should be ok to cross a golden retriever to something similar like a yellow lab, and then cross the offspring back to other goldens to get back to the original phenotype with a splash of some nice fresh genetics. So many purebreds have issues that can be traced back to popular studs that had problems, but with closed stud books the genetic pool can only get smaller and more turned in on itself.
@@GigglingPsycho Yes, closed stud books and conformation shows are the worst thing that ever happened to dogs. Of course the show breeders will bury their heads in the sand and dig their heels in as their breed swiftly heads towards extinction rather than allow carefully considered outcrosses to revitalize the gene pool and lower health problems claiming that it will ruin the breed and bring all sorts of new health problems in while completely ignoring the fact that their breed specific problems only became problems because of the way they breed. To make matters worse, most continue to 'line' breed their dogs and throw out plenty of perfectly good genes and claim it is to improve the breed. This is why I'll stick to my working line herding breeds with their open stud books and accepted outcrossing. Many working herding dog registries allow the offspring of a cross breeding to be registered on a provisional/secondary registry provided the outcross was a complementary one eg a Koolie x Border Collie where both dogs were good herders.
Any sort of genetic condition that doesn't impact reproduction in the first 4 years of a dog's life is likely to get propagated. That same stupid cancer gene is in boxers but the fancy boxer breeders managed to aggressively prune it out by not breeding dogs that had ancestors that developed cancer. Unfortunately that was not enough to save my dog which had one of the cancer-ridden boxer ancestors in her street dog mix. When I got her genetically tested I thought for sure it was going to be golden retriever but then I found out about the history of the same type of mutation in boxers. I do believe that the Golden retriever breeders are trying to get enough funding together to do genetic testing so they can basically test dogs that look really good and only breed the ones that don't carry the gene. There was probably one particular stud that had it and when he got used heavily it infected the whole breed
I remember when I was a kid, and saw pugs snorting when they were breathing, I questioned the dogs health. When I was told that this was “normal” I still had a hard time believing it. Now I know why, it’s in fact NOT normal.
I had a pug who would run for HOURS in the backyard full blast. Didn't snort a ton. Lived to 12 with no issues until the last couple months of life. He was pure bred akc registered. The difference was i didn't get him from a backyard breeder who bred for optimal Instagram cuteness. So his nose was a smidge longer and so were his legs. The ones you see with the most issues are the ones that are deemed the "cutest" with the insanely flat faces, short legs, and fat rolls for days.
German here. Very good video, I just wanted to correct one thing: it's Kindchenschema, not Kindenschema. The word 'Kindchen' is the German diminutive of the word 'Kind' meaning 'child'. Knowing the origin of the word is actually quite a good aide-memoire for its meaning if you think about it.
@@Michael-j2d1g Try using "neoteny" (that's the biology term for "baby traits as adults" in general), it might get you somewhere. I'd check myself and report back with either a "nope couldn't find" or citations, but I caught a cold and I'm running on like 3 hours of sleep per night while I'm snotting because of, heh, breathing issues.
I wish you would also cover why Pits have been bred for violence and how they are designed by breeding for destruction, extra strong bite, propensity to snap and attack, and statistics of more likelihood to attack but different from other breeds who may bite but the damage is nothing like how Pits don't only bite but they MAUL. In Britain, they've made the XL Bully to get around the Pit ban and they've had to ban the XL Bullies due to insane attacks resulting in death or disfigurement. People are not understanding how breeding has resulted in breeds far more likely to attack and do unimaginable damage when they do attack. People try to compare it to breeds like GSDs but there is no comparison in the number of attacks or the intensity and results of the attacks. Surgeons have spoken about severed limbs and unrepairable nerve damage, children actually scalped or losing their faces, grandmothers killed, etc. This is important because people who have experienced "the good ones" take it personally and they refuse to understand what is biologically happening. Banning breeding is NOT cruel. It just means we won't be breeding anymore and this has happened to numerous dog breeds whose intended purpose fell out of use (see the Turnspit Dog for example). Please take this up because it's unfair to the dogs and people are at risk.
I love the current "retro pug" trend where people are trying to breed back to a better skull shape. The resulting dogs look much more strong and confident, like they can take on anything.
Pugs, Boston terriers, frenchies are the breeds we see the most at the veterinary ophthalmology clinic I work at. It is not cheap to own these breeds when things go wrong, and often it starts at age 2 with them as compared to other breeds started more like age 9 or so with issues.
Pugs, Frenchies, Boston terrier, English bulldog, pekinese, affinspincher, ‘pocket’ & ‘exotic’ bullies, Persian cats, cavalier King Charles, toy spaniel
I'm a human being born with deformed sinuses and spinal degeneration that had reached the point of pain by the time I was seventeen. It took decades to get doctors to understand that the 'allergy' treatments didn't work and actually get a referral to an ENT. One surgery later and I could breathe clearly for the first time in my life. Chronic nightmares, severe migraines in the morning, anxiety attacks, random blood pressure fluctuations, dizzy spells, seizures, and sleep deprivation came to an end. All of that hell was caused by fighting a severely obstructed airway at night. Throw on top of the mix chronic sinus infections and bronchitis because of poor/improper drainage and I was always truly sick. It. Was. Hell. I was born with these issues and I grew up not knowing different, but my quality of life was obviously not the same as other kids. The spinal problems are a different level of hell. I'm not going into detail, but I am permanently disabled and this one problem that cannot be fixed. Nerve damage is permanent and wouldn't wish this pain on anyone. My spine is fused with titanium from neck to tailbone and modern medicine has nothing more to offer me in that regard. I'm probably going to be pooping into a bag here soon. It horrifies me that humans intentionally create damaged dogs with life threatening deformities because they think it's "cute." Who giggle as they listen to these poor dogs struggling to force oxygen into their lungs. Who pay thousands for deformed babies and keep the demand high. You are monsters and deserve to know every moment of suffering that you're inflicting on these innocents. For those of you who adopt these animals and love them for life, you're angels. But NEVER pay a breeder for a puppy. Do not encourage this stupid behavior. The deliberate breeding of pugs, bulldogs, Frenchies, Boston Terriers and similar breeds needs to be illegal. Spay and neuter the animals that already exist and love them to bits. Give them all the help you can to make them as comfortable as possible. Do NOT deliberately produce more.
Basically we think they are cute, so we breed them for the same things we find 'cute' therefor making them all worse. So yes, I would consider it animal cruelty to continue to breed them like that.
Your big three ideas on how to change things covers a lot! I think you nailed it personally and by all means, please make more breed-specific videos! Dogs, cats, horses, a lot of different animals kept today are being bred in ways that cause health issues. Even reptiles! A number of snake morphs cause neurological issues. Just one example is the "spider" morph in ball pythons! People need to stop obsessing about aesthetics to the point where they forget these are living, breathing biological beings with feelings and the ability to suffer! I just don't get people who justify it!
when i was little my mom told me we were getting a dog, and handed me a big book of dog breeds to look through and ask what I would like. I asked for a boston terrier and my mom decided to get a pug which to be honest has left me confused as to why she even asked. now I love my pug shes 15 almost 16 years old now and I cannot express enough that you should not buy pure bred dogs. her whole live we have been told our dog is very healthy "for a pug" but trust me when they finally arent it will bleed you dry.
I’m surprised you didn’t talk about dementia in the neurology section. Recent studies show that almost all pugs develop dementia due to their brain not developing correctly, which is why they act like puppies their whole lives.
If you're thinking about purchasing a pug: don't. But jokes aside, I've been watching you're other videos and the argument about bats being brachycephalic comes up often. So I had a look. I found out humans can be brachycephalic too - and it means the skull is flattened at the back. The skulls of these "brachycephalic" bats aren't flattened at all, but brachycephalic dogs definitely are. We might be approaching brachycephalic wrong by talking about it only being a flattened face - because then it opens that argument about some wild animals like bats also having flattened faces (even though their skull isn't flattened). When in reality brachycephaly is flattening of the back of the skull as well as the front crowding of jaws and airways. (Oh I also wonder if you see neurological problems in cats with folded ears. It's just something I've noticed working with cats, they're just kind of wrong. An unpredicatble temprament, and I've seen 2 out of the 4 I've worked with have something that may have been a seizure.)
Re: cats with folded ears -> It’s because the gene that makes their ears “fold” is one that effects the cartilage in their ENTIRE body. It’s weaker than usual iirc, to they get arthritis and stuff really early and that leads to more issues. It also messes up their spines and tails, which leads to other issues. Kinda like with pugs, a LOT of vets and breeding clubs outright tell people to not breed cats with folded ears with one another because the majority of the kittens get arthritis alone by 8 weeks.
@@Ac3_Silvers thank you! I knew about the joint problems, but spine problems would explain what I've seen with them. They get stressed and just seem to collapse. Temprament issues could be because of chronic pain, too, rather than neurological. I know where I am, in Aus, there was talk about the Scottish fold being removed from breeding club registrations, I don't think munchkins were ever accepted, and I'm not sure about the others. If only it could be that easy for dogs, I think it's only because they're relatively new breeds.
@@Ac3_Silvers I've a Scottish fold. She was born without a tail, a twist in her spine, and developed arthritis in all of her legs by the age of 8. She's 13 now and has a severe hip arthritis. Back when we got her, our cat and dog died less than a year before (both very some mix breeds) and we knew nothing of the breed (any purebreeds tbh) so we got her just because she was so cute, no tail and all. Love her to death but I don't recommend anyone getting a Scottish fold - seeing her paws getting deformed by the arthritis at such young age is heartbreaking.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 yeah munchkins can be any breed technically, it’s just a birth defect thats being selectively bred to occur more often. “Dachshund cats” like that are just as prone to spinal and joint issues as their dog counterparts if not more so because of how cats are supposed to move, and the “lower” they are the more miserable they are. They always look like they’re crawling to me, and tend to be way more skittish in my experience. They can’t move around as well and thus tend to be more wary and nervous. Plus, again, heavy pain issues at the minimum and they can have serious issues down the line with their spines, hips and legs.
What about Manxes? In my opinion the proportion of them born with disabling spinal issues and even other deformities of their rear end, such as the excretory system, is unacceptably high. No matter if some aren't so severely affected by this mutation, it is still a disease and shouldn't be perpetuated. We need more people pointing out that what is commonly described as "walking with a charmingly quirky bunny-hop gait" should actually be translated to "unable to walk normally because their spine is deformed."
Breeding for extremes of type. It can succeed in the show ring (90 lb. male Gordon Setters, for example) but it's often/usually bad for the individual dog. 🤔
That issue comes about if breed standards don't clearly outline that weights outside of the averages are serious faults or actual disqualifications. You would think the added bulkiness to the same height frame would deter judges from giving those dogs ribbons, but nope. Also judges should be questioning if a dog with that much weight on their frame can flawlessly prance through the woods all day to hunt with you like what the breed's job is 🤔
@@0aprilanne0 The GSD standard calls for a *level back...* No show line GSD has a level back. Conformation shows are what have driven dogs to this point of deformity.
I wish you would also cover why Pits have been bred for violence and how they are designed by breeding for destruction, extra strong bite, propensity to snap and attack, and statistics of more likelihood to attack but different from other breeds who may bite but the damage is nothing like how Pits don't only bite but they MAUL. In Britain, they've made the XL Bully to get around the Pit ban and they've had to ban the XL Bullies due to insane attacks resulting in death or disfigurement. People are not understanding how breeding has resulted in breeds far more likely to attack and do unimaginable damage when they do attack. People try to compare it to breeds like GSDs but there is no comparison in the number of attacks or the intensity and results of the attacks. Surgeons have spoken about severed limbs and unrepairable nerve damage, children actually scalped or losing their faces, grandmothers killed, etc. This is important because people who have experienced "the good ones" take it personally and they refuse to understand what is biologically happening. Banning breeding is NOT cruel. It just means we won't be breeding anymore and this has happened to numerous dog breeds whose intended purpose fell out of use (see the Turnspit Dog for example). Please take this up because it's unfair to the dogs and people are at risk.
@@OakwiseBecoming This isn't going to get covered because this is literally just all untrue information. The first indicator you have no idea what you're talking about is "pitbull" isn't a breed. Pitbull is a generic term used for any mutt that has a short single coat, triangular floppy ears (if they weren't cropped), and a broad mildly-brachycephalic muzzle. I groom a dog who was adopted from the shelter as a "pitbull". Mom did a DNA test and the dog is a coonhound/lab mix lmao. But guess what? If the dog bit someone, it would be recorded as a bite from a pitbull on the police report.
I will never forget the time an English bulldog came in and got so stressed out that he started choking on his own slobber, then he panicked so much more that he had a seizure, and a temp of 107. Literally had yo give him propofol and place a ET tube to calm him down and lower his temperature.
All my cats and dog doesn't exhibit kindenschema (they have proper snout and ears, all were strays) , but I love how they look compared to a human infant.
I love the breed-centric videos! I'd love to see one on chihuahuas. The general health of mixed breed VS pure bred dogs would also be interesting, since there's a lot of mixed breed dogs that need to be adopted, so a general health overview (especially if its better than the small gene pools in purebreds) would be nice. A third idea, if it's not too odd, is talking about native of "village" dogs.
As someone who adopted a Scottish Fold kitten who was struck with a particularly severe case of Osteochondrodysplasia, I feel this all so hard. It absolutely broke my heart she was stricken with this and the "breeder" was the source of ire for me. I adopted her from a family who had her one year and didn't want her anymore because of the snorting and the fact she wasn't "cute."
Would you also consider making a video on ectropion? i feel like people really downplay the chronic discomfort of having your inner eyelid being constantly exposed to the open air. imo it should be a serious fault in judging any breed.
I have a case of very slight scoliosis. But even in a case like mine it comes with being susceptible to back pain. Like the pains are inevitable the older one gets. My scoliosis doesn't need surgery and it doesn't affect my life much, other than that I had back pains already in my 20's. And apparently I also walk as if I was limping, but it isn't too obvious - I've just had some people ask me about my leg being hurt back when I was about 17 (and my leg was perfectly fine). I know two other people with worse cases though. The other one now has metal plates installed to support her spine, which doesn't make her visibly disabled, but effectively she has a disability, and she can't lift heavy items and has lost flexibility. The other person has cerebral palsy, and a severe case of scoliosis, so his crooked posture is pretty much the first thing you notice. As he ages the spine has started to press on his lungs. The surgery will be massive and dangerous. Fortunately we have public healthcare in this country, so it won't be a money issue. Yeah, life without scoliosis would be better. Humans are however in a better position to get treatment.
"Imagine having your nose pinched all the time while breathing through a straw" Goodness they live like THAT!? I knew they were given the biological middle finger, but I didn't think it was THAT BAD!😥😭
People don't t seem to understand (or maybe just don't want to know) that creating "desirable" attributes in breeds is done by inbreeding, period. The end result is that most purebred dog breeds are effectively all genetically related, in some breeds as closely as siblings. Even mixed breed dogs are as closely related as first cousins once removed. Pugs are as inbred as sibling matings over multiple generations. Search for the NY Times article "Has Dog Breeding Gone Too Far?" It's pretty disturbing.
Now in breeding in and of itself isn't actually an issue outside of disease susceptibility. It's the length to which people take in breeding that makes it a problem. In nature you have naturally occurring in bread pockets but they don't build up genetic defects because they can't survive. When you keep things alive with serious health problems and continue to reproduce and stack those genetics together for more and more health problems, that's just messed up.
I have a pug mix. Its roughly 75% pug and 25% Petit Brabancon, and I can say that the slighly longer snout helps with breathing a lot. So a quick tip, if you want a pug, get a pug mix. The purebred ones are very unhealthy.
I grew up with pugs and had pugs in the past. Lovable sweet precious pups but it's tragic what these breeds endure health wise. I'm sure we wouldn't have had em if we knew then what we know now about their health and unethical breeding practices.
@@Shanehudson27 i know right?! Shelters would be less crowded if people took at least 30 minutes of their day to research the animal they want to get, before getting it!
I can't cover every single health problem in this video, but. . . Underachiever! It'd only be 5 hours long! Also, I think pugs are terrifying looking. At least the way we breed them nowadays.
I have had 4 pugs, 3 of which were rescues and are still with me and quite aged at this point. In these 4 pups, I have experienced most of these issues, and for that reason when the last of my pugs passes on, I won’t be seeking any others out. I feel like they are the most delightful companions, and I love mine fiercely, but it is not ethical to breed pugs, and I’m not certain I want to contribute to the normalization of having them as pets anymore. I struggle mightily with the ramifications of choosing not to rescue them, but I figure I have rescued 3 for which I’ll never financially recover from! I also lost a beloved pug at 8 after going septic from a urinary tract infection. She only showed visible symptoms of the UTI 2 days before dying and was on antibiotics, which was WAY WAY WAY too late. These pups are so used to suffering and have such sunny dispositions despite that, that it is much more difficult in my experience to detect when they are sick. Also, they will do a headstand into their food up until their very last breath, so you can’t even notice something is wrong when they stop eating (because they are already dead!). I am so thankful to have had these lil trolls in my life, but I’ll probably adopt other breeds in the future. (DOn’t ask me about my Great Dane! I clearly have a soft spot for the breeds with issues!)
I have had viral encephalitis: quite apart from the sequelae, the pain of the inflammation was like having someone pile drive a paving stone throughout the top of my head. The thought of a dog suffering this sort of pain is horrible .
My rescue dog is mildly brachycephalic, like a boxer, and he has problems with heat, and he snores quite badly. I can't imagine how horrible it must be for pugs and bulldogs. It makes me so sad humans keep doing this to dogs.
Betta fish have similar issues, but worse. Imagine a pug that’s fully grown and ready to breed in 4 months and can breed every 2 weeks. It’s led to all kinds of weird health problems. Red ones are prone to tumors, blue ones have screwed up immune systems and can get graphite disease, ones with tails that air too big are prone to exhaustion or fin collapse, metallic bettas won’t stop growing scales and can eventually have those scales grow over their eyes, leaving them blind, koi-color variants with the constantly changing colors are prone to cancer… “Luckily” the bubble betta didn’t seem to last long, it was basically a betta with a spine half the length it should have been.
Finally!!!! Video I've been looking fir. my friend have a few pugs and I never understood why were they breed that way. I was never ok with how the dogs was engineered.
we have a pug. he’s about 14 years old right now. we got lucky in the space that he doesn’t really have a lot of roles. he hasn’t had many health issues besides when we found out he has a collapsed trachea. we just monitor his barking and he does ok. we adopted him with one eye and he’s almost blind now, and his hearing is getting worse, which i expect with a senior dog. pugs are great dogs, it’s just good to know what your getting into when adopting one. thank you for making a great guide to pugs health issues.
It's great that you adopted, and I have no doubt your dog has a beautiful personality. But "pugs are great dogs" is something we seriously need to stop saying so flippantly. Pugs are NOT great dogs. Pugs are born damaged and unfit for life, and we need to stop pretending otherwise.
@@ChaoProfessor which is why i said “it’s good to know what your getting yourself into before adopting one.” yes they’re born unhealthy and with issues. and we should stop mass breeding them. but just because a dog has a laundry list of health issues doesn’t mean they can’t be a good pet (which is what i’m trying to get at. not just because of the health problems). it’s just good to know your most likely gonna spend a lot of money to keep them healthy and safe.
My neighbors got a pug. He got seizures and lived to 3. Then they got the English bulldog...lived to 2.5. Another neighbor's pug is at least 4 and doing well.
Their Olde English is doing very well and almost 10. You are right, these breeds need something added in to make them more robust. I got purpose bred dogs...malinois 10+, Caucasian 7 and maremma 9. The only heath issue so far is when the maremma went for blood work, now she has something like a hygroma where I believe the draw was done. Next vet was talking about amputating the leg. We got out of there and 7 months later she's doing just fine. Got an honest vet in the Chicago area for me? Of my last 2, one died sadly and the other sold to a private equity firm.
I love these videos. I think pugs are cute but I never have and never will own one. But for someone thinking about getting a pug this is extremely important for them to hear.
I've seen pictures of pugs from years ago and they had longer muzzles and weren't so bowlegged. Bring that back. Let the poor dogs breathe and walk and do something so their eyes don't bug out.
It's the fact that they're such loving dogs that I feel like it's unfair to breed them.. They're so kind, fun and loving, yet us humans force them to live a life where they're predesposted to so many serious health problems!
When I was younger, I found these animals so cute however I hated the sounds they made. I always wanted a pug but once I learned why they look the way they do- it just breaks my heart. They are in constant agony for the sake of vanity for others…
I have a friend whose mom is obsessed with english bulldogs. In the past decade, her mother has adopted and lost all three. The most recent one my friend said could've happened to "any dog" beecause he went into shock due to an injury. Since English bulldogs have similar problems to pugs it's interesting to know that it may not have been something that could have so easily happened to any dog after all.
Could you make a vid about those weird super-wide super-muscular super-stocky Instagram bully dogs (like the "Venomline" types)? Those seem to be niche dogs for the Instagram-clout chasers (for now...) but look really... not good
My mom bought a pug from my uncle in Mexico, and she brought him over with fake papers. He may not look like the pug in the painting but he has good legs, a decent size muzzle, and is not fat. He’s more active than to my sisters’ Shih Tzus. This illegal alien pug is a lot more healthier than the average pug bred here in the US.
I wonder what can be done to actually save this breed. I wonder if it would be possible to breed them with some of their possible ancestors and reintroduce some of the natural features that they used to have?
Its certainly possible but I dont think any kennal club would accept them as pugs and many people wouldnt care and want the look and fashion of it regardless. I think it needs to start with laws like in sweden or norway I think has banned short faced dog breeds. Its extreme and there was kick back. But otherwise you dont see change. Im in the uk and even tho docking and cropping is banned nearly fully people still buy dogs classed as "working" for a docked tail. Or people spend thousands importing dogs from abroad for the docked and cropped look. Its extreme but there has been talk of banning the import of cropped and docked dogs because its about the animals welfare and it has always been advertised as such. Yet the people buying the dogs still want a look and dont care despite government and veterinary campaigns and action against it.
I can't stop looking at the dachshund light. My brother has fostered and adopted Numerous dachshunds with spinal issues/injuries. His pups usually come in to his home with wheelchairs (rear legs/paraplegic.) Through his work I've become aware of many of the conditions we have engineered into our dog breeds.
I’d like to see a video on dachshunds too. The miniature variety are very fashionable right now. If these dogs’ legs get any shorter, their owners will have to roll them around on wheels. The original dachshunds never had legs that short - it’s ridiculous to breed animals with deformities simply to cater to human vanity.
I think that's more due to their ignorant owners being more willing to brush off their behavioral problems and the general difficulty most of them would have in expressing any behavioral issues than the breed naturally lacking in them.
Oh no, they DEFINITELY can have behavioral problems, it's just that they're more easily forgiven. My mother's purebred pug had a CONSTANT humping issue and just wouldn't heel-- plus he had massive aggression and territorial issues the second there was a window between him and what he was raging at. Napoleon inferiority complex writ large on them, it's just that they're not as "portable" as the purse dogs that everyone complains about and not as walkable as large dogs, so they aren't as much of an issue in general to the public. And pugs used to be hunting breeds so they still have that high energy and that drive to work... which is being neglected or restricted by their medical issues.
My big guy was getting blind at the end of his life. We didn't knew until it was too late. No matter what, they are the best breed of dogs, hand downs. He was just so smart.
12:33 That's the left side. In an MRI an CT image you're looking at the image from the front of the patient (coronal slices) or below the patient (axial slices) so the patient's left is on the right side of the image
In my opinion FCI should re-describe their breed description, short noses; extra long back; too short legs etc. Also all the dog shows grade higher all the “extreme” versions and somehow they have modified breeds to their own liking. It’s just sad, looks over health..😤😭
If you have dog insurance you are fine they are prone to problems, but they are great animals overall. Join a pug group, a lot never even have issues. Mine is being monitored by vet, to make sure he don’t need surgery to open up his nose, they said he looks like he wont need it. However i have pet insurance because things happen.
There was a pug named Goblin, you can see him on the channel girl with the dogs. He is a pug/GSD mixed. He looks like an "unhealthy" German Shepherd but a very healthy pug. Goblin should be the shining example on what breeders should strive for in a pug.
I have a Romanian rescue dog who is livestock guardian type. She’s absolutely enormous and has carpal hyperextension. I absolutely hate seeing my young dog not have the mobility she should, but I took her on knowing she was a rescue and may have health issues. It’s buck wild to me that people are breeding and paying breeders to create dogs with health issues just for an appearance. Like why would you want to see your dog suffer I would kill to see mine in optimal health.
I will never buy a dog again but if I did, I would automatically remove from my list all dogs that can't swim and have congenital problems we created. But when I'll adopt my next dog, I won't make that distinction. Can't do it right now because my current place doesn't allow animals.
Yes they are over bread I blame the kennel clubs. Especialy if you look at what they looked like 100 years ago. We've owned several and we did not have any major health issues and they all lived to be over 14. We do currently own a puggle and that fixes alot of the overbreeding issues. We went to the cross to undo a lot of the breading introduced issues.
People don't care. My father and stepmom are an example. They spent 15k on a frenchie who died anyway in less than 2 years. They up and bought another -_-
The issue is people who want these breeds will never watch these types of videos. They don’t care. Otherwise they wouldn’t pretend it’s normal for them to snort, have issues breathing etc. it’s so upsetting that these people who claim to care about the breeds, truly don’t. The fact there are still purebred pug or French bulldog breeders is insane. They should take a note from the LUA Dalmatian breeders, where pointer was bred in 10+ generations ago to help with the urinary tract issues ALL Dalmatians that do not have the outcross have. They could have “pure” pugs with longer faces in under a 10 year period, WHY is no one working on this?
One of the worst things is when so many people see these dogs suffering and say "ha ha that's funny" and think it's just the dog being silly and not that it's struggling to do even basic things like moving and breathing.
I would love to see you cover the neurological problems of the King Charles Cavalier dogs. And also the very recent ( within my lifetime) alteration of Persian Cats- I just learned that they are now so brachycephalic that they can’t even groom themselves. They’ve been bred to the point that one of the most basic cat behaviors is impossible for them.
You made it clear that there are too many problems here to cover them all. But if you do it again, could you go over stenotic nares? Thank you for your videos on the brachycephaly issues.
How would you try solving the Pug problem in the United States?
I'd ban the breed outright. I am sorry, but an animal that is born suffering with immense health issues should not be bred.
This does NOT mean you should euthanize every pug. Some pugs are in fact decently healthy and can have a good quality of life, but the breeding of pugs should be completely stopped. I am however for the restoration of the breed. Some people are attempting to breed a healthier pug with a longer snout and less health issues. I believe this should be supported, but if it proves impossible, that may need to be stopped as well. The welfare and wellbeing of the animal is more important than having a cute dog.
Oh it's an easy solution (on paper) we just need to make sure that the breed standard is appropriately updated and the public well educated. It is entirely possible to breed healthy pugs with longer noses that have all of the traits people love about pugs without the health problems it's just a matter of will. Same goes for the rest of the brachiocephalic breeds, it's not the short nose that makes those breeds special it's the individual personalities and other traits. I go out of my way to look for individuals with more appropriate body proportions in the breeds that I love that have an unfortunate history of being deformed. I think if the breeding clubs would update it so that members are not required to inbreed but can actually outcross and as long as the offspring still meet the standard they qualify for the breed that would help tremendously. Then again there's backyard breeders intentionally making the most deformed messed up versions of these breeds imaginable to sell to people who don't know any better, so there may come a point where additional reinforcement maybe needed in some way :/
We're already starting to- the long-muzzled pug is starting to crop up and people are starting become more educated (thankfully videos like your own, included!) so they're starting to break away from that short muzzle.
@@GayCherryJuice Banning breeds is never a great option. I worked for a dog shelter in the UK (where there are a good handful of 'banned breeds') and it causes nothing but issues. Itt also doesn't stop them being bred. As with most things; banning or making it illegal doesn't stop the problem, it merely pushes it underground and makes things worse and more dangerous for all involved. Plus people will just import them from other areas. And because banned breeds come with so many hoops to jump through, it makes them virtually impossible to hand to shelters, and impossible to rehome (because you cannnot trade banned breeds), so the dogs are either euthanised, or in the case of no k*l shelter, they're stuck with a life of living in kennels.
More regulations on breeding and changing the breed standard is the way forward, plus most importantly raising awareness of the issues these breeds face.
@@BeckyNosferatuI think they are called Retro Pugs, they look cool.
"I can't cover every single health problem in this video..."
That alone says a lot.
This is why i am so opposed to the Kennel Clubs. They did all this! Rescue or buy a puppy from a family home whose pets had puppies like people always used to for hundreds of years! The kennel clubs have smeared home breeders calling them "backyard breeders" and implying they don't know what they are doing when the reality is that when average loving dog people let their pets have a couple litters, its much better for genetic diversity than a few breeders using a small number of studs controlling an entire breed!
I have subglottic stenosis, which I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Having "air hunger" like that is absolutely awful and terrifying. Yes, you learn to cope, but you are suffering. I do at least get some respite of good breathing between surgeries, before it closes up again. Being born with a restricted airway like the pugs etc just to suite our fancy is completely despicable. They do not deserve the suffering.
This is why i am so opposed to the Kennel Clubs. They did all this! Rescue or buy a puppy from a family home whose pets had puppies like people always used to for hundreds of years! The kennel clubs have smeared home breeders calling them "backyard breeders" and implying they don't know what they are doing when the reality is that when average loving dog people let their pets have a couple litters, its much better for genetic diversity than a few breeders using a small number of studs controlling an entire breed!
Ive had re-occurring pneumothorax through my life. I’m eight lung surgeries deep at the moment. Waking up and not being able to take a breath in was the most scary moment of my life. I thought I was going to die, and when they ran into my hospital room to start an emergency chest tube, the nurse started putting anesthesia thru my IV. I did not see that she was doing this, so I thought that I was just “passing” on to the other side as everything faded away. Waking up after that and realizing it was just anesthesia was one of the most relieving feelings ever
@@OakwiseBecoming There's problems at both ends: most backyard breeders I've seen are either the ones cranking out designer breeds with no regards to the genetics and create even MORE genetic problems, are neglectful constant "oops litter" generators just causing even MORE issues of overbreeding (look how many mutts are in shelters compared to purebreds), or just don't test their dogs for genetic issues before breeding and end up selling dogs that are going to end up with chronic conditions.
And that's when they're not going the puppy mill lucrative route.
The best medium is a grassroots registered breeder movement like the one that's formed around many of the cat breeds: they've started entering their cats in a worldwide genetic database to breed the issues out and find good healthy matches that still maintain (sane) breed standards. Scottish folds are completely excluded from that database, as are munchkins, because both of those have a genetic disease as a breed standard, and the siamese has its own database because the enthusiasts are trying to fix the neurological issues. The Applehead Thai breed is the one that Siamese owners tell non-breeders to get instead of the Siamese until the Siamese is healthy neurologically again.
Breed standards with dogs don't start and end at kennel clubs, there's plenty of breed standards that deliberately REJECT showdogs and want working dog standards instead. (nowhere is that clearer than with the German Shepherds, showdog standard has a spinal deformity, but K9 and shepherd standards demand the absence of that "sloped back" defect.
Part of the problem is also that honestly, a lot of the people that want dogs should just go buy a 3DS and Nintendogs instead. So many shitty pet owners who want living toys, not actual sapient creatures.
When you see pug crosses and retro pugs, they're often very intelligent and energetic dogs. I feel like this means that all pugs could be equally energetic if they weren't stymied by the deformities we've bred into them.
100% had a neighbor surrender they’re pug and its baby to my family (we do animal rescue) and that pug is energetic as hell!
I have a rescue pug with a longer snout and it really does make a world of difference. I’ve had him for around a year and haven’t run into any of the breed related issues they normally experience. He’s the third pug rescue Ive owned and by far the healthiest.
yeah i had a pug/chihuahua mix, she was quite slim up until she reached her "senior" years with a longer face and didn't have many problems. she would snort a bit sometimes when specifically lunging and biting at the same time (as while trying to catch a ball or frisbee in the air) so there was still a mild respiratory issue but the vet always otherwise emphasized how healthy she was
retro pugs are just mutts with massive health problems- especially back issues
Part of why pugs behave the way they do is sadly because of dementia. Pugs brains don’t develop correctly, they stay more puppy like their entire life, which means that by age 8 almost all pugs have dementia. Dementia is extremely common in pugs and that’s part of why they behave “stupid” and confused
I picked an abandoned senior-ish pug off the road four or so years ago and quickly found out why she was abandoned. She had HORRIBLE skin allergies. She smelled so rancid when I found her I straight up thought she had been eating only roadkill for weeks. Her entire underside was raw and cracked. When I took her to the vet they told me her skin was in some of the worst condition they'd ever seen. I ended up holding onto her for only two more years before she got an aggressive skin tumor, and she was already so gray in her face, I just wasn't willing to put her through that and let her sleep. She was literally one of the happiest rescues I've ever adopted despite her body falling apart from the second I found her. What I'm getting at is I'm always grateful to see more people put the truth of pugs out there. Just because pugs can be as happy as any other dog doesn't mean they're not spending every second in discomfort and pain. Dogs can't express chronic pain like we can, but they feel it. And they just don't deserve it.
i saw a pug/black lab cross (not sure how that happens) at the park and it was a lovely little dog. lean, energetic, visible snout, ran circles around my dog with completely silent airways, wish they all looked like that one.
Hopefully with a pug dad, and lab mom.
@@Mhidraum I had a friend who had a male Yorkie and a female Aussie shepherd. The Yorkie weighed five pounds soaking wet. The Aussie weighed 60 pounds. They had a litter of puppies, and they were so cute. The puppies were different sizes when born. Some were itty-bitty, others were pretty big. (Jan Griffiths).
Probably artificial insemination
Ppsstt... It happens via sex. Doggie style, probably. Lmao
When I see photos or paintings of old school pugs, they look so similar and yet so, so much healthier. An actually protruding muzzle, while still being short and stout and cute. Modern pugs look like their faces were smashed in with a frying pan in comparison :( its so sad
Pugs, Frenchies, english bull dogs, these breeds you can kill by just doing an exam. We had a pug come in for lameness. it got so stressed by WALKING INTO THE CLINIC that it upper airway obstructed and needed the vent talk.
Jesus christ that's awful! I knew their breathing issues existed but for a dog to nearly die just walking into the clinic is awful.
When u think about it it’s leaving shelter going into a bumpy car that’s too cold/hot. The owner is stressed because they’re gonna end up spending thousands of dollars. Very bad recipe for dog stress.
Pekingese, affinspinscher,
I wish you would also cover why Pits have been bred for violence and how they are designed by breeding for destruction, extra strong bite, propensity to snap and attack, and statistics of more likelihood to attack but different from other breeds who may bite but the damage is nothing like how Pits don't only bite but they MAUL. In Britain, they've made the XL Bully to get around the Pit ban and they've had to ban the XL Bullies due to insane attacks resulting in death or disfigurement. People are not understanding how breeding has resulted in breeds far more likely to attack and do unimaginable damage when they do attack. People try to compare it to breeds like GSDs but there is no comparison in the number of attacks or the intensity and results of the attacks. Surgeons have spoken about severed limbs and unrepairable nerve damage, children actually scalped or losing their faces, grandmothers killed, etc. This is important because people who have experienced "the good ones" take it personally and they refuse to understand what is biologically happening. Banning breeding is NOT cruel. It just means we won't be breeding anymore and this has happened to numerous dog breeds whose intended purpose fell out of use (see the Turnspit Dog for example). Please take this up because it's unfair to the dogs and people are at risk.
@@OakwiseBecoming Bully XLs are basically bred from one line of pitbulls iirc. Doesn't make breeding dogs, especially pitbulls, any better. There are so many in shelters, but some people love the idea of having a big, dangerous, and most of all *expensive* dog. They also seem to hate training and adequately socializing their dogs.
If people think pugs are cute because they look like babies, I want to see what kind of kids they're having
I guess because their heads are round? Idk. I don't think dogs should look like people. Dogs have their own unique beauty.
They have a baby-like face. Not that it's a 1-1 alike.
No this art of the video was just bullshit 😅
@@narrgamedesigner2747 We could say there is some biology to it. A more flat round face naturally triggers our human brains to relate to it, since it more similar to our natural form of faces. Of course, it’s not people (in general) intentionally going out of the way in projecting direct human qualities to dogs, but just the face shape of a pug is more young primate to our brain.
Yeah they don't look like a baby to me.
My dad raised pugs back in the 60s when I was a kid. They were taller, had a muzzle, could breathe normally, eyes didn't bug out as much. They didn't have as bad skin folds as today's pug. I think they were cuter back then. My dad had 5 dogs---the male and one female were fawn, a black female, an apricot female, and a silver fawn female. It was my job as a kid to walk his dogs. I don't remember them having any health issues. (Jan Griffiths).
For what it's worth the lineage of pugs you're talking about still exists and I see them every now and then. They are so much better than what has been done to them by the AKC and similar clubs. All of the good parts of the pug none of the bad parts of the pug.
I'm glad my country now prohibits breeding dogs with a too short muzzle. It has to be at least half of the length of the skull, no snorting sounds while resting, the nostrils have to be open and wrinkles at the muzzle aren't allowed, the white part of the eyes shouldn't be visible. This goes for all breeds. It means it's basically impossible to breed Pugs or French Bulldogs in my country because the breeding standard and the law are conflicting. It could land you in legal trouble if you were to follow the breeding standard. I wish more countries would follow. I think in the end changing the law is the only way to really force those breed organizations to change their breeding standards.
@K.C-2049 The Netherlands. I think it's the same in some other European countries (Norway and Germany iirc and maybe others).
I recently saw a Pug run for several kilometres (he was in front of me on a hike). I couldn't hear him breath at all, even when he ran right past me. He was just being a happy dog (and well trained too, the owner didn't have to recall him once). That's the way it should be.
@@picobello99I so hope se get there in Denmark too! Congratulations to the dogs in your country!
I definitely think legislation may be needed at some level, but we are going to have difficulties with the fact that it isn't always necessarily the choice of the breeder when you end up with an animal with a short nose It can happen spontaneously for a number of reasons which kind of makes it little weird. I guess the law would have to be specifically you can't sell animals that show those signs or something except puppies always have short noses so how do you actually do the enforcement and the nuances?
Dutch are always ahead, well done 🫶
@@darcieclements4880 I think the law applies to the parents, not the puppies
It will remain a mystery to me how adult humans can just ignore that their friend is basically fighting for their life for them to get the 'cuteness' of the snoring and the baby face. Maybe I'm biased because I have a family member who suffers from Laryngospasm (a spasm of the vocal folds that leads to extreme breathing distress once it's happening) and who is - unlike our furry friends - able to speak the words to describe what suffocating feels like. No one should want or accept that for a loved one. Sometimes we have a choice. It's humans who breed dogs, and it's humans who pick the breed standards. We really need to pick more responsibly.
This is why i am so opposed to the Kennel Clubs. They did all this! Rescue or buy a puppy from a family home whose pets had puppies like people always used to for hundreds of years! The kennel clubs have smeared home breeders calling them "backyard breeders" and implying they don't know what they are doing when the reality is that when average loving dog people let their pets have a couple litters, its much better for genetic diversity than a few breeders using a small number of studs controlling an entire breed!
Those same people will allow themselves to become a 300pd pile of mashed potatoes. If they don't care about themselves they won't care about a dog's life.
Worth mentioning ear infections, probably the most common reason a GP will see them. The lack of really any open ear canal + allergies means it’s basically normal for pugs to have an ear infection, and almost all I see for routine vaccinations have them without the owners knowing. Not to mention that the two factors that cause them make them practically impossible to get control of or prevent effectively without outright surgically removing the whole ear canal and their ability to hear with it. Very high risk of vestibular disease from otitis media too, the classic head tilted pug.
Plus dental disease. Most pugs will probably need 60-100% of their teeth removed by the age of 6 due to the disease that overcrowding causes.
Loulou, ta famous pug here on UA-cam has already the tilted head and lost 12 teeth in her last surgery. She's 10. And she beat a cancer last year.
Im not surprised humans do this, thank you for your activism
You’re welcome!
They were my favourite breed, until I heard this message, and many times over, and saw in my own pug these issues. Now I can never again own a pug, at least not until there are major changes to their physical structure. I will love her until she leaves us, she's 12 now, but any new dogs won't be pugs. I just can't, it's unfair to them.
Retro pugs are a thing. Or generally and mutt pug.
Yeah... Problematic breeds like this are so commonplace and normalized that it can be hard to even think of this stuff as a possibility before you hear about it. Then in hindsight it's all so clear : [ I wish your girl the best; she sounds like she's in good hands 💜
If you want healthy dogs get mutts. Genetic diversity is very important. My bulldog boxer mix is about to turn 13. Almost unheard of with the breeds he's made from. Plus he was free and extremely loyal because I saved him from a very bad life.
Everytime someone says "I want a pug!" I am sending them this video. Great work by you and your fellow veterinarians!
Sometimes I wonder if corss-breading pugs with small non-brachycephalic dogs (for example, corgi or jack russells) would fix most of those problems. Though that'd be probably by restoring some non-existent parts of their head and making them less pug-like, but that cluld be for the best.
As a kid I had a pekingese - not quite a pug, but close enough to share most of the issues. It was very problematic dog, but my parents bought her mostly because they thought she's "safe" for a kid, unable to bite with that silly face. Dina was a nice pet, but I really wish she was of a different breed. She had troubles walking, eating, pooping, seeing, breathing and just generally living. She kept brushing her eyes on carpets or anything until there were holes on them, so she was almost blind most of her life - not a long one, I must say.
By the end she was a very sick dog. I even had to drain her stomach from excess air because she could no longer get rid of it herself. I literally had to puncture through belly with a syringe twice a day for several months, and I was like 14 back then. And that somehow prolonged Dina's life for a few months, but eventually she died of heart and lungs issues that could've pass for "old age", except that 7-8 years isn't exactly that old for most dogs.
After that I knew that if I ever get another dog, it won't be a brachycephalic breed. Or any breed with extra short legs that makes them nearly immobile by design, or any other "vanity" quality that makes their life worse. I'd rather have something small, but closer to normal dog-shape.
There are breeding programs that are championing to return pugs to their ancestral form. I dont have any links at this time tho apologies
Why cross breed at all? You could just stop breeding and support carrying on lines of healthy breeds. Stop being sentimental.
100% agree! There are people crossbreeding pugs with jack russells, and they’re much healthier and cuter. Look up retro pugs if you want to see!
@@loveeevee396 oh yeah, those look way healthier indeed! And definitely cute af, if compared to modern pugs for sure. Thanks!
Genetic diversity would be a massive help. Popular breeds are more inbred than a rural family in Pakistan.
As someone who owns a dog boarding facility & no longer take brachycephalic dogs thank you for these videos! It helps me learn the science & facts surrounding this topic! Your videos definitely helped me come to a conclusion on our new policy
2:11 as the owner of a boxer, even their “mild” brachycephaly is still a huge quality of life issue. i love my dog but it’s hard to watch him struggle with his breathing in the heat or during exercise
This. My brother bought an olde English bulldogge because he thought it would be healthier and seeing him struggle in the barely summertime temperatures we have in Scotland is sad.
I have a boxer American bulldog mix. He does ok but in summer we only walk in the shade by rivers. He gets hot real fast. Luckily being a mutt he has been otherwise healthy and almost 13 years old.
I worked in a no-k* dog shelter in the UK (for a pretty known charity). I'm not lying when I say almost all of the pugs and french bulldogs handed into us needed surgery to help with their breathing, literally like 90% of them couldn't even breathe without corrective surgery. And the trouble is people keep buying them without doing research, and from poor breeders (tbh the 'good' ones aren't much better), and then when they're told this expensive surgery needs doing, they just get rid of the dog. It's incredibly expensive for the shelter to do.
The shelter won't even use any type of brachycephalic breeds in ay of their advertising, so stuff like pugs aren't allowed to be put in tv ads, posters, flyers or anything. Only time you see a brachy on their site is when ones up for rehoming and it's picture is up.
I LOVE pugs, they were always one of my favourite breeds to care for at the shelters. But by god I'd never buy one from a breeder, it's literal animal abuse. Things like chugs are the way forward (and the breeders that are bringing long noses back in).
I had a pug who would run for HOURS in the backyard full blast. Lived to 12 with no issues until the last couple months of life. He was pure bred akc registered. The difference was i didn't get him from a backyard breeder who bred for optimal Instagram cuteness. So his nose was a smidge longer and so were his legs. The ones you see with the most issues are the ones that are deemed the "cutest" with the insanely flat faces, short legs, and fat rolls for days.
Now I have a rescue frenchie from a horrid breeder who bred soley for rare colors. Horrible breathing issues. We just spent $2k getting him BOAS surgery from one of the best surgeons in the state. Let me tell you: it didn't help AT ALL. Dog was in pain for weeks and we're broke and he still can't sleep without choking and stopping breathing for a whole min at a time.
Again I say: it's all in the breeding.
But yeah let's not shame people for not getting this surgery which apparently doesn't even work! Sure wish we'd never done it. And he had everything but his tonsils done, which they said were fine.
@@SaunterVaguelyDown Yes, it's in the breeding, no one was denying that. But the registered ones can be just as bad, if not worse. As this video states, the actual registered breed type ECNOURAGES this behaviour. Many high end breeders will actively push for squashed noses as it's the breed standard and its what people deem 'cute'.
The breeders who are ignoring breed standard and purposefully pushing for responsible practices by crossing them with longer nosed dogs are to be praised, not the ones that stick to outdated and cruel standards. 'Registered' means nothinng, I saw it first hand at the shelter.
Edit: And the surgery DOES work. It's extremely rare that it doesn't. i saw it fail maybe once in 2 years of working there, and that was due to other underlying issues.
@SaunterVaguelyDown commenting on all the comments that speak badly on the breeding of pugs makes you seem very very desperate to defend yourself in the worst way. Very insecure behavior
@@SpamhardI have noticed that whenever this topic of breeding for extreme brachycephaly comes up anywhere, you get these same stock responses, blaming the health issues entirely on “backyard breeders” and “rare colours”, and not on the breed standards themselves. (Yes, backyard breeders are *a* problem, but not, in this case, *the* problem).
I've never met a full pug (meaning not mixed with another breed) that didn't look like it was suffering.
The news caster calling it cute that the poor pug can’t even breathe. I don’t blame her, many people don’t know the struggles that pugs have to endure. I didn’t know until I found this channel.
Me neither. I didn't know that modern pug bodies were a health issue for them.
So glad to see people speaking out about this -- especially a vet! I knew pugs had issues, but I didn't realize how many and how serious they were.
I'd also love your opinion on why Golden Retrievers are developing so much cancer. I've heard they are currently THE most cancer-ridden dog breed and that their life expectancy is dropping because of it.
2 very popular sires that were half brothers and both died young of cancer. You will be hard pressed to find any GR in the US that does not have one of them turn up at least once, with the exception of imports. European bred GR's have about a 38% chance of cancer as opposed to the US bred 60%.
We've had 4 GR and it was heartbreaking to have to put such a relatively young dog down due to cancer. I didn't know this was such a common issue for others. 🩷
@skyeiron5872 This is why closed stud books are such a stupid idea. In a sensible world, it should be ok to cross a golden retriever to something similar like a yellow lab, and then cross the offspring back to other goldens to get back to the original phenotype with a splash of some nice fresh genetics. So many purebreds have issues that can be traced back to popular studs that had problems, but with closed stud books the genetic pool can only get smaller and more turned in on itself.
@@GigglingPsycho Yes, closed stud books and conformation shows are the worst thing that ever happened to dogs. Of course the show breeders will bury their heads in the sand and dig their heels in as their breed swiftly heads towards extinction rather than allow carefully considered outcrosses to revitalize the gene pool and lower health problems claiming that it will ruin the breed and bring all sorts of new health problems in while completely ignoring the fact that their breed specific problems only became problems because of the way they breed. To make matters worse, most continue to 'line' breed their dogs and throw out plenty of perfectly good genes and claim it is to improve the breed.
This is why I'll stick to my working line herding breeds with their open stud books and accepted outcrossing. Many working herding dog registries allow the offspring of a cross breeding to be registered on a provisional/secondary registry provided the outcross was a complementary one eg a Koolie x Border Collie where both dogs were good herders.
Any sort of genetic condition that doesn't impact reproduction in the first 4 years of a dog's life is likely to get propagated. That same stupid cancer gene is in boxers but the fancy boxer breeders managed to aggressively prune it out by not breeding dogs that had ancestors that developed cancer. Unfortunately that was not enough to save my dog which had one of the cancer-ridden boxer ancestors in her street dog mix. When I got her genetically tested I thought for sure it was going to be golden retriever but then I found out about the history of the same type of mutation in boxers. I do believe that the Golden retriever breeders are trying to get enough funding together to do genetic testing so they can basically test dogs that look really good and only breed the ones that don't carry the gene. There was probably one particular stud that had it and when he got used heavily it infected the whole breed
I remember when I was a kid, and saw pugs snorting when they were breathing, I questioned the dogs health. When I was told that this was “normal” I still had a hard time believing it.
Now I know why, it’s in fact NOT normal.
I LOVE when a creature struggles to walk and makes gnarly noises! It's SO CUTE!! 🤗✨ - a psychopath
I had a pug who would run for HOURS in the backyard full blast. Didn't snort a ton. Lived to 12 with no issues until the last couple months of life. He was pure bred akc registered.
The difference was i didn't get him from a backyard breeder who bred for optimal Instagram cuteness. So his nose was a smidge longer and so were his legs. The ones you see with the most issues are the ones that are deemed the "cutest" with the insanely flat faces, short legs, and fat rolls for days.
Oh, now I get why I have something like an uncanny valley feeling towards pugs, the kindenschema thing.
German here.
Very good video, I just wanted to correct one thing: it's Kindchenschema, not Kindenschema.
The word 'Kindchen' is the German diminutive of the word 'Kind' meaning 'child'.
Knowing the origin of the word is actually quite a good aide-memoire for its meaning if you think about it.
my mistake! thanks for that i'll make sure to pronounce it correctly from now on
@@DVMCellini no worries. German certainly isn't the easiest to pronounce, but as long as the spelling is right, no one's gonna fault you for it.
There's no way those spinal problems don't also cause pain.
Oh absolutely
Fun fact: domesticated goldfish and betta fish exhibit kindenschema when compared to their wild counterparts.
I kind of depends on the breed but I guess.
I tried looking this up and couldnt find anything do you have any links, Im kind of curious of this subject
@@Michael-j2d1g Try using "neoteny" (that's the biology term for "baby traits as adults" in general), it might get you somewhere.
I'd check myself and report back with either a "nope couldn't find" or citations, but I caught a cold and I'm running on like 3 hours of sleep per night while I'm snotting because of, heh, breathing issues.
Humans are so self centered, we breed animals to be extremely deformed so they resemble our offspring..
twisted
Love these breed specific videos. I knew purebred dogs had issues but not the full extent of the problems.
I wish you would also cover why Pits have been bred for violence and how they are designed by breeding for destruction, extra strong bite, propensity to snap and attack, and statistics of more likelihood to attack but different from other breeds who may bite but the damage is nothing like how Pits don't only bite but they MAUL. In Britain, they've made the XL Bully to get around the Pit ban and they've had to ban the XL Bullies due to insane attacks resulting in death or disfigurement. People are not understanding how breeding has resulted in breeds far more likely to attack and do unimaginable damage when they do attack. People try to compare it to breeds like GSDs but there is no comparison in the number of attacks or the intensity and results of the attacks. Surgeons have spoken about severed limbs and unrepairable nerve damage, children actually scalped or losing their faces, grandmothers killed, etc. This is important because people who have experienced "the good ones" take it personally and they refuse to understand what is biologically happening. Banning breeding is NOT cruel. It just means we won't be breeding anymore and this has happened to numerous dog breeds whose intended purpose fell out of use (see the Turnspit Dog for example). Please take this up because it's unfair to the dogs and people are at risk.
I love the current "retro pug" trend where people are trying to breed back to a better skull shape. The resulting dogs look much more strong and confident, like they can take on anything.
Pugs, Boston terriers, frenchies are the breeds we see the most at the veterinary ophthalmology clinic I work at. It is not cheap to own these breeds when things go wrong, and often it starts at age 2 with them as compared to other breeds started more like age 9 or so with issues.
Love the breed-specific videos covering common health problems! 👍
Pugs, Frenchies, Boston terrier, English bulldog, pekinese, affinspincher, ‘pocket’ & ‘exotic’ bullies, Persian cats, cavalier King Charles, toy spaniel
Japanese Chin
If I may add: short-beaked "owl" pigeon breeds (which can't even feed their own young), and dish-faced arabian horses
Plus Persians have this problem where they get food all over there face (mom had a rescue, dw none of us bought her for her breed lol)
Scottish folds, munchkins!
I'm a human being born with deformed sinuses and spinal degeneration that had reached the point of pain by the time I was seventeen. It took decades to get doctors to understand that the 'allergy' treatments didn't work and actually get a referral to an ENT. One surgery later and I could breathe clearly for the first time in my life. Chronic nightmares, severe migraines in the morning, anxiety attacks, random blood pressure fluctuations, dizzy spells, seizures, and sleep deprivation came to an end. All of that hell was caused by fighting a severely obstructed airway at night. Throw on top of the mix chronic sinus infections and bronchitis because of poor/improper drainage and I was always truly sick.
It. Was. Hell. I was born with these issues and I grew up not knowing different, but my quality of life was obviously not the same as other kids.
The spinal problems are a different level of hell. I'm not going into detail, but I am permanently disabled and this one problem that cannot be fixed. Nerve damage is permanent and wouldn't wish this pain on anyone. My spine is fused with titanium from neck to tailbone and modern medicine has nothing more to offer me in that regard. I'm probably going to be pooping into a bag here soon.
It horrifies me that humans intentionally create damaged dogs with life threatening deformities because they think it's "cute." Who giggle as they listen to these poor dogs struggling to force oxygen into their lungs. Who pay thousands for deformed babies and keep the demand high.
You are monsters and deserve to know every moment of suffering that you're inflicting on these innocents.
For those of you who adopt these animals and love them for life, you're angels. But NEVER pay a breeder for a puppy. Do not encourage this stupid behavior.
The deliberate breeding of pugs, bulldogs, Frenchies, Boston Terriers and similar breeds needs to be illegal. Spay and neuter the animals that already exist and love them to bits. Give them all the help you can to make them as comfortable as possible. Do NOT deliberately produce more.
So what the point of creating a breed that brings constant suffering to animal ?
Just for cuteness?
Would it be considered as cruelty?
The point must be money, right? Especially when celebrities get them. No regard for the animal at all. Thanks for this, spread the word.
Basically we think they are cute, so we breed them for the same things we find 'cute' therefor making them all worse. So yes, I would consider it animal cruelty to continue to breed them like that.
These aren't cute to me though. I do feel sorry for them.
@@AA-ed6ek I agree, they are not cute to me.
@@AA-ed6ek I’m with you on this one
I like dogs looking like dogs, nothing is shortened or modified
Your big three ideas on how to change things covers a lot! I think you nailed it personally and by all means, please make more breed-specific videos! Dogs, cats, horses, a lot of different animals kept today are being bred in ways that cause health issues. Even reptiles! A number of snake morphs cause neurological issues. Just one example is the "spider" morph in ball pythons!
People need to stop obsessing about aesthetics to the point where they forget these are living, breathing biological beings with feelings and the ability to suffer! I just don't get people who justify it!
when i was little my mom told me we were getting a dog, and handed me a big book of dog breeds to look through and ask what I would like. I asked for a boston terrier and my mom decided to get a pug which to be honest has left me confused as to why she even asked. now I love my pug shes 15 almost 16 years old now and I cannot express enough that you should not buy pure bred dogs. her whole live we have been told our dog is very healthy "for a pug" but trust me when they finally arent it will bleed you dry.
I’m surprised you didn’t talk about dementia in the neurology section. Recent studies show that almost all pugs develop dementia due to their brain not developing correctly, which is why they act like puppies their whole lives.
Can you please do a video about cropping/docking?
Don’t hate that idea!
Docking is cruel the end.
@@KFrost-fx7dt agreed! i would just love to hear his opinion on it as well!
@@brandi598 👍🏼
If you're thinking about purchasing a pug: don't.
But jokes aside, I've been watching you're other videos and the argument about bats being brachycephalic comes up often. So I had a look.
I found out humans can be brachycephalic too - and it means the skull is flattened at the back. The skulls of these "brachycephalic" bats aren't flattened at all, but brachycephalic dogs definitely are.
We might be approaching brachycephalic wrong by talking about it only being a flattened face - because then it opens that argument about some wild animals like bats also having flattened faces (even though their skull isn't flattened). When in reality brachycephaly is flattening of the back of the skull as well as the front crowding of jaws and airways.
(Oh I also wonder if you see neurological problems in cats with folded ears. It's just something I've noticed working with cats, they're just kind of wrong. An unpredicatble temprament, and I've seen 2 out of the 4 I've worked with have something that may have been a seizure.)
Re: cats with folded ears -> It’s because the gene that makes their ears “fold” is one that effects the cartilage in their ENTIRE body. It’s weaker than usual iirc, to they get arthritis and stuff really early and that leads to more issues. It also messes up their spines and tails, which leads to other issues.
Kinda like with pugs, a LOT of vets and breeding clubs outright tell people to not breed cats with folded ears with one another because the majority of the kittens get arthritis alone by 8 weeks.
@@Ac3_Silvers thank you!
I knew about the joint problems, but spine problems would explain what I've seen with them. They get stressed and just seem to collapse. Temprament issues could be because of chronic pain, too, rather than neurological.
I know where I am, in Aus, there was talk about the Scottish fold being removed from breeding club registrations, I don't think munchkins were ever accepted, and I'm not sure about the others. If only it could be that easy for dogs, I think it's only because they're relatively new breeds.
@@Ac3_Silvers I've a Scottish fold. She was born without a tail, a twist in her spine, and developed arthritis in all of her legs by the age of 8. She's 13 now and has a severe hip arthritis. Back when we got her, our cat and dog died less than a year before (both very some mix breeds) and we knew nothing of the breed (any purebreeds tbh) so we got her just because she was so cute, no tail and all. Love her to death but I don't recommend anyone getting a Scottish fold - seeing her paws getting deformed by the arthritis at such young age is heartbreaking.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 yeah munchkins can be any breed technically, it’s just a birth defect thats being selectively bred to occur more often. “Dachshund cats” like that are just as prone to spinal and joint issues as their dog counterparts if not more so because of how cats are supposed to move, and the “lower” they are the more miserable they are.
They always look like they’re crawling to me, and tend to be way more skittish in my experience. They can’t move around as well and thus tend to be more wary and nervous. Plus, again, heavy pain issues at the minimum and they can have serious issues down the line with their spines, hips and legs.
What about Manxes? In my opinion the proportion of them born with disabling spinal issues and even other deformities of their rear end, such as the excretory system, is unacceptably high. No matter if some aren't so severely affected by this mutation, it is still a disease and shouldn't be perpetuated. We need more people pointing out that what is commonly described as "walking with a charmingly quirky bunny-hop gait" should actually be translated to "unable to walk normally because their spine is deformed."
Very important topic! Thanks for uploading.
My pleasure!
Breeding for extremes of type. It can succeed in the show ring (90 lb. male Gordon Setters, for example) but it's often/usually bad for the individual dog. 🤔
That issue comes about if breed standards don't clearly outline that weights outside of the averages are serious faults or actual disqualifications. You would think the added bulkiness to the same height frame would deter judges from giving those dogs ribbons, but nope. Also judges should be questioning if a dog with that much weight on their frame can flawlessly prance through the woods all day to hunt with you like what the breed's job is 🤔
@0aprilanne0 well, I wouldn't call it "prancing", but you are correct! 🙂
@@0aprilanne0 The GSD standard calls for a *level back...* No show line GSD has a level back. Conformation shows are what have driven dogs to this point of deformity.
I wish you would also cover why Pits have been bred for violence and how they are designed by breeding for destruction, extra strong bite, propensity to snap and attack, and statistics of more likelihood to attack but different from other breeds who may bite but the damage is nothing like how Pits don't only bite but they MAUL. In Britain, they've made the XL Bully to get around the Pit ban and they've had to ban the XL Bullies due to insane attacks resulting in death or disfigurement. People are not understanding how breeding has resulted in breeds far more likely to attack and do unimaginable damage when they do attack. People try to compare it to breeds like GSDs but there is no comparison in the number of attacks or the intensity and results of the attacks. Surgeons have spoken about severed limbs and unrepairable nerve damage, children actually scalped or losing their faces, grandmothers killed, etc. This is important because people who have experienced "the good ones" take it personally and they refuse to understand what is biologically happening. Banning breeding is NOT cruel. It just means we won't be breeding anymore and this has happened to numerous dog breeds whose intended purpose fell out of use (see the Turnspit Dog for example). Please take this up because it's unfair to the dogs and people are at risk.
@@OakwiseBecoming This isn't going to get covered because this is literally just all untrue information. The first indicator you have no idea what you're talking about is "pitbull" isn't a breed. Pitbull is a generic term used for any mutt that has a short single coat, triangular floppy ears (if they weren't cropped), and a broad mildly-brachycephalic muzzle. I groom a dog who was adopted from the shelter as a "pitbull". Mom did a DNA test and the dog is a coonhound/lab mix lmao. But guess what? If the dog bit someone, it would be recorded as a bite from a pitbull on the police report.
Comparing pug brachycephaly to vampire bats is so ridiculous when you look at their skulls side by side. The difference is shocking.
I will never forget the time an English bulldog came in and got so stressed out that he started choking on his own slobber, then he panicked so much more that he had a seizure, and a temp of 107. Literally had yo give him propofol and place a ET tube to calm him down and lower his temperature.
All my cats and dog doesn't exhibit kindenschema (they have proper snout and ears, all were strays) , but I love how they look compared to a human infant.
I love the breed-centric videos! I'd love to see one on chihuahuas. The general health of mixed breed VS pure bred dogs would also be interesting, since there's a lot of mixed breed dogs that need to be adopted, so a general health overview (especially if its better than the small gene pools in purebreds) would be nice. A third idea, if it's not too odd, is talking about native of "village" dogs.
As someone who adopted a Scottish Fold kitten who was struck with a particularly severe case of Osteochondrodysplasia, I feel this all so hard. It absolutely broke my heart she was stricken with this and the "breeder" was the source of ire for me. I adopted her from a family who had her one year and didn't want her anymore because of the snorting and the fact she wasn't "cute."
Would you also consider making a video on ectropion? i feel like people really downplay the chronic discomfort of having your inner eyelid being constantly exposed to the open air. imo it should be a serious fault in judging any breed.
I have a case of very slight scoliosis. But even in a case like mine it comes with being susceptible to back pain. Like the pains are inevitable the older one gets. My scoliosis doesn't need surgery and it doesn't affect my life much, other than that I had back pains already in my 20's. And apparently I also walk as if I was limping, but it isn't too obvious - I've just had some people ask me about my leg being hurt back when I was about 17 (and my leg was perfectly fine).
I know two other people with worse cases though. The other one now has metal plates installed to support her spine, which doesn't make her visibly disabled, but effectively she has a disability, and she can't lift heavy items and has lost flexibility.
The other person has cerebral palsy, and a severe case of scoliosis, so his crooked posture is pretty much the first thing you notice. As he ages the spine has started to press on his lungs. The surgery will be massive and dangerous. Fortunately we have public healthcare in this country, so it won't be a money issue.
Yeah, life without scoliosis would be better. Humans are however in a better position to get treatment.
thank u for spreading awareness and i know you have been for a long time. its so horrible what we do for ''cute''
*Strugggles to breath
That b.:"wow so cute, omg!"
I never knew any of this. I never even imagined they had so many issues. Poor dogs. Thank you for putting this information out there.
Shoutout to the breeder who is selectively breeding pugs and frenchies with other dogs so they can get their noses back. You are doing gods work.
"Imagine having your nose pinched all the time while breathing through a straw"
Goodness they live like THAT!? I knew they were given the biological middle finger, but I didn't think it was THAT BAD!😥😭
So sad! People think these dogs are so cute, but the breed is condemned to illness.
People don't t seem to understand (or maybe just don't want to know) that creating "desirable" attributes in breeds is done by inbreeding, period. The end result is that most purebred dog breeds are effectively all genetically related, in some breeds as closely as siblings. Even mixed breed dogs are as closely related as first cousins once removed. Pugs are as inbred as sibling matings over multiple generations. Search for the NY Times article "Has Dog Breeding Gone Too Far?" It's pretty disturbing.
Pugs: the Habsburgs of the K9 world…
Now in breeding in and of itself isn't actually an issue outside of disease susceptibility. It's the length to which people take in breeding that makes it a problem. In nature you have naturally occurring in bread pockets but they don't build up genetic defects because they can't survive. When you keep things alive with serious health problems and continue to reproduce and stack those genetics together for more and more health problems, that's just messed up.
@@mayrahemmerechts5867 All purebreds are the Hapsburgs, really.
Can you also talk about the “healthiest breeds” and why to contrast this?
I have a pug mix. Its roughly 75% pug and 25% Petit Brabancon, and I can say that the slighly longer snout helps with breathing a lot. So a quick tip, if you want a pug, get a pug mix. The purebred ones are very unhealthy.
Thank you for this video. Enjoy your videos.
Thanks for watching!
I grew up with pugs and had pugs in the past. Lovable sweet precious pups but it's tragic what these breeds endure health wise. I'm sure we wouldn't have had em if we knew then what we know now about their health and unethical breeding practices.
What's wild is the amount of people who get an animal without a drop of research
@@Shanehudson27 i know right?! Shelters would be less crowded if people took at least 30 minutes of their day to research the animal they want to get, before getting it!
I can't cover every single health problem in this video, but. . .
Underachiever! It'd only be 5 hours long!
Also, I think pugs are terrifying looking. At least the way we breed them nowadays.
They're not cute to me, either! Say hi to the Took fam for me 😊
I have had 4 pugs, 3 of which were rescues and are still with me and quite aged at this point. In these 4 pups, I have experienced most of these issues, and for that reason when the last of my pugs passes on, I won’t be seeking any others out. I feel like they are the most delightful companions, and I love mine fiercely, but it is not ethical to breed pugs, and I’m not certain I want to contribute to the normalization of having them as pets anymore. I struggle mightily with the ramifications of choosing not to rescue them, but I figure I have rescued 3 for which I’ll never financially recover from! I also lost a beloved pug at 8 after going septic from a urinary tract infection. She only showed visible symptoms of the UTI 2 days before dying and was on antibiotics, which was WAY WAY WAY too late. These pups are so used to suffering and have such sunny dispositions despite that, that it is much more difficult in my experience to detect when they are sick. Also, they will do a headstand into their food up until their very last breath, so you can’t even notice something is wrong when they stop eating (because they are already dead!). I am so thankful to have had these lil trolls in my life, but I’ll probably adopt other breeds in the future. (DOn’t ask me about my Great Dane! I clearly have a soft spot for the breeds with issues!)
I have had viral encephalitis: quite apart from the sequelae, the pain of the inflammation was like having someone pile drive a paving stone throughout the top of my head. The thought of a dog suffering this sort of pain is horrible .
My rescue dog is mildly brachycephalic, like a boxer, and he has problems with heat, and he snores quite badly. I can't imagine how horrible it must be for pugs and bulldogs. It makes me so sad humans keep doing this to dogs.
Betta fish have similar issues, but worse. Imagine a pug that’s fully grown and ready to breed in 4 months and can breed every 2 weeks.
It’s led to all kinds of weird health problems. Red ones are prone to tumors, blue ones have screwed up immune systems and can get graphite disease, ones with tails that air too big are prone to exhaustion or fin collapse, metallic bettas won’t stop growing scales and can eventually have those scales grow over their eyes, leaving them blind, koi-color variants with the constantly changing colors are prone to cancer… “Luckily” the bubble betta didn’t seem to last long, it was basically a betta with a spine half the length it should have been.
Finally!!!! Video I've been looking fir. my friend have a few pugs and I never understood why were they breed that way. I was never ok with how the dogs was engineered.
Breed overviews are the best
we have a pug. he’s about 14 years old right now. we got lucky in the space that he doesn’t really have a lot of roles. he hasn’t had many health issues besides when we found out he has a collapsed trachea. we just monitor his barking and he does ok. we adopted him with one eye and he’s almost blind now, and his hearing is getting worse, which i expect with a senior dog. pugs are great dogs, it’s just good to know what your getting into when adopting one. thank you for making a great guide to pugs health issues.
It's great that you adopted, and I have no doubt your dog has a beautiful personality. But "pugs are great dogs" is something we seriously need to stop saying so flippantly. Pugs are NOT great dogs. Pugs are born damaged and unfit for life, and we need to stop pretending otherwise.
@@ChaoProfessor which is why i said “it’s good to know what your getting yourself into before adopting one.” yes they’re born unhealthy and with issues. and we should stop mass breeding them. but just because a dog has a laundry list of health issues doesn’t mean they can’t be a good pet (which is what i’m trying to get at. not just because of the health problems). it’s just good to know your most likely gonna spend a lot of money to keep them healthy and safe.
My neighbors got a pug. He got seizures and lived to 3. Then they got the English bulldog...lived to 2.5. Another neighbor's pug is at least 4 and doing well.
Horrible
Their Olde English is doing very well and almost 10. You are right, these breeds need something added in to make them more robust. I got purpose bred dogs...malinois 10+, Caucasian 7 and maremma 9. The only heath issue so far is when the maremma went for blood work, now she has something like a hygroma where I believe the draw was done. Next vet was talking about amputating the leg. We got out of there and 7 months later she's doing just fine. Got an honest vet in the Chicago area for me? Of my last 2, one died sadly and the other sold to a private equity firm.
subscribed! really appreciate your work to help these breeds
I love these videos. I think pugs are cute but I never have and never will own one. But for someone thinking about getting a pug this is extremely important for them to hear.
Thank you for this video.
Having blocked sinuses is one of the worst things about being sick. These dogs live their entire lives that way.
I've seen pictures of pugs from years ago and they had longer muzzles and weren't so bowlegged. Bring that back. Let the poor dogs breathe and walk and do something so their eyes don't bug out.
It's the fact that they're such loving dogs that I feel like it's unfair to breed them.. They're so kind, fun and loving, yet us humans force them to live a life where they're predesposted to so many serious health problems!
When I was younger, I found these animals so cute however I hated the sounds they made. I always wanted a pug but once I learned why they look the way they do- it just breaks my heart. They are in constant agony for the sake of vanity for others…
I have a friend whose mom is obsessed with english bulldogs. In the past decade, her mother has adopted and lost all three. The most recent one my friend said could've happened to "any dog" beecause he went into shock due to an injury. Since English bulldogs have similar problems to pugs it's interesting to know that it may not have been something that could have so easily happened to any dog after all.
Could you make a vid about those weird super-wide super-muscular super-stocky Instagram bully dogs (like the "Venomline" types)? Those seem to be niche dogs for the Instagram-clout chasers (for now...) but look really... not good
My mom bought a pug from my uncle in Mexico, and she brought him over with fake papers. He may not look like the pug in the painting but he has good legs, a decent size muzzle, and is not fat. He’s more active than to my sisters’ Shih Tzus. This illegal alien pug is a lot more healthier than the average pug bred here in the US.
I wonder what can be done to actually save this breed. I wonder if it would be possible to breed them with some of their possible ancestors and reintroduce some of the natural features that they used to have?
Well bred pugs are healthy
Its certainly possible but I dont think any kennal club would accept them as pugs and many people wouldnt care and want the look and fashion of it regardless. I think it needs to start with laws like in sweden or norway I think has banned short faced dog breeds. Its extreme and there was kick back. But otherwise you dont see change. Im in the uk and even tho docking and cropping is banned nearly fully people still buy dogs classed as "working" for a docked tail. Or people spend thousands importing dogs from abroad for the docked and cropped look. Its extreme but there has been talk of banning the import of cropped and docked dogs because its about the animals welfare and it has always been advertised as such. Yet the people buying the dogs still want a look and dont care despite government and veterinary campaigns and action against it.
I can't stop looking at the dachshund light. My brother has fostered and adopted Numerous dachshunds with spinal issues/injuries. His pups usually come in to his home with wheelchairs (rear legs/paraplegic.) Through his work I've become aware of many of the conditions we have engineered into our dog breeds.
I love the breed specific videos. Would love to see one about blue heelers - just because I have one I’m a little biased lol 😝
Noted!
I’d like to see a video on dachshunds too. The miniature variety are very fashionable right now. If these dogs’ legs get any shorter, their owners will have to roll them around on wheels. The original dachshunds never had legs that short - it’s ridiculous to breed animals with deformities simply to cater to human vanity.
What makes me mad is that some don’t even care they just want it cause “hehe small dog cute”
One benefits of a Pug: they rarely are seen for behavioral problems; otherwise they are a clown car of medical issues.
I think that's more due to their ignorant owners being more willing to brush off their behavioral problems and the general difficulty most of them would have in expressing any behavioral issues than the breed naturally lacking in them.
My boyfriend got saddled with one against his will. This dog destroys things, among the other issues the dog has.
Oh no, they DEFINITELY can have behavioral problems, it's just that they're more easily forgiven. My mother's purebred pug had a CONSTANT humping issue and just wouldn't heel-- plus he had massive aggression and territorial issues the second there was a window between him and what he was raging at.
Napoleon inferiority complex writ large on them, it's just that they're not as "portable" as the purse dogs that everyone complains about and not as walkable as large dogs, so they aren't as much of an issue in general to the public.
And pugs used to be hunting breeds so they still have that high energy and that drive to work... which is being neglected or restricted by their medical issues.
My big guy was getting blind at the end of his life. We didn't knew until it was too late. No matter what, they are the best breed of dogs, hand downs. He was just so smart.
12:33 That's the left side. In an MRI an CT image you're looking at the image from the front of the patient (coronal slices) or below the patient (axial slices) so the patient's left is on the right side of the image
In my opinion FCI should re-describe their breed description, short noses; extra long back; too short legs etc. Also all the dog shows grade higher all the “extreme” versions and somehow they have modified breeds to their own liking. It’s just sad, looks over health..😤😭
I feel that mutts are the healthiest of all.
Im happy to own a mutt. He's strong and healthy and truely one of a kind
i like to watch these vids from time to time because sometimes i convince myself that pug problems aren't so bad and want to get one
If you have dog insurance you are fine they are prone to problems, but they are great animals overall. Join a pug group, a lot never even have issues. Mine is being monitored by vet, to make sure he don’t need surgery to open up his nose, they said he looks like he wont need it. However i have pet insurance because things happen.
There was a pug named Goblin, you can see him on the channel girl with the dogs. He is a pug/GSD mixed. He looks like an "unhealthy" German Shepherd but a very healthy pug. Goblin should be the shining example on what breeders should strive for in a pug.
I have a Romanian rescue dog who is livestock guardian type. She’s absolutely enormous and has carpal hyperextension. I absolutely hate seeing my young dog not have the mobility she should, but I took her on knowing she was a rescue and may have health issues. It’s buck wild to me that people are breeding and paying breeders to create dogs with health issues just for an appearance. Like why would you want to see your dog suffer I would kill to see mine in optimal health.
I will never buy a dog again but if I did, I would automatically remove from my list all dogs that can't swim and have congenital problems we created. But when I'll adopt my next dog, I won't make that distinction. Can't do it right now because my current place doesn't allow animals.
Yes they are over bread I blame the kennel clubs. Especialy if you look at what they looked like 100 years ago.
We've owned several and we did not have any major health issues and they all lived to be over 14.
We do currently own a puggle and that fixes alot of the overbreeding issues. We went to the cross to undo a lot of the breading introduced issues.
People don't care. My father and stepmom are an example. They spent 15k on a frenchie who died anyway in less than 2 years. They up and bought another -_-
I'd think a veterinary dentist would be a valuable addition.
The issue is people who want these breeds will never watch these types of videos. They don’t care. Otherwise they wouldn’t pretend it’s normal for them to snort, have issues breathing etc. it’s so upsetting that these people who claim to care about the breeds, truly don’t. The fact there are still purebred pug or French bulldog breeders is insane. They should take a note from the LUA Dalmatian breeders, where pointer was bred in 10+ generations ago to help with the urinary tract issues ALL Dalmatians that do not have the outcross have. They could have “pure” pugs with longer faces in under a 10 year period, WHY is no one working on this?
One of the worst things is when so many people see these dogs suffering and say "ha ha that's funny" and think it's just the dog being silly and not that it's struggling to do even basic things like moving and breathing.
I would love to see you cover the neurological problems of the King Charles Cavalier dogs. And also the very recent ( within my lifetime) alteration of Persian Cats- I just learned that they are now so brachycephalic that they can’t even groom themselves. They’ve been bred to the point that one of the most basic cat behaviors is impossible for them.
You made it clear that there are too many problems here to cover them all. But if you do it again, could you go over stenotic nares? Thank you for your videos on the brachycephaly issues.