The debate around extreme conformations in dogs has taken a step forward with an international multi-stakeholder group aiming to help dog owners to understand and recognise what an innately healthy dog looks like.
While the problems with certain breeds of dog – especially brachycephalic breeds – are well known in the veterinary industry, the International Collaborative on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs, 2024) position paper takes this information to the wider public, who will be instrumental if these extreme conformations are ever to be avoided in future. The position paper has been covered in the media quite extensively, hopefully raising the profile of this important issue.
Highlighting the importance of raising awareness of owners, co-founder of ICECDogs, Dan O'Neill said: ‘No owner ever wants an unhealthy dog but the huge popularity of dogs with extreme conformations suggests that many owners have not fully grasped the link between body shape and quality of life for dogs.’
Innate health is described as dogs being capable of performing all the typical activities necessary for their wellbeing. They should be able to breathe freely and oxygenate fully without effort at rest and during exercise, not require corrective surgical interventions to be able to breathe freely, move freely without conformation-related impediment, eat and drink effectively, be able to reproduce (for breeding animals), maintain body temperature within a normal range, hear, smell, see, self-groom, eliminate and sleep effectively, and communicate effectively with other dogs using species-specific auditory cues as well as physical cues (for example using tail, ears, grimace, stance). Many breeds struggle with aspects of this because of extreme breeding.
The aim is to encourage potential dog owners to not necessarily avoid ‘problem breeds’ such as French bulldogs entirely, but to select individuals that have not been bred to have such extreme unhealthy conformations. Breeders will then react to this commercial pressure by breeding healthier individuals.
Raising awareness of this with the public is an important step, but how will owners react to being told their beloved dog is unhealthy? Hopefully demand for extreme conformations will drop over time, but this is unlikely to be a quick fix and veterinary nurses are likely to continue to care for these animals for a long time to come.