Breeding French Bulldogs so That They Breathe Well—A Long Way to Go
Brachycephalic syndrome (BS) is a pathophysiological disorder caused by excessive soft tissue within the upper airways of short-nosed dog breeds, causing obstruction of the nasal, pharyngeal and laryngeal lumen, resulting in severe respiratory distress. As the prevalence of BS appears to be high among some of the affected breeds, there is an urgent need for breeding efforts to improve the health status of those dogs. In the present study, we evaluated correlations between morphometric and other phenotypic characteristics and BS in a population of 69 French bulldogs from Denmark to identify parameters that could serve as a basis for breeding against BS. Furthermore, the genetic variation was monitored to determine whether it would be possible to breed based on these characteristics without simultaneously causing a critical reduction in genetic variation.
Ravn-Mølby, E.-M., Sindahl, L., Nielsen, S.S., Bruun, C.S., Sandøe, P., and Fredholm, M. (2019). Breeding French bulldogs so that they breathe well—A long way to go. PLoS ONE, 14(12), e0226280. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226280
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View ResourceTopic(s): Breeder Resource, Genetics, How Genetics Impacts Welfare