Some guidelines were needed to assess which dog is the most beautiful. This makes the verdict less subjective. For this purpose, the so-called “breed standards” were created. They describe what an ideal representative of a given breed should look like.
Take the English Bulldog, for example.
“FCI-Standard N° 149 Bulldog; ORIGIN: Great Britain; DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE OFFICIAL VALID STANDARD: 13.10.2010.; UTILISATION: Dissuasion and Companion Dog; FCI-CLASSIFICATION:
Group 2 Pinscher and Schnauzer – Molossoid; Section 2.1; Molossoid breeds, Mastiff type; Without working trial.”
“HEAD: Viewed from side, head appears very high and moderately short from back to point of nose. Forehead flat with skin on and about head, slightly loose and finely wrinkled without excess, neither prominent nor overhanging face. Face from front of cheek bone to nose, relatively short, skin may be slightly wrinkled.
Distance from inner corner of eye (or from centre of stop between eyes) to extreme tip of nose should not be less than the distance from tip of the nose to edge of the underlip.
CRANIAL REGION:
Skull: Skull relatively large in circumference. Viewed from front appears high from corner of lower jaw to apex of skull; also broad and square. From stop, a furrow, extending to middle of skull being traceable to apex.
Stop: Defined.
FACIAL REGION: Viewed from front, the various properties of the face must be equally balanced on either side of an imaginary line down centre.
Nose: Nose and nostrils large, broad and black, under no circumstances liver colour, red or brown. Nostrils large wide and open, with well-defined vertical straight line between.
Muzzle: Muzzle short, broad, turned upwards and deep from corner of eye to corner of mouth. Over nose wrinkle, if present, whole or broken, must never adversely affect or obscure eyes or nose.
Lips: Flews (chops) thick, broad and deep, covering lower jaws at sides, but joining underlip in front. Teeth not visible.
Jaws/Teeth: Jaws broad, strong and square, lower jaw slightly projecting in front of upper, with moderate turn up. Jaws broad and square with six small front teeth between canines in an even row. Canines wide apart. Teeth large and strong not seen when mouth closed. When viewed from front under jaw directly under upper jaw and parallel.
Cheeks: Cheeks well rounded and extended sideways beyond eyes.
Eyes: Seen from front, situated low down in skull, well away from ears. Eyes and stop in same straight line, at right angles to furrow. Wide apart, but outer corners within the outline of cheeks. Round, of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, in colour very dark- almost black- showing no white when looking directly forward. Free from obvious eye problems.
Ears: Set high – i.e. front edge of each ear (as viewed from front) joins outline of skull at top corner of such outline, so as to place them as wide apart, as high and as far from eyes as possible. Small and thin. “Rose ear” correct, i.e. folding inwards back, upper or front inner edge curving outwards and backwards, showing part of inside of burr.”
The dog’s entire body is described in this spirit.
The problem is that in striving for “perfection”, we have reached the absurd…
The photo at the beginning of the post shows how much the English Bulldog’s appearance has changed.
The breed standard reads:
“BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: The Bulldog was first classified as such in the 1630s though there is earlier mention of similar types referred to as bandogs, a term reserved today for a type of fighting dog. Used originally for bull-baiting, the Bulldog also fought its way through the dog pits but after 1835 began to evolve into the shorter faced, more squat version we now know. It entered the show ring in 1860 and the ensuing years saw a big personality change. A delightfully ugly dog with a pugilistic expression, which belies a loving, affectionate nature to family and friends. One of the oldest indigenous breeds, known as the national dog of Great Britain, and associated throughout the world with British determination and the legendary John Bull.”
As you can see, the bulldog fought with bulls (after all, “bull” means “bull”) and later with other dogs. This means they were strong, durable, fit and probably quite agile dogs. Does this description fit today’s “perfect” bulldog??? The perfect bulldog is a mockery, a caricature of his ancestors! A sluggish man, having a problem with breathing, and therefore with fitness (an incredibly shortened muzzle) in the ring would be more meat than an opponent 🙁
The worst thing is that the deformations we have caused have significantly reduced the comfort of the life of these poor beings, condemned by human vanity to endless torment. Bulldogs have trouble breathing – not for them to play tag (sometimes they faint from hypoxia); their heads are so big that very often, natural childbirth is not possible!; Due to their twisted physique, Bulldogs suffer from:
– hip and elbow dysplasia (by the time they get old, they are often no longer able to walk),
– pulmonary stenosis, which also affects some people (“Stenosis is a narrowing of the lumen of the spinal canal, which leads to irritation and even damage to nerve structures. The result of such a condition is back pain (the exact location of the ailment depends on the location of the narrowing), tingling and numbness in the limbs, muscle weakness or foot dropping.” Source: Stenosis – causes, symptoms, treatment, rehabilitation in spinal stenosis (doz.pl)),
– spina bifida (possible symptoms include, e.g., paralysis of the limb muscles, sensory disturbances, problems with the sphincters, i.e. urinary and faecal incontinence),
– prolapse of the third eyelid gland (can lead to dry eye syndrome). A bit of imagination how nice it is to have a dry eye…,
– short-skulled respiratory syndrome in dogs (respiratory problems already mentioned, increased risk of arrhythmia and stroke, etc.)
Of course, not all bulldogs suffer from all of these conditions. However, it is difficult to find one who does not.
Either way, it’s time to speak clearly about the harm we are doing to dogs.
Above I quoted a fragment of the description of a bulldog’s head. His whole body is described in this way. Three pages of text. For comparison:
“BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT: Conveys impression of determination, strength and activity. Alert, bold, loyal, dependable, courageous, fierce in appearance, but possessed of affectionate nature.”
This shows clearly what is important for breeders and what is not.
The icing on the cake is the earlier quoted sentence: “The show debut of bulldogs took place in 1860, and in the following years, a great change in its character took place.”
Those who have read the previous entries know where this change comes from. Do you remember Dmitri Belyaev’s experiment? In a nutshell, the guy selected Siberian foxes (bred for fur) so that they were less afraid of people. It worked. However, the appearance of the animals has changed significantly (m.in. floppy ears, discolouration on the fur has appeared). Conclusion: influencing the appearance (by (un)natural selection) inevitably also changes the character!
Let’s take German shepherds, for example. In the 1980s, they were fit, independent, and emotionally stable.
Unfortunately, some (***) came up with the idea that angulation in sheepdogs is excellent. Breeders followed this motto, mutilating these wonderful dogs and making them cripples! Today’s shepherds are impaired in movement due to their deformed body structure, suffer from hip dysplasia, and in the prime of life, they often barely walk anymore. Only a memory of the former fitness remains. Of course, the changes in appearance also affected their character: they became hysterical and fearful, and from there, it was only a step toward aggressive behaviour 🙁 (out of fear). When I was a child, we had a sheepdog. When a barking miniature ran up to him, Siberia looked at him with slight curiosity or ignored him completely. This is how most shepherds behaved – emotionally balanced and self-confident dogs. Today… Unfortunately, most German Shaeppereds respond to the Yorkies’ barking similarly… I won’t write about other reactions because that’s not what this post is about.
It breaks my heart to see what we did to these super dogs and how terribly we hurt them.
And I can’t come to terms with the idea that we condemn thousands of our “friends” to a life of torment (congenital defects that cause pain and discomfort) in the name of… Medals? Money? Trying to satisfy your vanity?
I don’t want to sound too orthodox here. I don’t think dog breeds should cease to exist, and only mongrels are fine. That’s not what I want to say at all. Dog breeds are often helpful in choosing a dog with which we can create a harmonious duo, and this cannot be overestimated. When a dog and a human are a good match and happy together, the risk of life in a shelter is reduced; Both parties enjoy life, closeness, and friendship. The breed type tells us what the dog’s needs and inclinations are, what temperament we can expect, what actions are likely to relieve him from stressful situations, etc.
I want to make it clear that I am against inbreeding and overbreeding. I rebel against breeders who select dogs only because of their appearance, disregarding the health and character of their stud dogs.
It seems a nightmare to me that we create beings condemned to eternal suffering, such as the American Bully Exotic, also known as the toad dog. A creature that suffers throughout its short life. These beings are so deformed, sick and unfit for life that they die after about three years!!
I won’t continue writing because more and more obscene words come to my mind, a knife opens itself in my pocket, and tears come to my eyes.
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