Hey can you do a breed evaluation on Pugs? I didn't see them on your list of breeds you have done/wouldn't do and is like to know wha a vet thinks of the breed.
I can! I think the reason I haven’t is that after the Breathe Like A Pug post decrying their flat faces, folks might have thought that was all there was to say about them. But there’s much more to talk about in Pugs.
Please note the disclaimer.These posts are about thebreed from a veterinary viewpoint as seen in clinicalpractice, i.e. the problems we are faced with. It’s not the be-alland end-all of the breed and is not to make a judgement about whetherthe breed is right for you. If you are asking for an opinion aboutthese animals in a veterinary setting, that is what you will get.It’s not going to be all sunshine and cupcakes, and is not intendedas a personal insult against your favorite breed. This is generaladvice for what is common, often with a scientific consensus butsometimes based on personal experiences, and is not a guarantee ofwhat your animal is going to encounter in their life.
There’s a lot to unpack in the Pug, so let’s start at the front and start with structural things, because the breed really is a structural mess.
Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome, or BAS for short, is the name we give to a collection of deformities associated with the shortening of the muzzle, with more severe forms being associated with more severe morphology. It is possible to have a shorter than average muzzle without BAS, but the shorter it is, the more likely it is.
BAS may include stenotic nares (nostrils being pinched shut), enlongated soft palate (too much flesh at the back of the throat) and everted laryngeal saccules (pockets of tissue at the larynx which pop inside out due to strong pressures of the narrow airway). All of these compound to reduce the diameter of the airway before air even reaches the lungs.
Some sources will also list hypoplastic trachea (a windpipe that is too small) and Collapsing trachea (Windpipe narrows or collapses with strong inspiration or expiration) as part of the syndrome, and gastric reflux and hiatal hernias (stomach herniating into thorax) is also associated with it due to increased pressure in the thorax as these dogs just try to breathe.
The squished up face has other complications to. Excessive facial skin folds can lead to skin fold dermatitis and pyoderma (nasty, sore infection of the skin folds) which are difficult to clear because the skin in those folds never gets a chance to air out. You can also get entropion (the eyelids rolling in to rub fur on the eyeball) which requires surgical correction. The problems with the eyeballs don’t end there though, the bug-eyes expression that many pugs end up with can result in exposure keratopathy, where the over exposed eyeballs are prone to drying out and developing corneal damage. This is only exaggerated if they also develop Keratoconjunctivitis Sica (KCS) or Dry Eye (inadequate tear film production). They are also prone to proptosis (the eyeball popping out of its socket).
The tightly curled tail is associated with hemivertebrae (abnormal bones of the spinal column) and while the dog will manage if they’re exclusively in the tail, they often end up with some elsewhere in the spine, causing painful deformities or intervertebral disc rupture. They may also be associated with spina bifida.
The limbs are not any better. I certainly harp on about othopedic concerns in breeds like German Shepherds, but Pugs are right up there in the list of structural nightmares. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals states that 41% of these dogs have abnormal elbows or elbow dysplasia and 70% have abnormal hips or hip dysplasia. That’s atrocious, but it gets less attention than the large dog breeds because it’s relatively easier for someone to carry around their pug that can’t move well than their German Shepherd.
They are a little weird immunologically too as they are somewhat prone to demodex mange, skin allergies and atopy (allergic to everything under the sun) and a few different types of meningitis (brain inflammation) which are catastrophic and one is usually only seen in the pug.
Their high incidence of joint problems and relative difficulty breathing often makes these dogs lazy and causes them difficulty exercising, so they are prone to obesity. This is only made worse by owners expecting the dogs to be roly poly and shaped like a potato, but their obesity makes basically all of their problems worse - orthopedic, BAS especially collapsing trachea, and dermatitis in particular.
And especially in Australia, pugs commonly make up a large percentage of my heat stroke patients. They can get heat stroke just walking down the street in summer. Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome really does a number on these dogs.
And I know someone is going to bring up retromops as a version of ‘healthy pugs’, but this trend hasn’t yet reached my local population and I’m skeptical you’re going to solve all of these problems bu just breeding for a longer muzzle and better shape. You should be able to get significant improvement in the BAS and structural issues, but I would worry about loss of genetic diversity without crossing to other breeds.
