The domesticated dog has changed far from the wild ancestors of old and the canid cousins they share in the wild today. Dogs as pets and companions come in many shapes and sizes from the smallest of “teacup” breeds to immense Great Danes and Irish Wolf Hounds.
As with many of our domesticated animals, selective breeding over many generations has created body plans that would be highly unlikely or even impossible through natural evolution. We know that the development of features depends on attributes that help to sustain life and increase chances of procreation.
It would be fair to say that the Pug would not flourish in the wild were there to be a sudden disappearance of humans. Let us investigate the development of breed characteristics in dogs and the potential health pitfalls that may result.
Early Human Interaction With Dogs
Human domestication of dogs can be traced by DNA evidence to 11,000 years ago, the end of the last ice age (Rincon, 2020). There is evidence to suggest that Homo Sapiens out-competed Neanderthals for prey with the assistance of domesticated canines around 32,000 years ago (Bethke and Burtt, 2020).
Needless to say, dogs are the earliest animal to be domesticated by humans. Our connection with canines happened all over the world in the early periods of human history. Evidence of early canine domestication has been found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Our hunter gatherer ancestors would have undoubtedly provided a tantalizing opportunity to hungry canines that could snatch food from camps, humans may have even left dogs parts of their kills that they found undesirable.
Equally, humans may have been eager to follow the packs of wild canines that were tracking prey so as to benefit from their enhanced senses when seeking good hunting.
It is generally accepted that domestication stemmed from the initial mutual benefit that came from close proximity. Of course, at this point in the development of domestication, selective breeding was probably not at the forefront of human minds.
The canines of this time were already perfectly suited to their environment and had the tracking and hunting skills that humans could benefit from. It was only as human civilization flourished that animals would become an asset that needed “molding” to a new purpose.
What Drove the Selection of Dog Characteristics?
The attributes that humans favored in their domesticated companions were initially driven by the roles that canines played in obtaining food. It would very much depend on the location of the humans and the type of prey being hunted as to what traits best suited the needs.
A taller dog with acute senses of sight and hearing could be more useful for those tracking elusive prey across mountainous terrain whereas stocky strong dogs with tenacious spirit could be more effective at helping to take down large animals.
As agriculture grew and human settlements became more stable, roles altered again. Dogs would continue to assist in the hunting process but some of these hunts would become pest control as opposed to food gathering, this would necessitate smaller dogs that could take on native creatures that could burrow or escape into dense undergrowth. Dogs became racers, fighters, security and status symbols.
These days we certainly see breeds that seem to fall outside these roles of old. Our need for food and even pest control is no longer the same. Gradually, aesthetics would prevail in many cases of selective breeding.
Showing dogs is a big business and today events all over the world take place with some achieving television exposure. But as with many competitive industries and markets driven by aesthetics, traits can be taken to extremes.
Where the Problems Start - Dog Characteristics
Characteristics that once may have been useful to us as humans taken to extremes can create a multitude of health concerns for the animal. One of the most common trends in recent years has been for the preference for breeds such as French Bulldogs, Pugs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
These breeds (and others) have a common trait of being Brachycephalic breeds. Brachycephalic meaning “Short headed” describes the wider and shorter skull shape of these dogs.
With the increased neotenization of animals (infantilization) leading to a preference for an almost human infant like appearance, flat faced brachycephalic breeds are in high demand. The unfortunate truth is that many or most owners have no idea what physiological strain this morphology creates.
One only needs to listen to a Pug long enough and you will hear breathing difficulties being very apparent. The canine head and face have evolved to allow for large intra-nasal space to warm and moisten air, increase scent receptors and provide large capacity breathing to supply high endurance.
The vastly reduced size of the nasal cavity, sinuses and pharynx in brachycephalic breeds interferes with adequate breathing. Appropriate ventilation in not just about getting oxygen into the body but expelling carbon dioxide, balancing body pH, assisting fluid dynamics, lymphatic pumping, and thermoregulation. The list goes on and on. It is easy to see that disturbed ventilation and respiratory function can lead to a multitude of conditions.
The German Shepard is another breed with a common dysfunction. While the breed is arguably one of the more wolf-like, it has deviated far from the functional biomechanics that its ancestors benefited from. Early examples of the breed were much more biomechanically sound and only when the breeding became more selective did the problems become apparent.
German Shepards are often seen with a very angular hind end, their hip joint with a much more extended position and stifle at almost 90 degrees setting their hind end closer to the ground.
This selected morphology is bad enough for long-term health but when we consider that they have a genetic predisposition to hip dysplasia (Mikkola et al, 2019) the problem becomes even more of a concern.
The potential for back problems, hip problems and reduced quality of life is high and we must also factor in the possible systemic effects on health that may occur from somatovisceral referral or degenerative myelopathy.
Genetics is a complex science and it is inevitable that breeding in one desired trait will come along with a number of others that are less conducive to wellness. We have many dog breeds today with floppy ears, they may look cute to us but they serve no purpose in benefiting the animal.
Floppy ears will obviously alter the sense of hearing compared to dogs with erect ears; they can in some cases also increase chances of impacted auditory canals and otitis externa (outer ear infection).
The obvious factor is our own choices on aesthetics. If we continue to put our preferences over the welfare of the animal, there is a chance that the health and even life expectancy of our dogs gets worse.
Becoming Part of the Change in Dog Welfare
Animal welfare charities are at the front of the campaigns to assist owners with ensuring improved welfare. The Brachycephalic Working Group is active in working with owners stakeholders in the dog industry and breeders to help spread awareness of care for these breeds and lobbying for change in breed development. The RSPCA has extensive help available for people seeking responsible dog ownership and information on good care practices.
It will however take time to place enough pressure on breeders and breed organizations involved in showing to change their current practices. The education of owners is key to this endeavor. If we can expand the understanding of breed characteristics on health in the wider public then people may start to vote with their feet and stop demanding dangerous features.
In Animal Osteopathy, practitioners are in a perfect position to educate owners about health implications and also how to care for the dogs who already suffer. Half of the work of any health practitioner is being an educator. Even if you are reading this and you are not an animal professional, you have learned that something needs to change and that we as owners are the ones to do it.
Can Osteopathy Help?
Of course!
Osteopathy is a way of showing the body what it is doing. If an Osteopath works with an animal who is suffering breed related conditions, they do not try to make the animal something they are not, that would be futile.
Andrew Taylor Still (the founder of Osteopathy) said “Finding health should be the job of the doctor, anyone can find disease”, this is the view we must take when the morphology of the animal is such that optimal functioning is simply not possible.
Let us consider the brachycephalic breeds. An Osteopath may not be able to re-shape the dog’s head, but it’s possible to work with the secondary effects of breathing difficulties.
We can ensure cervical spine mobility to allow the dog to position their head in a comfortable position for breathing deeply, we can articulate restricted ribs and thoracic spine to encourage lung expansion and we can give advice on exercise and environment management so as not to over exert the dog or expose them to other respiratory inhibiting factors.
For our dogs suffering biomechanical issues as a result of postures such as the German Shepherd described above, we can work with muscle tone and flexibility to encourage the patient to stand under themselves, we can use proprioceptive rehabilitation to educate the nervous system in better posture. The list of interventions the Osteopath can use is vast, but I’m not going to give that away, you need to join the fantastic LCAO educational programs to find that out.
The important thing to remember is that it is not too late to make significant changes in the dog industry. Osteopathy will always be concerned with helping animals live as well as they can with the body and genetics they have but we can also be a powerful force for welfare education in the wider population.
It is vital to spread awareness that animals are feeling creatures who can suffer from the features that some/many humans find cute or appealing, just because they live does not mean they live well. This article is not to shame any owners who have breeds with characteristics described above, the intention is to open eyes to the possible problems and stoke the fires of change.
For more information on how you can become a Canine Osteopath, click here
References:
Rincon, P. (2020). Dogs are humans’ oldest companions, DNA shows. BBC News. [online] 29 Oct. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54690458 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2024].
Bethke, B. and Burtt, A. (2020). Dogs : archaeology beyond domestication. Gainesville: University Press Of Florida.
Paul, E.S., Packer, R.M., McGreevy, P.D., Coombe, E., Mendl, E. and Neville, V. (2023). That brachycephalic look: Infant-like facial appearance in short-muzzled dog breeds. Animal Welfare, 32(32). doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2022.6.
Mikkola, L.I., Holopainen, S., Lappalainen, A.K., Pessa-Morikawa, T., Augustine, T.J.P., Arumilli, M., Hytönen, M.K., Hakosalo, O., Lohi, H. and Iivanainen, A. (2019). Novel protective and risk loci in hip dysplasia in German Shepherds. PLOS Genetics, 15(7), p.e1008197. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008197.
Anon, (n.d.). Brachycephalic Working Group – Working together to improve the health and welfare of brachycephalic dogs. [online] Available at: https://www.ukbwg.org.uk/.
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