I think flat faced dogs should be banned

I've no idea of the crufts selection process, but is it fairly recent that the kennel club have tightened up on hip dysplasia in German shepherds?

I think moves are afoot in the dog breeding world to improve the breeding strains of these dogs. Unfortunately there will always be market for these dogs for people who don't care about the health issues and just want the looks. There are so many illegal breeders around I don't see things changing any time soon.

For a start dogs need to stop being named with fancy names like cockatoo and labradoodle it’s ridiculous they are cross breeds, mongrels The amount of silly money paid for these mongrels is just stupid when people are complaining about putting the heating off and eating once a day
Stop putting dresses and outfits on dogs, stop taking them for walks in handbags, pushchairs breeds need to be normal dog breeds that have been around for centuries not larger, stronger, flatter bigger tail, smaller ears let them be as they were with no human intervention.
The breeders should be stopped by law, of course dogs already here can live their lives out, but no more bred to spend £1000 s on trying to patch them up for the dreadful things we ve done to them
It’s just so awful for the dogs (and to a lesser degree cats too)

I've just been checking stuff and I was wrong.
There was controversy about the 2016 best of breed winners st crufts.
German shepherds who couldn't move properly due to the sloping back and hip issues.

Cross breeds are much, much healthier than pedigree dogs.

youtu.be/QBq6gM0sI7A

Hyena shaped dogs who can't run properly.
Well done, humans.

I have a pug who was bought for me. ~He does have problems with his breathing now that he is older. I do know that his whole family were seen before he was chosen . They didn't have problems.We are careful with him, walk him when its cool in the summer.He does go out to meet other dog friends otherwise.He is the dearest dog and we love him very much.

My Daughter had an adorable French Bulldog. She got her checked before she bought, checked out by Vet, all OK as a puppy.

3 years later, that darling dog started having problems. Firstly she started having fits.. Vet got under control however in the following couple of years they got worse. She then started getting other problems, which tends to be seen in very old Dogs.
She eventually went into major organ failure just after her 5th Birthday, few weeks later on Boxing Day, we had to take her to an Emergency Vet, where she was put to sleep.
Fabulous Dog, but poor little thing.

She was fine just for those first 3 years, it wasn't her breathing but other organs.
We really miss her.

Seizures and so on are listed as known pug problems.
How any dog lover could not know is beyond me.
Even the pdsa says "but, if you still really want to have one...." and gives a list of things to do, such as buying one with less abnormal features.
Disgraceful.

I think the only way for these awful breeding 'quirks' to be stopped is for dogs with them to be banned from shows. That starts with the KC and feeds down to the various societies. If thee dogs aren't fashionable, then in time I hope people would stop buying them and this unethical breeding would stop. I have been looking around, tentatively, for another rescue shepherd after losing my girl. One dog which caught my eye was a 10 year old with severe displaysia in one hip. I would gladly have taken her despite her age and disability but there are steps in my house, even up to the living room, and she would be much more comfortable in a single storey home. I couldn't inflict unnecessary additional pain on her but would have considered taking her if she were in kennels, a miserable environment. Thankfully she is in a good foster home, not kennels, and I suspect that is where she will live out her days. She needs pain relief, as did a previous shepherd of mine. All because the KC thought that, for some reason I can't fathom, shepherds should have sloping backs. I have no time for them and their cruel fancies.

Miss Adventure, what exactly does disgraceful refer to ?

That's the thing isn't it?
If there was no money to be made from breeding these extreme deformities, then it would die out.
Very different from rescuing a dog who already has issues.

Disgraceful refers to the pdsa listing the problems that pugs have, and then suggesting ways to mitigate them if you still want one, westendgirl.
Mostly advice on having good insurance - what about the dog??

The rest, well, you are free to decide for yourself on the meaning.

Spot on MissA. What people spend on some of these dogs is unbelievable. Just to be in fashion. Take them out of fashion, put the breeders out of business.

The woman that bred my whippet put a list up of all of the dogs she’s bred over the years. Apart from one that tragically died from a freak accident they’re all going strong, including her foundation bitch who still runs and plays with the younger dogs. She asks all new owners to tell her of any health problem their dog might have in case it’s anything hereditary. All puppies are health checked before they leave her; she home checks everyone and will rehome any of her dogs if needed, but that never happens. It’s like the Spanish Inquisition getting a puppy from her as she makes sure you’re a suitable owner for the breed. All the owners can keep in touch with each other and we can see how our dogs siblings are getting on. We aren’t allowed to breed from them. My daughters dog is a different breed but her breeder is the same. If only all dog breeders were like them.

MayBee70 - we lost our old Lab during covid and the breeder we got our new boy from was exactly the same. We also had to go through a 'Spanish Inquisition' from her before she agreed to let us have a pup and I didn't mind that one bit, as I completely understood her reasons behind it. We have kept in touch with her since and send her regular updates on how our boy is doing. As you say, if only all breeders were as responsible.

The rescue my girls dog went to was very strict.
I read a review from a doctor who said "I can't leave my patients multiple times day to talk about dogs, so they have struck me off their list!"

It's what I wanted though, because the wrong owner would have been a disaster. (I include myself in that category)

This designer breeding is totally disgusting along with the practice of surgically reducing dogs ears to make them stand up..........its is not natural and should not be allowed.
These people are NOT animal lovers, they just want designer dogs to match their designer life-style.

Crufts and The Kennel Club are all complicit in this and it's just horrible for the poor dogs - not just the flat faced ones, or the ones that have brains bigger than their skulls, but also dogs like German Shepherds that literally have their back ends just off the floor and can barely walk! Just awful .....

I have two Pugs did have 3 until a few months ago and until then none of them had ever been to the vet with issues of any description. They had their jabs, medication for ears etc but that was it. The one who was pts a couple of months ago had a inoperable tumour she was 14 and healthy up to that point. I had her from 12 weeks old and she was adorable. I have two left both rehomes and both healthy. I haven't always had Pugs I got them because of my disability and inability to walk. Before becoming disabled I had 3 Dobermanns and walked 10 miles a day every day. All 3 died of cancer of one description or another all within the space of 18 months and all at 8 years old. My Pug did so much better and I get why people are so against them but please don't judge them all by the 5% that suffer and visit the vets so frequently when the other 95% are doing fine.

The Kennel Club's own research shows that 50 per cent of Pugs, Bulldogs and French Bulldogs have significant breathing problems.
Only 7-15 percent breathe normally.

All of the current pedigrees started off as crossbreeds and to talk about banning them would not help pedigrees as sometimes they have to breed in a certain characteristic from another breed to correct a deformity. In x number of generations, the breed becomes pure again.
A good, responsible of any dog will do the proper tests on the parents to check they are not breeding in unhealthy traits. There are many crossbreeders who do this. They test both parents for known problems and those crossbreeds are likely to be healthier than the original pedigrees. It is the backyard breeders of any dog who don't do this and they should be stopped. Everybody should be licensed to breed any animal and the relevant tests enforced.

youtu.be/ttfjwboc68k

These poor dogs don't get the correct amount of oxygen even when they're stationary. I saw one struggling up the hill in our local park recently and the noise the poor thing was making was so loud. The owner didn't seem at all concerned though. It's just so cruel and for what. These designer dogs are really suffering.