A review of dog breed registrations from 1926 to 2005, published in PLOS ONE, found the popularity of a breed is not affected by the breed’s health, a longer lifespan, or better behavior (such as trainability, fearfulness, or aggression).4 In other words, pet-keeping does not just have a biological explanation but is also socially mediated, according to a study in Animal Behavior and Cognition.5 Just appearing in the media does not guarantee a breed’s popularity, however. For example, winning Best in Show at the prestigious and televised Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show does not usually have an effect, as reported in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.6
Dr. Hal Herzog is a professor emeritus of psychology and author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight about Animals who has spent over three decades investigating our interactions with animals, and who was involved in this research on the popularity of dog breeds. He told me this research had a profound effect on his own views about the role of biology versus culture. “For many, many years I’ve considered myself an evolutionary psychologist and I still do, but I really strongly believed that most of our behavior was determined by biological factors that shaped the minds of our ancestors. And I no longer believe that. And the real key to changing my mind on that is I studied how people choose breeds of dogs for pets. And what I realized is that the role of culture was really much more important than I had realized.”
Trends in dog choices are not necessarily good for dogs, as with the increased popularity of dogs with squashed faces, called brachycephalic features, such as French Bulldogs.7 Brachycephalic dogs can suffer medical problems including respiratory, eye, and skin issues as a result of their looks. Several of these breeds (French Bulldogs, Bulldogs, and Pugs) are amongst the most popular breeds in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (see table).
The most popular dog breeds in the USA, Canada, and the UK in 2018
| USA | CANADA | UK | |
| 1 | Retriever (Labrador) | Labrador Retriever | French Bulldog |
| 2 | German Shepherd Dog | German Shepherd Dog | Retriever (Labrador) |
| 3 | Retriever (Golden) | Golden Retriever | Spaniel (Cocker) |
| 4 | French Bulldog | Poodle | Bulldog |
| 5 | Bulldog | French Bulldog | Spaniel (English Springer) |
| 6 | Beagle | Havanese | Pug |
| 7 | Poodle | Shetland Sheepdog | Retriever (Golden) |
| 8 | Rottweiler | Australian Shepherd | German Shepherd Dog |
| 9 | Pointer (German Short-Haired) | Bernese Mountain Dog | Dachshund (Miniature Smooth-haired) |
| 10 | Yorkshire Terrier | Portuguese Water Dog | Miniature Schnauzer |
Source: Information from the American Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club, and Kennel Club.8
Dr. Jessica Hekman, a veterinarian who studies the role of genetics and the environment on dog personality at Darwin’s Ark, recommends breed clubs support outcrossing projects. Instead of breeding dogs that are related to each other, outcrossing means mating two completely unrelated dogs (that is, ones that have no relations within a four-generation pedigree). This can bring in new variants of genes that will improve the health of the breed and help prevent problems due to inbreeding.
“WE CAN MAKE the world better for dogs by making dogs who fit into the world better. I would love to see dog owners draw a line in the sand and insist on dogs with muzzles long enough to let them breathe normally, or dogs who are not born with a 60 percent chance of developing cancer at some point in their lives due to their breed, or dogs whose heads are not too big for them to be born without a C-section. I’d love to see more breeders taking matters into their own hands and starting to experiment with how we breed dogs instead of continuing to use dogs from within breeds lacking in genetic diversity. I’d love to see more breed clubs supporting outcrossing projects to bring an influx of genetic diversity and healthy alleles into their breed. I’d love more dog lovers to become aware of the problems with how we breed dogs—how even the most responsible breeders breed dogs! This year, it is time for change.”
—JESSICA HEKMAN, DVM, PhD, postdoctoral associate at the Karlsson Lab, MIT, and writer at The Dog Zombie blog
ANIMAL WELFARE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
NO ONE WANTS to see Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, and Pugs disappear; they are lovely breeds with great personalities. But they should not have to suffer for their looks, and something needs to be done to improve the health of these breeds. Getting a dog is often a spur-of-the-moment decision and so people do not consider health. Research published in PLOS ONE looked at how the health of a breed plays into people’s decisions to get a dog.9 Four breeds took part in the study. Cairn Terriers were chosen because they are generally healthy, French Bulldogs and Chihuahuas because they tend to have health problems related to how they look, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels because they tend to have health problems not related to how they look.
A survey of owners of these breeds found some of the problems were quite severe. For example, 29 percent of the French Bulldogs had had a sudden illness or injury in the previous year, and 33 percent of the Chihuahuas had had dental problems.
So why do people choose to get these kinds of dogs? Twelve percent of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel owners and 28 percent of Chihuahua owners said, “There wasn’t really any planning” in the decision to get a dog. The personality of the dog, its appearance, breed attributes, and convenience were all factors given as part of people’s decision. Owners of French Bulldogs, Chihuahuas, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels often chose those breeds because of the dog’s perceived cuteness, baby-like features, and fashion. In addition, people who were motivated by the distinctive appearance of the breed and by breed attributes were very attached to their dog. These results show people are not really taking the health of the breed into account. The scientists think this is because the emotional connection people have with a dog as a result of the looks can make a breed feel irresistible.
“CURRENTLY, dogs are bred to meet human ideas of cuteness, with flattened noses, bulgy eyes, short legs . . . Often these physical features cause ill health and suffering, such as the difficulties brachycephalic dogs have with breathing (who doesn’t know a snorting, snuffling Bulldog?), with many other examples too. Meanwhile pedigree dogs are also, by definition, inbred from a small pool of animals of the same breed, and this directly causes an increased incidence in some illnesses (such as cancer in Flat Coated Retrievers).