This push-faced, perky-eared breed topped Labrador retrievers for the first time in 31 years.
There’s concern that demand, plus the premium that some buyers will pay for "exotic" coat colors and textures, is engendering quick-buck breeders and unhealthy dogs. The breed's popularity is sharpening debate over whether there's anything healthy about propagating dogs prone to breathing, spinal, eye, and skin conditions.
She has treated French bulldogs with breathing difficulties, and she stresses that would-be owners need to research breeders and health testing and to recognize that problems can be expensive to treat. "These dogs can be very fit, can be very active," Stefaniak said. "They don’t have to be sedentary dogs that can't breathe."
With roots in England and then France, French bulldogs became chic among American elites around the turn of the 20th century, then faded from favor. "They're being very exploited" by unscrupulous breeders, she said. The Westlake, Ohio-based vet has seen plenty of Frenchies with problems but rejects arguments that the breed is inherently unhealthy. Some of her own do canine performance sports.
To animal rights and welfare activists, the French bulldog frenzy puts a snorting, panting face on problems with dog breeding in general."A lot of the breed characteristics that are bred into these dogs, they’re for looks, not necessarily health and welfare, and Frenchies are probably one of the most exaggerated examples of that," said Dr. Lorna Grande of the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, a professional group affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States.
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