New BREED HEALTH CO-ORDINATOR 31st March 2020
I was elected as the French Bulldog Breed Health Coordinator by the breed clubs over 13 years ago years. I have dedicated a great deal of time and effort to this post, championing our breed during some very difficult times I remain as passionate about the health of our Frenchies as I have always been but it is now time to pass that role onto someone new, who I am sure with her enthusiasm and love of Frenchies and her knowledge as a vet she will do a great job. The breeds clubs agreed to appoint as our new Health co-ordinator Laura Hamilton email ;
Please support Laura in her challenging role
Penny Rankine-Parsons
I was elected as the French Bulldog Breed Health Coordinator by the breed clubs over 13 years ago years. I have dedicated a great deal of time and effort to this post, championing our breed during some very difficult times I remain as passionate about the health of our Frenchies as I have always been but it is now time to pass that role onto someone new, who I am sure with her enthusiasm and love of Frenchies and her knowledge as a vet she will do a great job. The breeds clubs agreed to appoint as our new Health co-ordinator Laura Hamilton email ;
Please support Laura in her challenging role
Penny Rankine-Parsons
The Kennel Club French Bulldog Health Survey 2020
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SUMMARY REPORT OF THE DATA COLLECTED THROUGH THE FRENCH BULLDOG HEALTH SCHEME.
Almost 10 years of data collected from the inception of the scheme to date. |
HEALTH SCHEME SUMMARY
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AN4.2.2019. THE KENNEL CLUB AND UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE LAUNCH VITAL SCHEME TO IMPROVE HEALTH OF PUGS, FRENCH BULLDOGS AND BULLDOGS
The future health of French Bulldogs, Pugs and Bulldogs has taken a huge step forward with the launch of a new health screening scheme. Developed by the University of Cambridge and funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, the new Respiratory Function Grading Scheme assesses dogs for the presence and severity of a breathing problem known as BOAS (Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome).
The scheme is currently available for ANY Pug, French Bulldog and Bulldog, and has the potential to improve the health and welfare of these breeds for generations to come. The scheme provides breeders with a means to know more about the health of their dogs, giving them the information they need to reduce the risk of breeding puppies with BOAS.
The scheme’s launch, which took place at the University of Cambridge, saw presentations from the leading BOAS researchers and vets, and Kennel Club breed and genetics experts, to guests from across the canine health and welfare spectrum including the Breed Health Coordinators for Frenchies, Bulldogs and Pugs. It provided the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the process behind the scheme.
The assessment, which can now be carried out by a number of specially-trained assessors located across the UK, involves listening to the dog’s airway both before and after an exercise tolerance test. Assessors, who are all specially-trained BOAS vets, then use a pre-defined protocol to grade the dog from zero to three. Dogs graded as zero will be free of respiratory signs of BOAS, while dogs graded as three will show severe respiratory signs of BOAS, indicating that further veterinary examination is advised.
The scheme issues guidance that dogs graded three should not be bred from. For Kennel Club registered dogs, these grades will be recorded on the Kennel Club’s database and published in the Breed Records Supplement, on the dog’s registration certificate, and on the Kennel Club Health Test Results Finder and Health webpages.
The BOAS scheme will be supported by guidelines for breeders, which enable them to understand the grade for their dogs in terms of risk when considering potential matings.
Dr Jane Ladlow, MA VetMB CertVR CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS, Royal College and European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery at the University of Cambridge, said: “The way that BOAS is inherited is very complex and so not always entirely predictable. We are researching the genetics of this condition but it is likely to take a few years before we have a viable genetics test. We have realised over the last few years how useful the functional grading scheme is in determining disease severity and it reflects the initial genetic data we have. The scheme is a vital tool to help advise all owners if their dog is affected by BOAS and gives guidance to breeders to lower the risk of producing affected puppies. It also, crucially, facilitates important data collection and enables researchers to monitor the frequency of the condition and progress in the breed affected, which will inform ongoing research, for the overall improvement of relevant breeds. “We look forward to working with the Kennel Club and other collaborative parties dedicated to improving brachycephalic dog health across the board through promoting the scheme and engaging vets, breeders and puppy-buyers to raise awareness and understanding of this complex Syndrome.”
NB The requirements for the BRONZE, SILVER and GOLD Health Certificate has been updated to include this official scheme. You can have the results of this assessment added to your dogs KC Registration document in the same was as the HC and DM results.
The future health of French Bulldogs, Pugs and Bulldogs has taken a huge step forward with the launch of a new health screening scheme. Developed by the University of Cambridge and funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, the new Respiratory Function Grading Scheme assesses dogs for the presence and severity of a breathing problem known as BOAS (Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome).
The scheme is currently available for ANY Pug, French Bulldog and Bulldog, and has the potential to improve the health and welfare of these breeds for generations to come. The scheme provides breeders with a means to know more about the health of their dogs, giving them the information they need to reduce the risk of breeding puppies with BOAS.
The scheme’s launch, which took place at the University of Cambridge, saw presentations from the leading BOAS researchers and vets, and Kennel Club breed and genetics experts, to guests from across the canine health and welfare spectrum including the Breed Health Coordinators for Frenchies, Bulldogs and Pugs. It provided the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the process behind the scheme.
The assessment, which can now be carried out by a number of specially-trained assessors located across the UK, involves listening to the dog’s airway both before and after an exercise tolerance test. Assessors, who are all specially-trained BOAS vets, then use a pre-defined protocol to grade the dog from zero to three. Dogs graded as zero will be free of respiratory signs of BOAS, while dogs graded as three will show severe respiratory signs of BOAS, indicating that further veterinary examination is advised.
The scheme issues guidance that dogs graded three should not be bred from. For Kennel Club registered dogs, these grades will be recorded on the Kennel Club’s database and published in the Breed Records Supplement, on the dog’s registration certificate, and on the Kennel Club Health Test Results Finder and Health webpages.
The BOAS scheme will be supported by guidelines for breeders, which enable them to understand the grade for their dogs in terms of risk when considering potential matings.
Dr Jane Ladlow, MA VetMB CertVR CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS, Royal College and European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery at the University of Cambridge, said: “The way that BOAS is inherited is very complex and so not always entirely predictable. We are researching the genetics of this condition but it is likely to take a few years before we have a viable genetics test. We have realised over the last few years how useful the functional grading scheme is in determining disease severity and it reflects the initial genetic data we have. The scheme is a vital tool to help advise all owners if their dog is affected by BOAS and gives guidance to breeders to lower the risk of producing affected puppies. It also, crucially, facilitates important data collection and enables researchers to monitor the frequency of the condition and progress in the breed affected, which will inform ongoing research, for the overall improvement of relevant breeds. “We look forward to working with the Kennel Club and other collaborative parties dedicated to improving brachycephalic dog health across the board through promoting the scheme and engaging vets, breeders and puppy-buyers to raise awareness and understanding of this complex Syndrome.”
NB The requirements for the BRONZE, SILVER and GOLD Health Certificate has been updated to include this official scheme. You can have the results of this assessment added to your dogs KC Registration document in the same was as the HC and DM results.
Breed Health & Conservation Plans 2020
Breed Health & Conservation Plans 2019
Breed Health & Conservation Plan 2018
26/02/2018
ALL FORMs required for the French Bulldog Health Scheme can be downloaded from
'The How to Participate pages'
ALL FORMs required for the French Bulldog Health Scheme can be downloaded from
'The How to Participate pages'
To read about the important work of the BWG please click on the link below
Brachycephalic Working Group
Kennel Club limits ‘hereditary clear’ status to support eradication of health conditions 4th September 2019
From January 2022, the Kennel Club will limit the assignment of ‘hereditary clear’ status of registered dogs to two generations. This change will be put in place to safeguard against the impact that dogs with an incorrect ‘hereditary clear’ status could have on health issues within a breed.
Following on from a recent Kennel Club study, published in the journal of Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, the decision to restrict hereditary status was made by the Kennel Club Board on the recommendation of the Dog Health Group.
Hereditary clear status is given to dogs that are determined to be free of specific genetic material linked to a particular inherited disease. The Kennel Club’s registration system assigns a dog this status if their parents are known to be clear, either because they have both been DNA tested as clear, or because they are hereditary clear themselves.
Dogs could be mistakenly given a false hereditary clear status for a number of reasons; for example if there has been a failure of laboratory protocols, pedigree errors or incorrectly recorded parentage. In these instances it is unlikely that the inaccuracies would be noticed immediately, but rather that several generations later many dogs throughout the breed descended from the individual with the original incorrect status will also have erroneous hereditary status, and the well-intended mating of two such apparently hereditary clear dogs risks producing affected puppies.
The Kennel Club research analysed the risks faced by a population following the incorrect assignment of hereditary status and determined that the rate of dogs with false hereditary clear status could rise considerably over a fairly small number of generations, particularly for genetic conditions that are more common.
To reduce the knock-on effect of these errors, and the risk of unintentionally breeding affected puppies, the Kennel Club will be ensuring that from January 2022, the ‘hereditary clear status’ will be limited to two generations, unless lineage is verified by DNA parentage profiling recorded by the Kennel Club. DNA parentage profiling is a separate procedure to screening DNA for disease causing mutations, but can often be carried out at the same time by the same laboratory.
Kennel Club Genetics and Research Manager Dr Tom Lewis said: “Kennel Club advice has always been that even apparently ‘clear’ lines should be retested every few generations. This change to hereditary status reinforces that view and ensures that breeders can remain confident that the puppies they produce remain free from disease. DNA tests are helping breeders eradicate health issues in dogs and we want our registration system to maximise the impact these tests are having.”
From January 2022, the Kennel Club will limit the assignment of ‘hereditary clear’ status of registered dogs to two generations. This change will be put in place to safeguard against the impact that dogs with an incorrect ‘hereditary clear’ status could have on health issues within a breed.
Following on from a recent Kennel Club study, published in the journal of Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, the decision to restrict hereditary status was made by the Kennel Club Board on the recommendation of the Dog Health Group.
Hereditary clear status is given to dogs that are determined to be free of specific genetic material linked to a particular inherited disease. The Kennel Club’s registration system assigns a dog this status if their parents are known to be clear, either because they have both been DNA tested as clear, or because they are hereditary clear themselves.
Dogs could be mistakenly given a false hereditary clear status for a number of reasons; for example if there has been a failure of laboratory protocols, pedigree errors or incorrectly recorded parentage. In these instances it is unlikely that the inaccuracies would be noticed immediately, but rather that several generations later many dogs throughout the breed descended from the individual with the original incorrect status will also have erroneous hereditary status, and the well-intended mating of two such apparently hereditary clear dogs risks producing affected puppies.
The Kennel Club research analysed the risks faced by a population following the incorrect assignment of hereditary status and determined that the rate of dogs with false hereditary clear status could rise considerably over a fairly small number of generations, particularly for genetic conditions that are more common.
To reduce the knock-on effect of these errors, and the risk of unintentionally breeding affected puppies, the Kennel Club will be ensuring that from January 2022, the ‘hereditary clear status’ will be limited to two generations, unless lineage is verified by DNA parentage profiling recorded by the Kennel Club. DNA parentage profiling is a separate procedure to screening DNA for disease causing mutations, but can often be carried out at the same time by the same laboratory.
Kennel Club Genetics and Research Manager Dr Tom Lewis said: “Kennel Club advice has always been that even apparently ‘clear’ lines should be retested every few generations. This change to hereditary status reinforces that view and ensures that breeders can remain confident that the puppies they produce remain free from disease. DNA tests are helping breeders eradicate health issues in dogs and we want our registration system to maximise the impact these tests are having.”
April 2017
Very good video about the work being done in the UK for BOAS in Frenchies, Bulldogs and Pugs . Please watch
NEWS on the health front with the BOAS team at Cambridge University having just submitted a paper on conformational issues affecting BOAS and once that has been accepted ,it can be published. Basically it talks about what are the most important external physical features that affect BOAS in the French Bulldog, Bulldog and Pug.
It comes as no surprise that nostrils are important for all three breeds, but also touches on neck to chest girth ratio in Bulldogs, head and eye width as well as obesity for Pugs.
They are studying the crainofacail ratio in Frenchies but so far the links are very tenuous as we expected.
On the DNA front, the genetic research seems to be going well - they are continuing to work through two BOAS affected and two control whole genome sequences from Frenchies to refine the DNA testing markers. They continue to want samples for prevalence studies. Several interesting markers have come up and there is still work to do, but they are hopeful enough to submit a paper by June and once accepted it can also be published .
Jane Ladlow and Nai-cheih are working on diagnostics- respiratory sounds for vets in general practice and hopefully this will help validate the exercise tolerance test - this will also be presented at the ECVS conference this summer. That should be another way to standardise the vets ability in interpretation the respiratory sounds they find during the BOAS part of the Health Scheme.
The BOAS team are sending out a request for more puppies in addition to Belinda Neil's two cuties to follow their development for about 2 years on a monthly basis. If you live within a reasonable distance from Cambridge and are expecting a litter please contact them for further info on how you can help. I believe it only requires a visit once a month to be photographed have measurements taken and a session in the 'box' Belinda says her pups are so relaxed they usually fall asleep. The whole process takes about 30 mins for the pups plus cuddle time from the staff.
Very good video about the work being done in the UK for BOAS in Frenchies, Bulldogs and Pugs . Please watch
NEWS on the health front with the BOAS team at Cambridge University having just submitted a paper on conformational issues affecting BOAS and once that has been accepted ,it can be published. Basically it talks about what are the most important external physical features that affect BOAS in the French Bulldog, Bulldog and Pug.
It comes as no surprise that nostrils are important for all three breeds, but also touches on neck to chest girth ratio in Bulldogs, head and eye width as well as obesity for Pugs.
They are studying the crainofacail ratio in Frenchies but so far the links are very tenuous as we expected.
On the DNA front, the genetic research seems to be going well - they are continuing to work through two BOAS affected and two control whole genome sequences from Frenchies to refine the DNA testing markers. They continue to want samples for prevalence studies. Several interesting markers have come up and there is still work to do, but they are hopeful enough to submit a paper by June and once accepted it can also be published .
Jane Ladlow and Nai-cheih are working on diagnostics- respiratory sounds for vets in general practice and hopefully this will help validate the exercise tolerance test - this will also be presented at the ECVS conference this summer. That should be another way to standardise the vets ability in interpretation the respiratory sounds they find during the BOAS part of the Health Scheme.
The BOAS team are sending out a request for more puppies in addition to Belinda Neil's two cuties to follow their development for about 2 years on a monthly basis. If you live within a reasonable distance from Cambridge and are expecting a litter please contact them for further info on how you can help. I believe it only requires a visit once a month to be photographed have measurements taken and a session in the 'box' Belinda says her pups are so relaxed they usually fall asleep. The whole process takes about 30 mins for the pups plus cuddle time from the staff.
New DNA Testing Scheme For French Bulldogs 22 July 2016
The Kennel Club has approved a new official DNA testing scheme for Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) in the French Bulldog, following consultation with the Health Co-ordinator for the breed on behalf of the breed clubs.
To find out which laboratories the Kennel Club is able to record results from, and which labs will send results direct to the Kennel Club, please refer to the worldwide DNA testing list here.
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “The French Bulldog has seen an astronomical increase in its popularity in recent years so it is extremely important that breeders are utilising available DNA tests in order to make responsible breeding decisions to further improve the health of this lovely breed.
“We constantly review DNA testing schemes in conjunction with breed clubs to ensure that breeders are supported with tools and resources which help them to breed healthy dogs, and to help give puppy buyers the best chance of finding a healthy puppy.
“The Kennel Club continues to work alongside clubs and breed health coordinators, in a collaborative effort to improve the health of pedigree dogs and we are happy to accommodate a club's request to add a new DNA test to its lists. We would normally need a formal request from the breed's health coordinator or a majority request from the breed clubs.”
Test results will be added to the dog’s registration details which will trigger the publication of the result in the next available Breed Records Supplement. The result will appear on any new registration certificate issued for the dog and on the registration certificates of any future progeny of the dog, and also on the Health Test Results Finder on the Kennel Club website. Results for dogs already tested can also be recorded, but owners will need to submit copies of the DNA certificates themselves.
If the owner includes the original registration certificate for the dog (not a copy) then a new registration certificate will be issued, with the DNA result on it, free of charge. DNA test certificates should be sent to Health & Breeder Services, The Kennel Club, Clarges Street, London, W1J 8AB or scanned and emailed to .
The Kennel Club has approved a new official DNA testing scheme for Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) in the French Bulldog, following consultation with the Health Co-ordinator for the breed on behalf of the breed clubs.
To find out which laboratories the Kennel Club is able to record results from, and which labs will send results direct to the Kennel Club, please refer to the worldwide DNA testing list here.
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “The French Bulldog has seen an astronomical increase in its popularity in recent years so it is extremely important that breeders are utilising available DNA tests in order to make responsible breeding decisions to further improve the health of this lovely breed.
“We constantly review DNA testing schemes in conjunction with breed clubs to ensure that breeders are supported with tools and resources which help them to breed healthy dogs, and to help give puppy buyers the best chance of finding a healthy puppy.
“The Kennel Club continues to work alongside clubs and breed health coordinators, in a collaborative effort to improve the health of pedigree dogs and we are happy to accommodate a club's request to add a new DNA test to its lists. We would normally need a formal request from the breed's health coordinator or a majority request from the breed clubs.”
Test results will be added to the dog’s registration details which will trigger the publication of the result in the next available Breed Records Supplement. The result will appear on any new registration certificate issued for the dog and on the registration certificates of any future progeny of the dog, and also on the Health Test Results Finder on the Kennel Club website. Results for dogs already tested can also be recorded, but owners will need to submit copies of the DNA certificates themselves.
If the owner includes the original registration certificate for the dog (not a copy) then a new registration certificate will be issued, with the DNA result on it, free of charge. DNA test certificates should be sent to Health & Breeder Services, The Kennel Club, Clarges Street, London, W1J 8AB or scanned and emailed to .
NEWS :
Recent paper published about BOAS research read http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.13933/epdf
First paper published about the BOAS research we have been involved with, click below to read.
'Characterisation of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome in French Bulldogs Using Whole-Body Barometric Plethysmograp
Recent paper published about BOAS research read http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.13933/epdf
First paper published about the BOAS research we have been involved with, click below to read.
'Characterisation of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome in French Bulldogs Using Whole-Body Barometric Plethysmograp
**French Bulldog Breed Population Details 2015
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/vets-researchers/publications-statistics-and-health-results/breed-population-analyses/
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/vets-researchers/publications-statistics-and-health-results/breed-population-analyses/
**Click here to read the latest news from the Karlton Index
**Breed Health Report 2013/2014 10/9/14
**The Kennel Club Health Report for 2013 is now available and Frenchies are featured , do take a look
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/
media/455665/dog_health_report_2013_web.pdf
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/
media/455665/dog_health_report_2013_web.pdf