Breathing surgery, back rest, a first-time buyer about to sign a check, and a dog who survived two and a half years alone in the Connecticut woods — today we're doing the full welfare check. This one's from Nautilus:
Geneticists from the Royal Kennel Club studying BOAS scored bulldogs, French bulldogs, and pugs on traits associated with BOAS like respiratory function, nostril size, and body weight, and estimated their heritability, or how much of the variation is due to genetic factors. They found that 21 to 49 percent of respiratory function was heritable and 31 to 39 percent of nostril size was heritable.
A PLOS One study out this week from Royal Kennel Club geneticists makes a pretty concrete case that selective breeding could actually reduce BOAS severity in bulldogs, French bulldogs, and pugs. They scored dogs on airway traits and found a real genetic signal to work with. Okay, but 'brachycephalic crisis' is now the official scientific term for the fact that awareness of how much these dogs struggle to breathe went up and popularity went up at the same time. Which, honestly, tracks with every Frenchie owner I know, including me. The Frenchie passed the Lab in 2022 after more than thirty years at the top, so the timing here matters. If breed clubs and registries don't build BOAS scoring into standards now, at peak popularity, that window closes. Over on r/Frenchbulldogs (92 upvotes):
Top 2 photos are 6 months ago—from the day I brought her home Bottom photos are recent—last couple of days with her My senior cat passed end of October. A week later, I went to the local pound & walked around, & I saw this absolute sweetheart of a dog. She came into the pound as a 'stray' unspayed with C section stitches still in & lactating still just a week before, the AM after my cat passed...they said she was 5 yrs old. I adopted her & brought her home to my husband's surprise, I never had…
And she almost certainly has BOAS — she's a recent mom, she's five, and we don't know her breeding history. That's exactly the dog this RKC research needs to reach someday, through better screening before she ever ends up in a pound. From r/Frenchbulldogs (30 upvotes):
Yes. So my female frenchie is actually the worst. Her resource guarding is so bad (and she’s an only dog so she never learned to share) ahe gets jealous if I pet another dog at the park and has growled at other dogs who approach me. She does not care about me — she’s guarding her ape that brings food🥳 Edit: she never could eat around other dogs, even as a puppy and I’d leave her at the dog sitters. When I came back, they’d tell me she’s growl at any dog eating in her presence. To this day, I…
She's not guarding *you* — she's guarding her 'ape that brings food' — which is the most honest description of the Frenchie-human dynamic I've ever heard. I'm putting that on a shirt. This one's from r/Frenchbulldogs (211 pts, 65 comments):
My dog has been diagnosed with IVDD last night when I took him to the ER and is now put on a strict crate rest for 6 weeks and I’m wondering if his crate is to small for him even though he can turn around in it, but he’s a pretty big frenchie and weighs 38 pounds.
A 38-pound Frenchie on six weeks of strict crate rest after an IVDD diagnosis — that's a genuinely scary overnight ER situation, and the crate-size question is the right instinct. Most veterinary rehab specialists want the dog able to stand, turn around, and lie flat, and that's it. No pacing, no jumping, no extra room to launch themselves around. Six weeks. I need everyone to really sit with that number. My dog lost his mind after four days of reduced activity for a minor paw thing. Six weeks of strict crate rest on a Frenchie that size is a full household overhaul — temperature control, carrying them outside, no stairs. Here's one from r/Frenchbulldogs (11 upvotes):
Regular vets aren't really knowledgeable in IVDD nuances. You should seek out a neurologist ASAP who will most likely have an MRI done to make a specific diagnosis. I would ask you vet for the meds and crate your pup until then.
This is exactly right, and I'm glad it's the top comment. An ER vet stabilizes the dog and sends you home with prednisone; a veterinary neurologist is the one who tells you whether this is a Grade 1 you can manage conservatively or something that needs surgery. And you cannot know that without an MRI. And yes, keep the crate rest going while you wait for that neurology appointment. Do not let the dog 'seem fine' talk you into skipping it. 'Seems fine' is how IVDD reinjuries happen. From r/Frenchbulldogs (233 pts, 95 comments):
I know fluffy and lilac is rare. So I’m questioning if the price makes sense, or if this specific dog was bred for appearance and isn’t healthy. They said they use to test them, but everyone started preferring price vs. health history. So the parents for her are not tested they said.
The line that stopped me: the breeder told this person they used to do health testing, then dropped it because buyers kept choosing price over paperwork. That's not a market excuse — that's a breeder telling you exactly where their priorities landed. The questions this person needs to bring in person are pretty simple: ask for the OFA, or equivalent cardiac and spine screening, on both parents. Ask specifically about BOAS grading. And ask why the shift away from testing happened on *this* litter, instead of accepting 'the market made me do it' as a blanket answer. This one's from r/Frenchbulldogs (391 pts, 36 comments):
But then out of nowhere, Piper will suddenly get very stiff, pin her ears back, stare at Kylo, and they’ll go after each other. Some fights have drawn blood. The scary part is that sometimes it’s clearly resource guarding related, but other times it feels completely random.
This one's from Reddit — a household with Piper, who's one, and Kylo, who's five, where the aggression started right after Piper's heat cycle before she was spayed. The owners have done a lot right: separate feeding, no high-value chews, close supervision. And they're still seeing fights that draw blood every day or two. The detail that gets me is Kylo — five years old, totally non-confrontational, just lets Piper take everything — and he's still getting into bloody fights. That's not a dominance situation you can train your way around with management alone. At that frequency, you need a certified applied animal behaviorist in the room, not just Reddit. The hormonal trigger is real and documented — aggression that ramps up around a heat cycle can stick around well past the spay if it's already been rehearsed. The fact that some fights now feel 'random' to the owners suggests the dog may have generalized beyond resource guarding into something more like redirected arousal, which is a harder problem. AOL writes:
After a four-hour round trip to Athens, Ohio, to pick up the newest member of their furry family, the Davis family in Bridgeport had their new dog, “Pepper,” run off into the woods when she was taken outside for the very first time. From there, it was a very long journey back home, but it was surely worth the 2.5-year wait.
A French Bulldog — a breed that pants through a 70-degree afternoon and can't swim a lap — just spent two and a half years feral in the West Virginia woods near Bridgeport. Pepper bolted from the Davis family on September 13th, 2023, the first time she was taken outside after a four-hour drive from Athens, Ohio. Four hours in a car and she immediately said, 'actually, no.' I respect it. But also — two and a half years? My Frenchie can't survive twenty minutes without the AC kicking on. And she stayed geographically disciplined about it. Neighbors kept tracking her through Crystal Ridge, Heritage Farm, and Maple Lake, and she apparently held the line at Route 50. That's not random wandering — that's a dog who figured out a territory. The part that got me is that she eventually built a routine around a local cat colony. Pepper found her people — they just happened to be cats. If French Bulldog Weekly is part of your Saturday routine, consider subscribing and leaving a quick review wherever you're listening. It really helps other Frenchie lovers find the show.
If something in today's episode has you curious, we've put links to every story in the show notes so you can dig in a little further. Thanks for spending part of your Saturday with us. That's French Bulldog Weekly for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.