I’m sure most people are familiar with the common breeds of dogs. Pugs, french bulldogs, great danes and chihuahuas. Though some people would find the characteristics of these breeds and the sport behind the breeding of them to be “cute,” ethically it is not. 

Let’s start with the well known pug. This is by far the worst designed dog that has ever been bred by the sick mind of a human being. Dogs, as we know, are thought to have been domesticated in Siberia roughly 23,000 years ago. They are thought to have been descended from an ancestor of the gray wolf in the late Pleistocene. They are the only animal to be domesticated by humans,which is how they have become the animal that is most commonly put in dresses and sweaters.

What was once a fearsome animal that hunted in packs, allowing them to take down animals much longer than them. Now this same animal is being taken to the vet because they won’t stop dragging their butt on the rug. 

They were wolves that learned to coexist with humans during the harsh climate of the last facial maximum. They were strong, and large like today’s wolves, and they learned to be peaceful with humans to gain food in exchange for protection and companionship. Little did they know the mistake they had made. 

A pug looks nothing like their early ancestors. The long snout of a wolf that is characteristic of the head shape of wolves and other dogs, is nonexistent on a pug. A pug’s nose and mouth looks like it’s been chasing parked cars. A pug’s face is fundamentally wrong when it comes to both style and function. A dog’s face has evolved in a way that makes them virtually unable to get the sinus problems like us short faced humans. The length of their nasal cavities allow them to have their mucus drain to the back of their throat. Having a dog with a short face goes against this entire function. 

Being around a pug means hearing the constant struggles for oxygen they have because of the fact that some human decided that a dog should have an almost unusable face (which is so squished they have higher rates of disorders than in any other breed). If I got a dog, I would want it to look like a dog, a pug looks like a dog that is unfinished. Like they were 75% of the way of making a dog, got to the face, and dropped it but the deadline was so close they turned it in without fixing it. 

A dog with all the face problems of a pug but gives birth like a bowling ball going through a funnel, is the french bulldog. Because for some reason people like dogs with big upper bodies, both the french bulldog and regular bulldogs have hip dysplasia. Their head to pelvis ratio is so out of whack they often need cesarean sections to give birth without killing the mother or the puppies. Their super squished faces also put them at higher risk for heat stroke since they  are unable to get enough oxygen into their lungs. 

The whole reason dog breeding has become more focused on aesthetics rather than functions is due to the fact that it became a sport. Dog shows have these displays of different “purebred” dogs. People buy into the idea that certain traits in a breed are ¨cute¨ but they don’t take into consideration the horrible genetic conditions these animals have because of inbreeding. 

Whenever you see a dog that an owner brags about is a purebred, remember how it got to that point and what it means for that dog. Furthermore, if you are interested in getting  dog of your own, think about the problems that these dogs face and get a mutt instead of a french bulldog or a teacup dog. Stopping the demand for these breeds, makes them be bred less and less, helps the health of dogs everywhere.