New research from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has found that some popular flat-faced dog breeds, including the English Bulldog, French Bulldog and Pug, are at the highest risk of skin fold dermatitis – a painful skin condition.
The study highlights that although folded skin on dogs may seem ‘cute’ to many humans, it can have high health and welfare implications for affected breeds.
Skin fold dermatitis is caused by friction, excessive moisture and lack of ventilation deep in folds of skin. It ranges from reddened to infected and ulcerated skin that has a bad smell and often results in pain throughout a dog’s life. The impact of the condition on canine welfare has risen over the past decade due to dramatically rising worldwide popularity of some flat-faced dog breeds (which often exhibit deep facial folds). Other factors such as obesity and chronic skin disease can also predispose to skin fold dermatitis.
The study, by the RVC’s VetCompass Programme, included more than 900,000 dogs from the general pet dog population under veterinary care in the UK. Anonymised veterinary clinical records were searched for diagnoses of skin fold dermatitis within a single year. The results showed that a formal diagnosis of skin fold dermatitis was recorded in one in 300 of all dogs each year (0.37% of dogs diagnosed annually). However, certain breeds showed much higher levels of the condition.
The study found that the breeds with the highest proportion of skin fold dermatitis diagnoses each year were English Bulldog (6.1%); French Bulldog (2.7%) and Pug (2.1%). Overall, 1.0% of all flat-faced (brachycephalic) dogs were affected compared to just 0.3% of dogs with the typical medium-length skull. Breeds that typically show pronounced skin folds on the face or body were between 11-49 times more likely to suffer from the condition than crossbreed dogs. Purebred dogs had an increased risk (x2.5) of skin fold dermatitis compared to crossbred dogs.
The most common locations on the dog’s body for skin fold dermatitis were the lip (36.8%); facial folds (22.0%); vulva (14.2%); nasal fold (9%); tail (5.8%) and periocular fold (surrounding the eyeball) (3.5%); and the most common clinical signs recorded were reddened skin (34.2%), inflammation (24.2%), moistness (20.6%), malodour (18.6%) and pain (18.0%).
Additional key findings include:
- The breeds with the highest percentage of dogs affected with skin fold dermatitis were English Bulldog (6.1%), French Bulldog (2.7%), Pug (2.1%), Basset Hound (2.0%), Cocker Spaniel (1.3%), Shar-Pei (0.9%), Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (0.9%) and Boxer (0.9%).
- The breeds with the highest predisposition (compared to cross bred dogs) for skin fold dermatitis were English Bulldog (x49.1 times risk), French Bulldog (x25.9), Pug (x16.3), Basset Hound (x10.7), Cocker Spaniel (x7.5), Shar Pei (x6.4), Boxer (x4.6) and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (x4.5).
- The most protected breeds that had at least one case of skin fold dermatitis were Yorkshire Terrier (x0.1), Border Collie (x0.3) Jack Russell Terrier (x0.5) and Labrador Retriever (0.6).
- The three breeds with extreme flat faces (brachycephaly) (English Bulldog, French Bulldog and Pug) showed high levels of facial, nasal, and periocular locations. In contrast, the lips were the dominant location in the spaniel breeds (Cocker Spaniel and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) and the West Highland White Terrier.
- The risk of diagnosis with skin fold dermatitis rose as dogs aged.
- Pain was recorded in nearly one in five dogs that had a record of clinical signs of skin fold dermatitis.
Dr Dan O’Neill, lead author of the paper and Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC said: “As humans, we hold the power to ensure that every pet dog starts life with good natural health. When choosing which dog to own, this means selecting a breed that does not have extreme conformations such as folded skin which can lead to a lifetime of painful skin infections.
“This study adds to the growing evidence of the substantial harms that extreme body shapes can have on our dog’s health and will hopefully encourage prospective owners to ‘stop and think’ about avoiding extreme body shapes before choosing which breed to purchase.”
Dr Anke Hendricks, co-author and Associate Professor in Veterinary Dermatology at the RVC, said: “Skin fold dermatitis is a common problem in dogs with skin folds or pockets. It is not always easy to spot where folds are deep, nor is it necessarily recorded in the health records, and as such this study is likely to underestimate the problem. Prevention or treatment of infection requires very frequent skin care or medication throughout a dog’s life and adds a considerable care burden and cost to living with an affected dog.”
Bill Lambert, Health, Welfare and Breeder Services Executive at The Kennel Club, said: “Skin fold dermatitis is a serious condition and although this research, funded in part by The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, found that only 0.37% of dogs, and 1% of flat-faced dogs, were affected, it’s likely that some owners don’t recognise the signs to look out for and may not seek treatment. This is an important reminder that owners of dogs with wrinkles should be aware of the potential problems and know how to avoid them – by cleaning their dog’s skin folds daily, ensuring they’re kept dry and making sure their dog is not overweight. It is also vital that people make informed puppy buying choices and avoid those dogs that are bred for extreme wrinkles – which are far removed from what’s described in breed standards – and instead ‘stop and think’, and find a responsible breeder, who has their dogs' welfare at heart.”
Dr Laura Hamilton, veterinary surgeon and Breed Health Coordinator UK French Bulldog Clubs, said:
“The French Bulldog Clubs and all those who care about these dogs, agree extreme exaggerations - like excessive skin folds - must be avoided, and are disappointed in the recent trend of rogue breeders producing increasingly extreme brachycephalic dogs, like Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, and Pugs, for profit."
