Horace, he was born here some 15 years ago, he was a gorgeous pup and I had him sold to a lady in Sydney from a very young age, as he grew I noticed he often moved differently to the other pups, it became increasingly noticeable, to such an extent that I had him xrayed. 
He has so many hemi vertebrae and his spine was twisted which caused his  crablike movements .
The Sydney buyer was informed and chose a different pup, another lady took him at a very reduced cost, understanding that he may become crippled at any time.
He went to live on a farm, was never babied, he ran, he played as he pleased, he jumped on or off things, he never did become crippled and is still a fit old dog at 15 years of age.
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A lot can now be done to prevent dogs having spines likely to cripple them, and we are doing it although Horace is proof that dogs can live long, normal lives with imperfect spines, some are not so lucky, and genes which contribute to these imperfections need to be bred away from, we are doing that.

Those genes, DVL2 are linked to short backs, screw tails and short muzzles, they are fixed in most Brachy breeds and although they often do not affect the dogs, when they do, it can be devastating, painful and/or fatal.  All the yearly tests, the x rays, and ballyhoo the more extreme breeders do will not help in the long run, the gene pools are getting too narrow to keep weeding out all but  the fittest of dogs left, dogs are being crippled by breeding toward more exaggerated standards.
Widen the gene pool, and or breed less exaggerated dogs and you will see fewer faults with or without the gene.

Get rid of the gene and you will see fewer faults again, but you will have long tails. 
​If you look through the files on a very good Australian based site about the health of  Brachys you will see why I take the approach I do.
 www.melbournebulldogclinic.com.au

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The study below also mentions heart defects and if you Google,  the main cause of death in older Bostons is said to be heart defects.

This DVL2  gene is NOT harmless to them as is claimed by some breeders.

 Click this Link below to a study on the DVL2 gene, Google and you will find more
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​pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33599851/#:~:text=A%20frameshift%20deletion%20variant%20in,French%20Bulldogs%20and%20Boston%20Terriers.

Fungus is a cross, clear of DVL2 her daughter in the pink vest will carry only one copy, this means she will never be affected as two copy dogs can be, and we look forward to eventually having more like her.  Dogs with only one copy of DVL2  are never affected by it.

 We went from Trusty and Judge to no muzzle and no tail, I doubt the early breeders who encouraged this knew to start with that they were fixing a potentially crippling gene in the breed.

We know now and have done for a long time yet the so called preservation breeders are still preserving a trait that causes breathing problems, potentially crippling spinal problems, late onset heart disease, and maybe even some cancers although that is only suspected by geneticists not proven, yet.

The all hallowed standard calls for dogs who carry two copies of DVL2 and thats that as far as breed clubs and registering bodies are concerned.

They do try to offset the risk by doing a lot of health testing, as the  closed gene pool continues to shrink, faults will still become more common no matter what they do. 

There has to be a huge shift in breeding practices to broaden gene pools and help eliminate familial faults in many breeds. 

The two worst faults a Brachycephalic ( short muzzled ) dog can have are spinal problems and BOAS (Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome ) 

Any breed of dog can be born with a deformed spine, however  it is now realised that when you combine cobby backs, screw tails and next to no muzzle, you eventually fix a gene that is linked to these features,  in a breed, as has been done with Bostons and Frenchies for two, other genes are thought to stop it from always presenting at its worst, as not all dogs become crippled from their deformities. 

The best we can do with purebreds is select studs less likely to be affected by keeping away from extreme examples of the breed, even though they will still carry the DVL2 gene, it is less likely to be expressed than in the more extreme dogs.

​Breed clubs are doing nothing to eliminate the gene as one breeder said to me via a forum, " It's been there for many years doesn't affect many dogs " 

With outcrossing to unaffected breeds, and you need to outcross to more than one breed, its possible to eventually eliminate this gene, we have taken many generations to get to where very few, if any of our dogs are affected by it, and as we test cross sections of them we are finding dogs with only one copy instead of the usual two copies, so far we have only found one clear dog, Fungus, or Gussy as we call her, or sometimes Tiny Dancer.

When we get to having all with no more than one copy of the gene  we will no long see any pup affected by the gene, the incidence of BOAS or spinal deformities linked to the gene will never be seen because to be affected by the DVL2 gene, they must carry two copies to ever be affected by it. ( Problems that any breed of dog may encounter will still be possible )

If you want to see all the defects that DVL2 can cause Google Robinow syndrome.

 It is possible to have a shorter muzzle and still be able to breathe, or vice versa,  however the shorter that muzzle is, the more chance of serious  problems, the one we often see, stenotic nares, or narrow nostrils is just part of what can and does stop the dogs from breathing, if a dog cant exercise, playing and running for 25 minutes in coolish weather without gasping, rasping and choking, if its tongue turns a deep purple colour and its breathing is noisy, thats NOT normal panting, thats BOAS.

 All of ours, purebred or Toybulldog, can run vigorously for longer than the suggested  BAHA test says they should be able to, and in hotter weather.  

I'll put a link to a good website  and just  Google, I'm sure you'll find plenty more, then all you need to is look for breeders who are actively trying to eliminate at least the more crippling aspects of the syndrome. melbournebulldogclinic.com.au
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​Cherry eye : 
This is still a common one, its entirely fixable and costs will vary from a few hundred dollars up when surgery is needed, its caused by a prolapse of a gland in the  inner corner of the eye, you can often massage it back in, so Google that, there are several  U tube videos showing you how to do this, you may need to do this often or only once, its always worth a shot before choosing surgery, also if its not bothering the dog wait a while before surgery to see if the other eye is going to pop too.
melbournebulldogclinic.com.au
It will usually stop prolapsing as the pup matures so if you can massage it back in, keep doing so.
​ Always try drops  that reduce swelling along with massage before agreeing to surgery.

With screw tailed dogs the tail can be ingrown, they can become infected, some need surgery, most of ours don't as most have moveable tails, its only a very odd one who doesn't.

Bone problems with legs, when breeds are bred to be of different proportions to the average canine, ( such as you would see in the wild ) something usually has to give,  Bostons are related to Bulldogs, so will occasionally have bones in their legs grow at different rates, or one bone will stay shorter than it should, causing feet to turn out, if its really severe the dog may need surgery.

Personally I would not consider this unless it was very, very bad, I know quite a few little dogs like Dachshunds who have very crooked legs yet are not considered candidates for surgery,  and I have known them to be quite active and untroubled by their legs into very old age, other breeds messed with by man can be seen to be like this also, and because its part of what man has done to them, its considered normal, it's not of course, but the dogs do not generally seem bothered by it. So unless it's really extreme and bothering the dog, I'd leave it alone, or just put a brace on while growing.

Spines often have what are called Hemi Vertebrae, that is, ill formed vertebrae, some have hardly any, some are horrendous,  vertebrae can be fused or dogs can be born with varying degrees of spina bifida. At this time almost ALL dogs have some degree of hemi vertebrae, once DVL2 is eliminated the occurrence of spinal deformities will be far fewer as many are linked to DVL2.

Deaf dogs are also in the breed, born to go deaf, they may hear for a short time, but are usually noticeably deaf by 6 to 8 weeks of age. All pups are born blind and deaf, eyes open at around ten days of age and ears open in the first weeks.

We seldom see deaf pups, when we do they go to special homes.

Parents can be checked using a special device to ensure hearing in both ears is normal, but not where we live, so we do not travel for this as even if parents are normal pups can still be deaf, it takes no special test to pick a deaf pup. 

Dogs with screwed, fixed tails can sometimes need surgery if tail become infected or if too ingrown.

Many have sensitive skin, this I feel is exacerbated by environment, living mostly indoors they get exposed to what is a pretty unnatural environment for a dog, and they are also then not used to grass and pollens, if you notice a rash on your dog after walking and playing on grass, you can nearly bet he's sensitive to that grass, food can often be partly to blame, I would try a bland natural diet, fresh human grade meat  and veg, and absolutely nothing that may have preservatives in it.

Using an Ivermectin based pour on will make a huge difference to most skin problems, some dogs can be sensitive to Ivermectin, it is genetic and a simple DNA test can be done to check on this, I have not had a Boston test positive for this gene yet, and we use Ivermectin a lot. 

 Some dogs suffer from Slipping Patella this can be mild and never really bother them or severe enough to need surgery, no breed is exempt from this and it can be passed on in a line or be caused by inappropriate exercise such as too many fetch type games that call for fast turns and stops which put too much pressure on joints, racing up and down fences endlessly can also cause problems.

Bad hearts can occur as in any breed, and some may be linked to the DVL2 gene, we see very few of these.

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​These photos show two bad dogs below, their Nostrils ( Nares ) are very bad and it is not uncommon to see dogs like this even in the show ring, they should be thrown out, they seldom, if ever are. 

Tease our home bred, lovey old girl, good nares showing that we are achieving better than average results, the very few pups from us who do need surgery almost always only need the nares done not the whole five procedures often advised as needed.
Tease has nice eyes, and an a lovely temperament.   

Jax, you can darn near look up to his brain, beautiful open Nares, most red dogs are like this, yet it is an undesirable colour and cannot be put on an open register with the ANKC ! 

The ANKC will not register some breeds unless they actually see the dog, so they know if it's the right colour.
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No matter if they cannot take a decent breath, as long as the colour is correct. 

Image below is taken off the net to show just where we do NOT want to go, muzzle too short, nares terrible.