People are being warned not to buy pugs as pets due to the high rate of health issues associated with the breed.
New research from the Royal Veterinary College shows that pugs are almost twice as likely to experience one or more disorders annually compared with other dogs.
Experts now say that the pug can no longer be considered a typical dog from a health perspective and should not be bought as a pet until their health improves and their body shape shifts to being less extreme.
Dr Dan O’Neill, associate professor in companion animal epidemiology at the RVC and lead author of the paper, said: “Although hugely popular as pets, we now know that several severe health issues are linked to the extreme body shape of pugs that many humans find so cute.
“It is time now that we focus on the health of the dog rather than the whims of the owner when we are choosing what type of dog to own.”
Pugs are popular pets and between 2005 and 2017 there was a five-fold increase in Kennel Club registrations for the breed.
But they face health issues stemming from their flat face, bulging eyes, wrinkled skin, and tendency towards obesity.
The Royal Veterinary College’s study compared the health of random samples of 4,308 pugs and 21,835 other breeds.
Pugs were 1.9 times as likely to have one or more disorders in a single year compared to non-pugs, with a higher risk of 23 out of the 40 most common disorders compared with a lower risk of only seven of the 40 disorders.
The research is published in Canine Medicine and Genetics.
