Kennel clubs have lost control, dogs are suffering, and here’s what needs to happen according to the authors of the research.
By Zazie Todd, PhD
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When most people get a puppy, they spend a long time thinking about breed. Hopefully they ask the breeder about health checks and insist on seeing the puppy with the mom, two steps that help to ensure the puppy will have better outcomes as an adult dog. But the whole dog breeding situation is a big hot mess, according to scientists, and something needs to be done.
The study, titled A New Future for Dog Breeding, is published in Animal Welfare and is by an international team of scientists from Denmark, Canada, the UK, and the US (Proschowsky et al 2025). It argues that we need to reduce inbreeding in pedigree and designer dogs in order to improve their welfare.
Dogs have lived alongside us since evolving from an ancestor of the modern wolf sometime between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago. But most dog breeds were developed during Victorian times. With the invention of the dog fancy, breeds began to have a written description of their appearance and purebred dogs had to be bred from dogs on the breed registry. In 1873, the Kennel Club was founded in the UK, and in the following years, other countries created their own kennel clubs.
Over time, breed standards have resulted in a lack of genetic diversity within breeds. As a result, some breeds have a tendency towards serious health issues. Perhaps the most obvious of these are the brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds such as the French Bulldog where, over time, the face has got flatter and flatter, which means some of these dogs struggle to breathe. (To learn more about brachycephaly and health issues, check out the episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation in which Kristi and I chat with Dr. Dan O’Neill (one of the co-authors of this paper) and Dr. Rowena Packer).
The scientists list three main problems with dog breeding today.
Inbreeding: Breeding from a limited population reduces genetic variability, and for dogs this was already reduced by the time that stud books were closed by the kennel clubs. Only some dogs from each generation get to breed, and some of those dogs are bred many times, which also increases inbreeding. In turn, this can increase inherited disease.
Extreme looks: Breeding for extreme looks moves dogs away from what the predecessors of the modern dog looked like to a range of specific types of appearance. Within breeds, following the breed standard can lead to more extreme looks over time, for example as the faces of brachycephalic breeds get even flatter. In turn, this can cause health issues such as brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS).
Inadequate health screening: It’s possible to screen for some inherited diseases and then decide not to breed dogs who have the genes for those disorders. For example, screening is used to reduce the incidence of hip and elbow dysplasia, cataract, and dilated cardiomyopathy in some breeds. But the paper says that some kennel clubs do a better job than others of maintaining this kind of requirement—and of course, dogs that do not have kennel club papers do not benefit from this protection.
If getting a dog from a breeder, you should always ask what health checks have been done (look out for me discussing this with Kerry Nichols, author of Puppy Brain, in an upcoming episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation).
In a word, no. You can find many wonderful family pets in shelter and rescue. But the scientists say that even if most people wanted to adopt a dog rather than buy one from a breeder, there wouldn’t be enough dogs to go around. While the number of dogs in rescue varies greatly from country to country, they give the example of Denmark. Each year, 2,000 dogs are surrendered to shelters and rescue in Denmark. And every year, Danes acquire 60,000 new dogs. So the numbers simply don’t add up.
There are some great examples of breed clubs opening their books to allow outcrossing with other breeds in order to improve genetic diversity. One example is the Danish Kennel Club, which opened the breed books for the English Bulldog, French Bulldog, and Pug. Another example is the Finnish Kennel Club, which has opened the books for several breeds including the Jack Russell Terrier.
However, the scientists say it’s not enough. Even within breeds where working and show lines have developed, there is little mixing between those lines. In other cases, dogs that were previously bred to work are now bred instead for their appearance, such as the German Shepherd.
In most countries, general animal welfare laws apply to breeding. In some cases, these rules are being tightened up to help improve breeding. For example, the Netherlands does not allow the breeding of dogs in ways that are bad for their welfare. Breeders of flat-faced breeds have to take a measure of how flat a dog’s face is; at certain levels, breeding is not allowed.
But the authors of the report say that the proportion of dogs who have a pedigree has gone down significantly. Again, they use the example of Denmark, where only 32% of dogs have a pedigree. Which brings us to designer dogs and mixed breeds…
The Labradoodle was the first “designer” dog, born from a cross between a Labrador and a Poodle. The Australian Labradoodle includes some other breeds in the lineage, too. Nowadays, there are other designer dogs like Cavapoos, Cockapoos, and Puggles. The first generation come from a cross between two pedigree dogs. Mixed breed dogs can be crosses between any kind of dog.
The scientists say that sometimes designer dogs inherit diseases from the parent dogs, and sometimes they don’t. For example, they would expect Puggles (Pug x Beagle) to have longer snouts than Pugs, and hence a reduced likelihood of BOAS (though they note that this has not been tested). On the other hand, Labradoodles are significantly more likely than either Labradors or Poodles to have an eye condition called multifocal retinal dysplasia, but they have the same likelihood of cataracts.
Mixed breeds are generally regarded as healthier, but the report says it’s complicated, especially given that each pedigree you compare to will have their own level of a particular disease. (For example, one study found that mixed breeds actually have a slightly shorter lifespan than pedigrees).
And one thing that applies to both designer dogs and mixed breeds is that there is no one insisting on health checks. However, some designer dogs may ultimately become accepted breeds.
It’s to be hoped that the future of dog breeding will involve a lot more thought for animal welfare. The answer is not to stop breeding pedigree dogs or to insist that all dogs are adopted, according to the study. In fact the paper does a good job of showing just how complicated the genetic situation is.
Some of the examples given in the paper, of breed clubs opening their books and making changes to reduce the frequency of genetic issues, point the way forward. The scientists also say that the showing and breeding of dogs needs to change its focus “to promote health and appropriate behaviour.”
In other words, we need to breed for healthy dogs, in terms of both physical and mental health.
Reference
Proschowsky, H. F., Arendt, M. L., Bonnett, B. N., Bruun, C. S., Czycholl, I., Fredholm, M., O’Neill, D., Serpell, J.A., & Sandøe, P. (2025). A new future for dog breeding. Animal Welfare, 34, e1. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2024.66
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Photo: 0tsphoto/Shutterstock |
By Zazie Todd, PhD
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at not cost to you.
When most people get a puppy, they spend a long time thinking about breed. Hopefully they ask the breeder about health checks and insist on seeing the puppy with the mom, two steps that help to ensure the puppy will have better outcomes as an adult dog. But the whole dog breeding situation is a big hot mess, according to scientists, and something needs to be done.
The study, titled A New Future for Dog Breeding, is published in Animal Welfare and is by an international team of scientists from Denmark, Canada, the UK, and the US (Proschowsky et al 2025). It argues that we need to reduce inbreeding in pedigree and designer dogs in order to improve their welfare.
Dogs have lived alongside us since evolving from an ancestor of the modern wolf sometime between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago. But most dog breeds were developed during Victorian times. With the invention of the dog fancy, breeds began to have a written description of their appearance and purebred dogs had to be bred from dogs on the breed registry. In 1873, the Kennel Club was founded in the UK, and in the following years, other countries created their own kennel clubs.
Over time, breed standards have resulted in a lack of genetic diversity within breeds. As a result, some breeds have a tendency towards serious health issues. Perhaps the most obvious of these are the brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds such as the French Bulldog where, over time, the face has got flatter and flatter, which means some of these dogs struggle to breathe. (To learn more about brachycephaly and health issues, check out the episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation in which Kristi and I chat with Dr. Dan O’Neill (one of the co-authors of this paper) and Dr. Rowena Packer).
Current problems with dog breeding
The scientists list three main problems with dog breeding today.
Inbreeding: Breeding from a limited population reduces genetic variability, and for dogs this was already reduced by the time that stud books were closed by the kennel clubs. Only some dogs from each generation get to breed, and some of those dogs are bred many times, which also increases inbreeding. In turn, this can increase inherited disease.
Extreme looks: Breeding for extreme looks moves dogs away from what the predecessors of the modern dog looked like to a range of specific types of appearance. Within breeds, following the breed standard can lead to more extreme looks over time, for example as the faces of brachycephalic breeds get even flatter. In turn, this can cause health issues such as brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS).
Inadequate health screening: It’s possible to screen for some inherited diseases and then decide not to breed dogs who have the genes for those disorders. For example, screening is used to reduce the incidence of hip and elbow dysplasia, cataract, and dilated cardiomyopathy in some breeds. But the paper says that some kennel clubs do a better job than others of maintaining this kind of requirement—and of course, dogs that do not have kennel club papers do not benefit from this protection.
If getting a dog from a breeder, you should always ask what health checks have been done (look out for me discussing this with Kerry Nichols, author of Puppy Brain, in an upcoming episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation).
Can’t we just adopt, not shop?
In a word, no. You can find many wonderful family pets in shelter and rescue. But the scientists say that even if most people wanted to adopt a dog rather than buy one from a breeder, there wouldn’t be enough dogs to go around. While the number of dogs in rescue varies greatly from country to country, they give the example of Denmark. Each year, 2,000 dogs are surrendered to shelters and rescue in Denmark. And every year, Danes acquire 60,000 new dogs. So the numbers simply don’t add up.
The current situation in dog breeding
There are some great examples of breed clubs opening their books to allow outcrossing with other breeds in order to improve genetic diversity. One example is the Danish Kennel Club, which opened the breed books for the English Bulldog, French Bulldog, and Pug. Another example is the Finnish Kennel Club, which has opened the books for several breeds including the Jack Russell Terrier.
However, the scientists say it’s not enough. Even within breeds where working and show lines have developed, there is little mixing between those lines. In other cases, dogs that were previously bred to work are now bred instead for their appearance, such as the German Shepherd.
In most countries, general animal welfare laws apply to breeding. In some cases, these rules are being tightened up to help improve breeding. For example, the Netherlands does not allow the breeding of dogs in ways that are bad for their welfare. Breeders of flat-faced breeds have to take a measure of how flat a dog’s face is; at certain levels, breeding is not allowed.
But the authors of the report say that the proportion of dogs who have a pedigree has gone down significantly. Again, they use the example of Denmark, where only 32% of dogs have a pedigree. Which brings us to designer dogs and mixed breeds…
What about designer dogs?
The Labradoodle was the first “designer” dog, born from a cross between a Labrador and a Poodle. The Australian Labradoodle includes some other breeds in the lineage, too. Nowadays, there are other designer dogs like Cavapoos, Cockapoos, and Puggles. The first generation come from a cross between two pedigree dogs. Mixed breed dogs can be crosses between any kind of dog.
The scientists say that sometimes designer dogs inherit diseases from the parent dogs, and sometimes they don’t. For example, they would expect Puggles (Pug x Beagle) to have longer snouts than Pugs, and hence a reduced likelihood of BOAS (though they note that this has not been tested). On the other hand, Labradoodles are significantly more likely than either Labradors or Poodles to have an eye condition called multifocal retinal dysplasia, but they have the same likelihood of cataracts.
Mixed breeds are generally regarded as healthier, but the report says it’s complicated, especially given that each pedigree you compare to will have their own level of a particular disease. (For example, one study found that mixed breeds actually have a slightly shorter lifespan than pedigrees).
And one thing that applies to both designer dogs and mixed breeds is that there is no one insisting on health checks. However, some designer dogs may ultimately become accepted breeds.
The future of dog breeding and dog welfare
It’s to be hoped that the future of dog breeding will involve a lot more thought for animal welfare. The answer is not to stop breeding pedigree dogs or to insist that all dogs are adopted, according to the study. In fact the paper does a good job of showing just how complicated the genetic situation is.
Some of the examples given in the paper, of breed clubs opening their books and making changes to reduce the frequency of genetic issues, point the way forward. The scientists also say that the showing and breeding of dogs needs to change its focus “to promote health and appropriate behaviour.”
In other words, we need to breed for healthy dogs, in terms of both physical and mental health.
Reference
Proschowsky, H. F., Arendt, M. L., Bonnett, B. N., Bruun, C. S., Czycholl, I., Fredholm, M., O’Neill, D., Serpell, J.A., & Sandøe, P. (2025). A new future for dog breeding. Animal Welfare, 34, e1. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2024.66
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Read More...
