New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Michael Woodhouse — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:53:42 GMT

[quote userid="6386" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248519#248519"]All this and then you look at the Crufts winner of best in show......[/quote]

I quite like clumber spaniels, and it appears, to me, there is an edited picture (different dog, photoshop, AI, I don't know) showing the animal with very droopy eyes. That is not consistent if you watch any of the videos or look at most of the pictures. It is a perfect example of dog looking like owner, though.....

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RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Kate Richardson — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:52:42 GMT

All this and then you look at the Crufts winner of best in show......

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Dinu Catilina — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:50:46 GMT

[quote userid="8663" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248512#248512"]

so no banned breeds

no enforcement

Reports in the press are over egged

[/quote]

Not banned yet, this is a trial and it is advisory only but like all things advisory they tend to become compulsory at some point. See the route PSS might take soon.

[quote userid="8663" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248512#248512"]The initiative is not led by MPs but has been endorsed by a group of them. [/quote]

This shows the issue with having MPs deciding on things they are not qualified to decide on. We forget that most MPs are regular people, some trained in a field or another ( even though many MPs are not trained to be good at anything specifically other than attract votes) and they inform themselves succinctly about one subject or another and then vote. Scary... I know Danny Chambers is a vet but even him not more of a vet than any other one of us here and he is definitely not a geneticist.

I also don't think that comparing dogs with other species is helpful. For various reasons most dogs have a much better life and are treated a lot better that most species but they are constantly the target for all sorts of lobby groups. There are numerous issues with a lot of breeds in cows, sheep, cats, horses but somehow the dogs are the main concern.

And yes, we should all breed better and healthier but I think we all are. Health issues were rife 20-30 years ago when no health testing was done. I see in Bull Terriers where juvenile glomerulonephritis is almost gone, PKD is gone, patella reduced and heart diseased reduced. All show stud dogs I know are health tested currently and most breeders would not use a non health tested dog.

In my opinion the solution is to treat pets as goods and the seller then can be taken to court if the puppies have genetic issues. This is already happening and breeders have already been taken to court and lost.

The unintended consequences are that killing the UK breeders will only lead to an increase of imports which is exactly what happened in Netherlands. If someone really wants to buy a bulldog they will buy one.

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Andreas Ege — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:48:50 GMT

[quote userid="10320" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248507#248507"]Well, cows are mostly still fairly cow-shaped, the extremes of conformation don't seem to have crept in to the same extent. [/quote]

Belgian Blues come to mind...

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Alasdair Hotston Moore — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 09:58:34 GMT

[quote userid="5408" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds"]Apparently a group of MPs (in conjunction with which vets, may I ask?) have produced a list of 67 dog breeds that could be banned due to various health problems they suffer with. [/quote]

The initiative is not led by MPs but has been endorsed by a group of them. You can find out more here. https://www.innatehealthassessment.org
And it’s a tool for the public to consider whether individual dogs might be suitable for breeding

so no banned breeds

no enforcement

Reports in the press are over egged

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Michael Woodhouse — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:54:11 GMT

[quote userid="4103" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248508#248508"]Dairy cattle and other high-production animals are increasingly operating at their physical and behavioral thresholds due to intensive breeding and management practices focused on yield maximization. The pursuit of extreme output, with some individuals producing more than 12,000 liters annually, has resulted in widespread systemic health challenges, physical exhaustion, and a significant decrease in average lifespans[/quote]

I think that was very true if you look back to the late 80's and through to the 1990's - there was a massive focus on cow breeding for yield at the expense of virtually everything else. Their lifespan fell dramatically, their feet practically fell off and you couldn't get them in calf.

[quote userid="4103" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248510#248510"]Many dairy farms select cows look thin (low body‑condition score) and have very large udders because those traits are linked to high milk output.[/quote]

No, virtually all cow breeding is done using computers these days. I think dairy genetics is a fascinating area and something we (maybe just I?) are very happy talking about. I also think it has some wider lessons for other breeding choices we make when we base them on a few traits we have decided are desirable (milk yield in cows or maybe hip score or a couple of genetic tests in dogs). Personally I'd prefer us to treat hip scores as much more of a linear characteristic, rather than having an absolute threshold, especially if the dog has other traits. In most cases, where we are genetic testing) we just need to know the status of both parents to make sensible choices, not rush to neuter a carrier.

With the advent on genomics in HF cattle we can make very accurate predictions of future performance in a calf a few days old, and select her a bull that is heavier weighted in areas where she is less likely to underperform - making her calf better. It also allows us to filter animals that may not perform in a top yielding herd into a different production system. There is good data that cows now continue to produce greater yields, but have better fertility than they did in the 80's, greater resistance to mastitis and better feet. Calve them at 2 years old and they survive longer in the herd. In many ways the black and white dairy cow is the lesson for what we should be doing with animal breeding.

[quote userid="4103" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248510#248510"]Need for intensive management. [/quote]

Absolutely, but don't make that sound like a bad thing. Have a look at UK cow numbers over the last 20 years, half the cows, similar milk profile - it's efficient, produces less CO2, the farms doing this well have the best welfare. Intensification is needed as production grows, farmland lost to housing and the agricultural industry contracts. I can promise that being a smaller farm isn't automatically better for the cow, the big guys know that if you look after the cow, she produces well. In many ways the romantic view of dairy farming, was pretty awful for the cow........

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Cinzia Gandini — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:17:29 GMT

[quote userid="10320" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248509#248509"]you can assess visually[/quote]

Many dairy farms select cows look thin (low body‑condition score) and have very large udders because those traits are linked to high milk output. Those external signs are “standard” for cows that give a lot of milk, but they don’t automatically mean the animal is healthy.
An extreme physiological state. Producing huge quantities of milk pushes the cow’s metabolism to its limits. The animal has to convert a lot of feed into milk components (fat, protein, lactose), which creates a heavy “metabolic load.” In other words, the cow’s body is working at near‑maximum capacity all the time.
Need for intensive management. Because the metabolic demand is so high, the cow becomes vulnerable to a range of health problems (e.g., ketosis, fatty liver, displaced abomasum, mastitis).

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Lucy Fleming — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:30:13 GMT

But that's not something (beyond udder size/ shape) that you can assess visually, so not as comparable to the IHA.

That's not to say I disagree with you that production animal welfare isn't as significant an issue as companion animal welfare

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Cinzia Gandini — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 13:33:03 GMT

[quote userid="10320" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248507#248507"]cow-shaped[/quote]

Dairy cattle and other high-production animals are increasingly operating at their physical and behavioral thresholds due to intensive breeding and management practices focused on yield maximization. The pursuit of extreme output, with some individuals producing more than 12,000 liters annually, has resulted in widespread systemic health challenges, physical exhaustion, and a significant decrease in average lifespans

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Lucy Fleming — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 12:52:49 GMT

Well, cows are mostly still fairly cow-shaped, the extremes of conformation don't seem to have crept in to the same extent. I guess for better or worse cows (and sheep and pigs) mostly still need to be a functional production animal. The welfare impact of breeding for "extreme" conformation is probably more significant in broiler chickens than dogs, in terms of numbers of animals affected but chickens aren't as cute or visible as dogs...

Rabbits and cats are also adversely impacted by brachycephaly in particular but much less part of the conversation

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Cinzia Gandini — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 12:09:25 GMT

[quote userid="10320" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248505#248505"]welfare of individual examples of the breed[/quote]

I wonder why they focus on dogs rather than cows, for example. Maybe it’s like smartphones.

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Lucy Fleming — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 11:55:37 GMT

You probably know more about it than I do, Dinu Catilina but my understanding is there's no "banning" involved, though if it were to become legislation and if no individuals could be found that passed the health checks I guess the eventual outcome could be the same. Media reports seem to be based on some (willful?) misinterpretation of the assessment

I agree it does seem to be not nuanced enough with regard to breed, but perhaps the idea was to allow it to apply to those producing designer crosses/ off standard dogs etc. Otherwise any of these schemes tend to disproportionally impact those who genuinely are trying their best to improve the health of their breed. Several European nations seem to be taking much more definitive steps than the UK though i'm not sure if positive (or negative) results have necessarily been seen yet.

I must admit to finding the head-in-the-sand attitude some seem to have about the percentage of their breed affected by conformation related issues frustrating. And though I can understand those involved in a breed wanting to preserve it, I am a bit mystified at uninvolved outsiders determined that a dog breed (a human construct, after all) must survive at all costs, when one of the costs in some cases is the welfare of individual examples of the breed.

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Cinzia Gandini — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 11:30:53 GMT

[quote userid="14693" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds/248503#248503"]holy self important[/quote]

It’s like when some people try to restrict the use of social media without realising that, nowadays, it’s practically impossible. First, people can simply use a VPN. Second, if you start asking for documents, you have to deal with deep AI fakes. Third, if you insist on these restrictions, you will likely lose 100% of your clients. And If one platform becomes heavily regulated, users often move to new or smaller platforms that have fewer restrictions. So how many platforms do these people know and how many are they willing to try to restrict? Yet they still believe in it and want laws to regulate smartphones. I wonder why they focus only on smartphones and not computers or tablets. It would actually be simpler to allow only basic “dumb phones” up to a certain age.

Another good example is screen time. What screen time are they talking about? I use my smartphone to pay, to budget, to keep records, to use maps and a compass, to access bank accounts, make payments, take photos, music, edit photos and videos, and record voice notes, sms, phone calls abroad for £0, I also keep my loyalty cards, train tickets, train platforms, movie tickets, emails, documents, and saved files on it. I even use it to pay energy bills, order dinners, I have a number of ebooks, news and magazines, AI, check bird sounds, which plant is it... So what screen time are they talking about? Are they checking how long it takes to read my books? And yet they insist it’s dangerous. I’d add that it’s dangerous to forget your phone at home.

Now let's go back to dog breeds...

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Lesley Strong — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 11:19:40 GMT

Because a certain type of person/group crave control and love dictating from their holy self important termite mound! Maybe it makes jobsworths feel more relevant

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Dinu Catilina — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 05:38:20 GMT

The issue with IHA is that it is partially based on opinion and not evidence and that they confuse and mix traits between breeds. The merle colour is a good example and another one is the bob tails. While a short or twisted tail in a French Bulldog is corelated with vertebral abnormalities it is not the same thing for an Australian Shepherd dog.

It reminds me of a lecture held 7 years ago by a german pathologist at the european reproduction congress where he recommended to not breed from any dog that is a carrier for any disease. There is no such thing as a DNA without any any recessive gene.

The leg length is also another issue, as we all think of a dachshund vs a labrador but some breeds are somehow inbetween and if you end up with an overzealous assessor then you can easily end up banning tens of breeds.

I'm not sure why modern society is so hell bend on banning things, one after another, and complicate life just for the sake of complicating it.

RE: New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

Cinzia Gandini — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:13:07 GMT

[quote userid="5408" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31321/new-guidelines-suggested-for-banning-certain-dog-breeds"] Has April Fool's day come early? [/quote]

I don’t think the Daily Mail completely invented the issue, but the “list of 67 breeds” appears to be a media interpretation rather than an official list produced by MPs or vets. What actually exists is a proposal from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) called the Innate Health Assessment (IHA). This is a checklist of physical traits associated with poor welfare, such as very flat faces, bulging eyes, excessive skin folds and extremely short legs. The intention is to assess individual dogs used for breeding, rather than to ban specific breeds.