Squished faces aren’t the only cause of bulldog breathing difficulties

Many English and French bulldogs develop breathing difficulties, and the flat faces of these breeds have long been thought to be responsible, but now a gene mutation in these dogs suggests that face shape isn’t the only culprit.

Jeffrey Schoenebeck at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and his colleagues have found a mutation in a gene called ADAMTS3, which is also present in Norwich terriers.

Norwich terriers often suffer from similar breathing problems even though they have proportional noses.

The team analysed DNA from more than 400 Norwich terriers, and also…