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Everything below is posted with liberty and credit to Jemima Harrison and the PDE blog, with the sole purpose for this information to spread as far as possible.

Time to get tough

It is… • soon to be 10 years since Pedigree Dogs Exposed • five years since The Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding highlighted the issues linked to head conformation in brachycephalic breeds • 18 months since the publication of research (funded by the kennel club) spelling out the link between stenosis (pinched nostrils) and respiratory issues, especially in French Bulldogs • a year since a veterinary petition demanding urgent reform for flat-faced dogs • almost a year since the Kennel Club set up the Brachcycephalic Breeds Working Group in response to that petition .. and of course I have highlighted the issue of pinched nostrils endlessly here on this blog. Endlessly.

And yet… the picture at the top is one the Kennel Club has used as the ideal depiction of the French Bulldog in its new edition (2017) of its Illustrated Breed Standards. And it isn’t a one-off. Here’s the one the KC has used for the Boston Terrier standard.

The Bulldog.

And the Pug.

Dogs are as near-as-damn-it obligate nose breathers. And even if they can supplement by mouth-breathing when they are awake, they are unable to do so when they are asleep, meaning thousands of these dogs live lives of interrupted sleep as they have to wake up in order to not asphyxiate. Study after study has shown that these dogs pay the price for not being able to pull in a decent lungful of air and that starts with the nostrils. These pictures are all the proof you need that the Kennel Club is not taking this issue seriously; that at its very core the KC is paying nothing more than lip-service to the demands for reform by the veterinary profession and animal welfare campaigners. At one of the first meetings of the Brachycephalic Breeds Working Group, then KC Chairman Steve Dean expressly said that he didn’t want “changing the breed standards” to be at the top of everyone’s list of actions that could be taken. And indeed, it hasn’t been. There have been some new measures.  The KC continues to fund brachy research. There is also now a brachy learning resource available on the KC website, the promise of better education of judges and a breed club commitment to educate better about the importance of keeping brachycephalics slim. There are also now health schemes for the Bulldog, French Bulldog and the Pug which do test for respiratory issues. All this is welcome. But, bottom line, the Kennel Club continues to bat for the breeders who do not want the basic phenotype to change because it’s the breeders that pay their wages. Of course the simplest, quickest remedy is to give these dogs back some muzzle - to help not just with breathing issues, but to help protect their eyes from trauma and to give their teeth some room in their overcrowded mouths (a Pug here compared to an Australian Shepherd).

The problem is that breeders are wedded to flat faces, particularly in Pugs and Bulldogs. They talk about the perfect “layback” - which essentially means that the nose should not interrupt the line between the forehead and tip of the dog’s chin. In fact, there’s a new book out on the Pug head (yours for only $159) which reminds everyone that the word Pug comes from the latin for “fist” and that this is the shape the Pug’s head should be in profile - i.e. totally flat.

Here’s a reminder from a top UK show breeder of what the Bulldog’s head should look like.

As you can see, a  protruding nose or a less severe underbite is considered a fault.

There was a big review of breed standards following Pedigree Dogs Exposed but it was mostly to add vague qualifiers such as, in the Pug standard,  "relatively" short rather than just short when describing the length of the muzzle. This gives the breeders way too much wiggle room.  We need proper metrics - a defined minimum skull/head/muzzle ratio and we need to find more profound ways to change their minds about what constitutes their breed in their eyes.

Large open nostrils are a requirement in brachy breed standards, but this is widely ignored because other points of the breed are considered more important. There would be outrage if a Frenchie with one lop ear or a Bulldog with a liver-coloured nose won in the show-ring, but dogs with slits for nostrils continue to be made up to champions.

Meanwhile, on my CRUFFA group, whenever you post a picture of more moderate examples of the breed, current of historical, the breeders heap scorn. A few days ago, one breeder insisted that the dog featured in this famous painting of a Pug by Carl Reichert, dating from the late 19th century, was a crossbreed.

Same for these ones. Mongrels, the lot of them.

She admitted that the eye-white showing was undesirable but preferred the look of this Crufts dog.

Today, this was posted on a public Facebook page by one French Bulldog breeder in response to a plea by vets for more moderate dogs.

(My bolding below)

To those who say you cannot rebuild Rome in a day I say… rubbish. There are already more moderate versions of these breeds out there being bred by breeders more interested in health than the current fashion. 

For more than 10 years, I have called for moderation and hoped it would come from the breeders. But  I now know it won’t. If we want anything more than a wee bit of tweaking round the edges, then we need to demand it.

It is time to get tough. These dogs suffer - not all of them all the time but too many of them too often. 

Brachycephalics live a third less long than non-brachy dogs. Fifty per cent have significant airway disease. Almost all struggle to cool themselves. Most Bulldogs still can’t mate or give birth naturally. Pugs have 19 times the risk of developing corneal ulcers.  All suffer from very low genetic diversity. And so on.

Today, Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Pugs make up one in five of the dogs registered with the Kennel Club - up from one in 50 in 2005.

Yesterday, a new petition was launched asking for a ban on brachycephalics.  Over 20k people signed it in the first 24 hrs.

Have we reached a tipping point?  With your help.

I haven’t been able to blog much recently because I am busy finishing off a television series for BBC2. But I have taken time out to write this because the new breed standard pictures made me so angry.

So please… Although it’s moderation I want, not a ban, sign the petition. Make your feelings known to the Kennel Club (see here). Complain if brands or media use generic pictures of brachycephalics to sell their wares.

Vets: thank you so much for all that you are now doing, but please keep the pressure on.

And, of course, to everyone out there - please don’t buy that puppy.

It is not safe to buy a Pug, Bulldog or French Bulldog. Not safe for them and not safe for your wallet.

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A couple things I’ve learned

just for some babes who may find them useful

1) This shit

Self-adhesive medical tape is one of my new favorite things. I wrap it around the tips of my fingers like a thimble type deal. It doesn’t stick to your skin but stays on your fingers; you can type with it on, and it’s imfuckingpossible to pick while wearing it. You can get a buttload for $12 on amazon here.

2) These fuckers

Look dumb? Heck yeah they do. I use them for mirrors, ‘cause we all know how tricky those are. They occupy both your hands, you can twist them into shapes like the 5-year-old you are, and if both your hands are playing with it, they aren’t skimming your face. You can buy three for $10 here.

3) Whatever the fuck these are

don’t even know what to call them tbh; my therapist gave them to me and I use them while at the computer. You roll them around on your fingers and the spikes sting ever so slightly so be careful if you regularly pick your fingers, but the sensation replaces the sensation you might expect from picking and keeps you aware of your hands so they don’t stray to your skin like the sneaky fuckers they are. You can get a pack of ten for $10 here.

I’ll update with more later on, but these are the main ones I’ve had real success with. The trick is to use them consistently around your typical trigger areas or situations where you pick the most often, so your brain learns to associate those things with the fidget and not with picking. As always, if anyone else has tricks or fidgets that really work for them, don’t hesitate for a nanosecond to add on. Happy healing, you gorgeous little shits you!

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if youve never physically been in the presence of like, a real live wolf, and you probably wont get the chance to, heres some stuff about them you should know

a wolf’s fur is so unbelievably thick that you can get like, your whole hand into it while petting. and then you can keep going

wolves are a lot bigger than you think they are. think about how big you think a wolf is then just like double that

they dont really smell like dog but they DO smell and youre not going to be able to figure out if its a good smell or not

a wolf really wants to lick the inside of your mouth. he will not stop trying to lick the inside of your mouth at any cost, and generally speaking you need to press your lips together kind of tightly when he approaches your face so that he doesnt worm his damn tongue in there to give you what he thinks is an appropriate greeting

a wolf doesnt really want to look at you while you pet him but he wants you to pet him. hes embarrassed

if a grown ass wolf decides to lay down on you, you just have to deal with it and thats your life now

young wolves, much like young dogs, are overwhelmingly goofy and stupid. a teenage wolf will see your very fragile, very human shoulder and go “i can probably step on that with my full weight” and then he will do it

letting a wolf eat out of your hand is actually not remotely frightening, and youll want to do it all day

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This recipe for classic peppermint bark is layers of white and dark chocolate topped with crushed candy canes. A holiday favorite that’s quick to make and perfect for parties and gift giving.

Follow for recipes

Is this how you roll?

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That chicken look good af

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On the train and saw this friendly face

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I just kind of love how people are like “omg Incredibles 2 has swearing and alchohism it’s so dark and obviously meant for adults” like y’all, Brad Bird films are like this.

The first Incredibles literally had a man attempt to kill himself

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The Phantom of the Opera is here

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#NotMyPresident

The electoral college does not vote until December 19th. We have 40 days.

What does this mean?

Right now, the presidential election results are only a PROJECTION of the election outcome. They are PRELIMINARY RESULTS. A candidate still needs to earn 270 electoral votes to win. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which means that more than 50% of the voters wanted her for president. The electoral college shouldn’t guarantee an override of the public’s opinion– and it doesn’t have to.

There are 21 states that do NOT restrict which candidate the electors vote for. Out of these 21, Hillary lost the following:

As you can see, these states are worth 166 electoral votes. As it currently stands, Hillary Clinton is projected to receive 232 votes. Trump is projected to win 306. This means that 37 votes need to be taken away from Trump to bring him down to 269. Hillary Clinton needs 38 votes ADDED to win 270. These electoral voters can also abstain, which means that they can refuse to vote for either candidate. If 37 of the voters within these states abstain then no candidate will have reached the required 270. In this case, the vote would be taken to the House.

Trump won Pennsylvania, a state that typically votes blue, by less than 100,000 votes. While it is highly unlikely to get all 20 electoral voters to cross party lines and vote democrat, it also isn’t impossible to convince a few of them to be “faithless electors.” We only need to convince 38 out of the 166. That is 23%. There are SIXTEEN states we need to focus our attention on.

A move like this would be unprecedented. However, as we all saw on November 8th, odds don’t guarantee reality. Trump had a less than 20% chance of winning, yet given the circumstances, enough people came together and made it happen. We can make this happen. 

Ask yourself this: What do we have left to lose? We can stay complacent and accept that this country will be run by a racist, sexist, islamophobic, homophobic, ablest bigot, or we can at least try. 

How?

SPREAD THE WORD. Trend #NotMyPresident to let people know that we do not accept being led by a man who does not care about our wellbeing. Email your professors, email the dean of your colleges. The last thing a university wants is negative press. Millenials can take a stand, but that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones. Church-led events helped bring a lot of disillusioned voters to the polls. Spread the word in any way possible, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even in person. Stage a peaceful protest. Hand out flyers. Let the people around you know that you don’t accept this man as your leader when he won’t even accept you as a citizen with your designated rights.

These 166 people need to face the consequences of electing this man. 

Do this for the people who couldn’t vote. Do this for the people who live in the very real fear of being deported. Do this for the people who will have to face the rise in hate crimes. Do this for the people who have a very real possibility of losing their rights. Do this for the people who will no longer be able to afford necessities. 

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Can we please stop making scary shark movies? Sharks are pure sweet babies that don’t deserve this slander. They just have bad eyesight. Don’t be mean to them.

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This cat is too fluffy for me to comprehend in slow motion

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When ppl kno about ur depression and they randomly ask “are you okay? How are you doing?” In that special voice

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A cat was shot for treason In World War One It had acted as an intermediary    Between Allied and Axis lines:   English and German soldiers Could send messages To each other By tying scraps of paper  To the cat’s collar.  The cat then ran across No Man’s Land, From one trench to the other.     When the War Office found out,  Allied superior officers Ordered that the cat, nicknamed Felix, Should be shot for its being a go-between, And thus enabling fraternization  Between the warring troops  On the Western Front.    For, after a Christmas truce  When enmity miraculously faded  And one German dug-out sang ‘Heilige Nacht’  As its English opposite number joined in With ‘Silent Night’; And when deadly enemies Shyly scrambled out Into the open air  Clutching presents Of rum and schnapps, and lebkochen   And Huntley and Palmer’s digestive biscuits; And when they swapped them with broad smiles, And when impromptu football matches  Broke out up and down the battle lines… These popular displays of comradeship;  These congenial armistices; These undeclared cease-fires  Were outlawed by the government  Who declared that all such happenings  Were high treason, And subject to the same condign punishment  As cowardice, namely the firing squad.   Felix the cat, however,  (Called Nestor by the Germans)  Was a law unto itself. It would wait patiently   Whilst cheery little scrawls  In English and in German Were being attached to its collar  By trembling fingers, raw with cold: “Hello Fritz.” “Gutentag Tommy.”  “Fröhliche Weihnachten, Tommy.” “Happy Christmas, Fritz.”    Back and forth the cat skipped across the snow, Across the hard, unforgiving soil Of No Man’s Land; first appearing at Mons And later at Passchendaele.    Then Felix – just like the animals  In the Middle Ages who, notoriously, Were tried for being suspected Of being in league with the devil –  Was judged by the top military brass To constitute a threat Through its enabling treasonous acts,  Through its being an accessory To the undermining of the serial hate-crime That was World War One;   A war crime that left fifteen million dead  Including a peace cat, Who’s barely ever mentioned  But whose bloodstained paw-prints   Are a lone, feline testament  To war’s absurdity.     Heathcote Williams