13 Popular Dog Breeds Vets Wish You'd Think Twice About
They are wonderful dogs with loyal fans. They also come with inherited health problems that every future owner should understand, and budget for, before falling in love.
No breed on this list is a bad dog. Most are here because people loved a certain look so much that it was bred further and further, and the dogs now pay for it with their health. Others carry a heart disease or a cancer that became common because a small number of popular ancestors passed it on to nearly everyone.
Veterinarians do not dislike these breeds. They worry about them, which is different. They see the Bulldog that cannot cool itself in July, the Cavalier whose murmur gets a little louder every year, and the six-year-old Bernese whose family thought they had more time.
If one of these is your dream dog, this is not a reason to give up on it. It is a reason to choose a careful breeder or a rescue, to ask for health test results in writing, to budget realistically for vet bills, and to know which early signs deserve a same-day appointment.
Each entry below explains what goes wrong, when it usually shows up, and what a devoted owner can do to tilt the odds.
Read all the way to the end. The last breed carries a heart condition that often gives no warning.
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Breathing
1. English Bulldog
Photo: Sébastien Lavalaye / Unsplash Have you owned one?The Bulldog's flat face comes with narrowed nostrils, a soft palate that is too long for the shortened skull, and often a windpipe that is narrower than it should be. Vets call the combination brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, or BOAS. The snoring and snorting that people find endearing is the sound of a dog working to move air.
Dogs cool themselves by panting, so a dog that cannot move air well cannot shed heat well either. Bulldogs overheat quickly, tire on walks other dogs find easy, and can slide into heatstroke on a day that feels merely warm to you.
AdvertisementThe airway is only part of the picture. Skin-fold infections, cherry eye, eyelids that roll inward, and hip dysplasia are all routine in the breed, and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals has long listed the Bulldog at or near the bottom of its hip rankings. Most Bulldog litters are delivered by cesarean, because the puppies' heads are too large for a natural birth.
Corrective airway surgery, which widens the nostrils and shortens the palate, helps many dogs a great deal. It commonly runs into the low thousands of dollars, and it works best when it is done young, before years of labored breathing damage the larynx.
AdvertisementIf you love this breedLook for breeders who select for longer muzzles and open nostrils, and keep your dog lean. Extra weight makes every breathing problem worse. -
Breathing
2. French Bulldog
Photo: Alexandru Sofronie / Unsplash Have you owned one?The Frenchie has become the most popular breed in America on the American Kennel Club's registration list, and vets see the results every day. Frenchies share the Bulldog's airway problems, and demand has rewarded careless breeding for ever flatter faces and fashionable colors.
They add troubles of their own. Many are born with misshapen vertebrae, and the breed is prone to slipped discs at a young age, sometimes as early as three or four. Narrow ear canals mean repeated ear infections, and skin and food allergies are a lifelong management job for a large share of the breed.
AdvertisementHeat is a real danger. A Frenchie can get into serious difficulty on a warm afternoon walk, and the warning signs are loud, raspy panting, a wide tongue, thick drool and a dog that stops and refuses to move. That is an emergency, not stubbornness.
A formal breathing assessment now exists. The Respiratory Function Grading Scheme, developed at the University of Cambridge and offered in the United States through the OFA, grades a dog from 0 to 3 after a short exercise test. Good breeders use it.
The snoring that people find endearing is the sound of a dog working to move air.
If you love this breedWalk early or late in summer, use a harness instead of a collar, and ask your vet whether airway surgery would help. Ask any breeder for the parents' breathing grades and spine X-rays.Advertisement -
Breathing and eyes
3. Pug
Photo: Matthew Henry / Unsplash Have you owned one?Pugs are cheerful, funny companions with a gift for making a household laugh. Their short skulls leave too little room for the airway and too little bone around the eyes, which sit in shallow sockets and bulge forward.
Those eyes are easily scratched, and a scratched cornea in a Pug can deepen into an ulcer within a day or two. Many Pugs also develop brown pigment that creeps across the surface of the eye over the years and slowly dims their sight. In a rough tumble or a dog fight, an eye can even be pushed out of its socket.
AdvertisementThe fold over the nose traps moisture and yeast and needs regular cleaning. Pugs gain weight easily, and a fat Pug breathes far worse than a trim one. The breed also carries an inherited, fatal brain inflammation known as Pug dog encephalitis, which usually strikes young adults. A DNA test identifies dogs at higher risk.
If you love this breedWipe the nose fold daily, keep the weight down, and treat any squinting, pawing at the face or eye redness as urgent. Eye problems in Pugs do not wait until Monday. -
Heart
4. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Photo: Courtney Mihaka / Unsplash Have you owned one?Few dogs are as gentle as a Cavalier. Sadly, the breed has the worst record of any for mitral valve disease, a slow failure of the valve on the left side of the heart. Small dogs of many breeds get this condition in old age. Cavaliers get it young.
AdvertisementRoughly half have a murmur by the age of five, and by ten almost all do. A murmur is not heart failure, and many Cavaliers live comfortably with one for years. When the heart begins to enlarge, a daily drug called pimobendan delays the onset of failure by a year or more on average, which is why regular monitoring pays off.
The breed is also prone to syringomyelia, in which a skull too small for the brain forces fluid into pockets within the spinal cord. The classic sign is a dog that scratches at the air near its neck without touching the skin, often while walking on a leash, or that yelps when picked up.
AdvertisementA heart murmur in a middle-aged Cavalier is so common that vets listen for it at every visit.
If you love this breedAsk breeders for cardiologist heart clearances and MRI screening results going back several generations, and have your dog's heart checked every year. -
Spine
5. Dachshund
Photo: Kojirou Sasaki / Unsplash Have you owned one?That long back on short legs is charming and fragile. The same gene that shortens a Dachshund's legs also causes the discs between the vertebrae to harden early, sometimes before the dog is two. A hardened disc can burst into the spinal canal with one awkward twist.
Around one in four or five Dachshunds will have a disc problem in their lifetime, most often between three and seven years old. Mild cases mean pain, a hunched back and a dog that will not jump. Severe cases mean wobbly or paralyzed hind legs and loss of bladder control.
AdvertisementA Dachshund that suddenly cannot walk needs a vet within hours, not days. Surgery to remove the disc material costs several thousand dollars at a specialty hospital, and the chance of walking again falls sharply once the dog has lost feeling in its toes.
If you love this breedKeep your Dachshund slim, use ramps for the sofa and the car, and discourage jumping down from heights. Support the chest and the hindquarters together whenever you lift. -
Hips and spine
6. German Shepherd
Photo: Steve Smith / Unsplash Have you owned one?A well-bred Shepherd is a magnificent working dog. The breed also has high rates of hip and elbow dysplasia, in which the joints form loosely or unevenly and grind into arthritis. Signs often appear before the dog is two: a bunny-hopping run, stiffness after rest, reluctance on stairs.
AdvertisementIn old age many Shepherds face degenerative myelopathy, an inherited disease of the spinal cord that resembles ALS in people. It begins around eight or nine with scuffed back toenails and a swaying rear end, and it progresses to paralysis over six months to a couple of years. It is painless, and there is no cure. A DNA test identifies carriers.
Shepherds are also a deep-chested breed at risk for bloat, and they are the classic breed for a pancreas disorder that leaves a dog thin and ravenous despite eating well. Dogs bred for an extreme sloping back and deeply angled hind legs tend to fare worse in movement and in soundness.
AdvertisementIf you love this breedChoose parents with certified OFA or PennHIP hip scores, elbow clearances and a DNA test for degenerative myelopathy, and pick a puppy from dogs with a straight, level back. -
Stomach and heart
7. Great Dane
Photo: George Pagan III / Unsplash Have you owned one?Giant breeds live short lives, often only seven to ten years, and the Great Dane is no exception. An enormous body grows fast, ages fast and puts heavy demands on the heart and the joints.
Danes are the breed most prone to bloat, known medically as gastric dilatation and volvulus. The stomach fills with gas and twists, cutting off its own blood supply. The signs are a tight, swollen belly, pacing, drooling and repeated attempts to vomit that bring up nothing. It is fatal within hours without surgery, and emergency surgery costs thousands.
AdvertisementA preventive operation called a gastropexy stitches the stomach to the body wall so it cannot twist. It is often done at the same time as spaying or neutering, and it is one of the most worthwhile preventive surgeries in veterinary medicine for this breed.
Heart disease is the other great threat. Danes develop dilated cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle, usually in middle age. Bone cancer and wobbler syndrome, a neck problem that affects gait, are also seen more often than in smaller dogs.
If you love this breedFeed two or three smaller meals a day, and ask your vet about a preventive stomach-tacking operation. Learn the signs of bloat by heart and know where your nearest emergency hospital is. -
Cancer and heart
8. Boxer
Photo: Anita Peeples / Unsplash Have you owned one?Boxers stay playful into old age, which makes their health record all the sadder. They have one of the highest cancer rates of any breed, and they are especially prone to mast cell tumors of the skin, lymphoma and brain tumors.
AdvertisementA mast cell tumor can look like anything: a small pink bump, a soft lump under the skin, something that swells and shrinks. That is why every new lump on a Boxer deserves a needle sample, a quick test your vet can usually do in the exam room. Caught small, many skin tumors are cured by surgery alone.
The breed's heart problem is so characteristic that it is often called Boxer cardiomyopathy. Fatty tissue replaces heart muscle and the heart throws dangerous extra beats. The first sign is often fainting during excitement or exercise, and occasionally sudden death. A 24-hour Holter monitor, which records every heartbeat for a day, is the screening test.
AdvertisementIf you love this breedCheck your Boxer for new lumps every month and have any fainting episode investigated right away. Ask breeders for Holter results on both parents. -
Cancer
9. Golden Retriever
Photo: Richard Burlton / Unsplash Have you owned one?America's favorite family dog has a troubling statistic attached. Health surveys of the breed in the United States have found that around six in ten Goldens die of cancer, a far higher share than in dogs as a whole.
Two cancers do most of the damage. Hemangiosarcoma grows silently in the spleen or the heart and often announces itself with sudden weakness, pale gums and collapse when the tumor bleeds. Lymphoma usually appears as firm, painless swellings under the jaw, in front of the shoulders or behind the knees.
AdvertisementThe problem is serious enough that the Morris Animal Foundation has enrolled more than three thousand Goldens in a lifetime study to find out why. Until there are answers, the best defenses are choosing long-lived family lines and having senior dogs examined twice a year.
Hip and elbow dysplasia, skin allergies, chronic ear infections and an inherited eye inflammation are common as well. A responsible breeder shows you hip, elbow, heart and eye clearances for both parents, all of which you can look up yourself in the OFA database.
Honest breeders know what their dogs' grandparents died of, and they tell you.
If you love this breedAsk breeders how long their dogs' parents and grandparents lived, and what they died of. Honest breeders keep track.Advertisement -
Weight and joints
10. Labrador Retriever
Photo: Angel Luciano / Unsplash Have you owned one?Labs are sturdy, and their main enemy is the food bowl. About a quarter of Labradors carry a variant in a gene called POMC that leaves them hungrier than other dogs and more driven by food. It is not greed. Their brains are simply not getting the signal that they have eaten enough.
The consequences are measurable. In a well-known lifetime feeding study, Labradors kept lean lived nearly two years longer than their littermates who ate more, and they developed arthritis years later.
Extra pounds also load joints that are already vulnerable. Labs are prone to hip and elbow dysplasia and to tears of the cruciate ligament in the knee, an injury that commonly costs several thousand dollars per knee to repair surgically. Floppy ears and a love of water add up to frequent ear infections.
AdvertisementIf you love this breedMeasure every meal, count treats as food, and aim to feel the ribs easily under a thin layer of fat. Weigh your Lab every month, because five extra pounds is easy to miss by eye. -
Skin and eyes
11. Chinese Shar-Pei
Photo: Richard Callupe / Unsplash Have you owned one?The famous wrinkles are caused by an overproduction of hyaluronan, a jelly-like substance in the skin. The same genetic change triggers an inflammatory disease in many Shar-Peis, with recurring high fevers and painfully swollen hocks that last a day or two and then pass.
Those fevers are more than an inconvenience. Repeated inflammation leads some dogs to deposit an abnormal protein called amyloid in the kidneys and liver, and kidney failure in a middle-aged Shar-Pei is a well-recognized outcome.
AdvertisementThe folds trap moisture and invite skin infection, the narrow ear canals are hard to keep clean, and the eyelids often roll inward so the lashes rub on the eye. Vets frequently place temporary tacking stitches in puppies only a few weeks old to protect the eyes while the head grows. Many dogs need a permanent eyelid correction later.
If you love this breedChoose a dog with moderate wrinkling, and have a vet check the eyelids while the puppy is young. Record every fever episode and tell your vet, because the pattern matters. -
Cancer
12. Bernese Mountain Dog
Photo: Janosch Jost / Unsplash Have you owned one?Berners are calm, affectionate and heartbreakingly short-lived. The average is around seven to eight years, the shortest of nearly any popular breed.
AdvertisementThe main reason is histiocytic sarcoma, an aggressive cancer of the immune system's own cells that is rare in most dogs and common in this one. It spreads through the lungs, spleen, liver and joints, and it tends to appear between six and eight years of age. Early signs are vague: a dog that is quieter, eats less, loses weight or goes lame without an injury. Treatment buys months, not years.
Berners are also heavy, fast-growing dogs with high rates of hip and elbow dysplasia, and their deep chests put them at risk for bloat. Their thick black coats make them poor candidates for hot climates.
The breed community is unusually open about all this. The Berner-Garde Foundation keeps a public database of health and lifespan records on many thousands of dogs, and good breeders use it to choose longer-lived lines.
If you love this breedLook for breeders taking part in longevity programs who can show you ancestors that reached ten or older, and make the most of every year.Advertisement -
Heart
13. Doberman Pinscher
Photo: JOSHUA DANIEL / Unsplash Have you owned one?Half or more of all Dobermans develop dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart muscle thins, weakens and stretches. No other breed is affected so widely.
The cruel feature of the disease is its long silent phase. A Doberman can look fit and glossy for two or three years while the heart quietly deteriorates. The first outward sign is sometimes a cough or tiring on walks, and sometimes it is a dog that drops dead in the yard from an abnormal rhythm.
Screening finds it early. The standard is a yearly echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound of the heart, together with a 24-hour Holter monitor. Expect to pay several hundred dollars a year for the pair. Dobermans diagnosed in the silent phase and started on medication live significantly longer before symptoms appear.
AdvertisementThe breed also has a mild inherited bleeding disorder called von Willebrand disease, for which a DNA test exists, and a neck condition called wobbler syndrome.
If you love this breedAsk your vet about yearly heart screening from the age of three or four. Early treatment can add good time.
The short version
Popularity has not been kind to these breeds. Demand rewards quantity over care, and exaggerated features win attention. None of that is the fault of the dog in front of you, and none of it means you cannot have a healthy, happy one.
If you want one of these breeds, buy from breeders who health-test and breed for moderate features, and verify the results yourself in the OFA database instead of taking anyone's word for it. Or adopt an adult, whose airway, joints and temperament are already known.
Get insurance while the dog is young and before anything has been diagnosed, because insurers do not cover conditions that are already on the record. Then learn the two or three warning signs that matter for your breed. In most of these conditions, the owner who notices early is the one who gets more good years.
Last updated . This article is for general information and isn't a substitute for advice from your own vet.
