Very Sad Doggie News

Backfill: April 17 On the very down side, another friend lost a young dog this week. She likes French Bulldogs, which are cute in a gremlinish sort of way, but can have a lot of problems common to short-faced dog breeds. Her first Frenchie is still going strong at a fairly ripe age. She got a new puppy about 4 years ago and lost him within the first year in a swimming pool accident (among other things, this breed can't swim).

She got another puppy, whom she had been training to be what would likely be a speedy and enthusiastic agility dog. The training has been interrupted by two operations on the palate (too long to fit in the mouth--affects breathing and swallowing, I believe), several bouts of pneumonia, another operation for another problem caused by the short-facedness, and recently persistent pneumonia. Tests revealed that parts of the dog's larnynx (?) were growing into the throat, yet another defect related to the head and face shape. The operation to remove them this week didn't seem to ease his breathing and he wasn't doing well at all. The next step was another operation to perform a tracheotomy--probably would have to be permanent. So she decided--wisely--to let the dog go.

An active and enthusiastic dog who can't breathe is not likely to be a happy, comfortable, or pain-free dog, even if he were to recover from the various operations and bad pneumonia. What a heartbreak. Especially when all the other dogs in the litter seem to be healthy--poor Felix got all the problems.

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