Is this why pugs and bulldogs are still so popular? Humans see flat-faced dogs as child-like and can’t resist helping them, study finds

With their small, pinched noses and wrinkled faces, pugs and French bulldogs have become favorites among dog lovers and celebrities.

These facial features may look cute, but they also put these breeds at a much higher risk of developing severe health problems, including breathing, eye, and skin disorders.

Despite this, flat-faced dogs – known as brachycephalic – remain one of the most popular breeds in the UK.

Now, scientists think they’ve discovered why, and say it’s all down to their child-like faces and personalities.

“Child-like traits may be present not only in appearance but also in behavior in brachycephalic breeds, eliciting caring behavior in owners,” explained a team from Eötvös Loránd University.

With their small, pinched noses and wrinkled faces, pugs and French bulldogs have become favorites among dog lovers and celebrities.

The team recruited 30 flat-faced dogs (15 English bulldogs and 15 French bulldogs) as well as 13 Hungarian Modis (they have medium-length muzzles) for comparison. The dogs were given a task in which they had to try to open three boxes to retrieve a piece of sausage

Popular flat-faced dog breeds include French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Pugs, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Shih Tzus, and Boxers.

Their short-faced “brachiocephalic” characteristics did not evolve naturally, but are the result of selective breeding.

They are so popular in the UK, that the Kennel Club has reported a 2,747 per cent increase in the number of French bulldogs registered since 2004.

For the study, the researchers wanted to explain the so-called “brachycephalic paradox” — why flat-faced dogs are constantly rising in popularity despite their welfare problems, high veterinary costs and short lifespans.

The team recruited 30 flat-faced dogs (15 English bulldogs and 15 French bulldogs) as well as 13 Hungarian Modis (they have medium-length muzzles) for comparison.

Pugs are more likely to suffer from breathing, eye and skin disorders than other breeds, according to vets from the Royal Veterinary College.

Gerard Butler (left), Paris Hilton (right) and YouTuber Zoe Sugg are just a few of the famous faces who have shared their lives with pugs.

The dogs were given a task in which they had to try to open three boxes to retrieve a piece of sausage.

The boxes had different opening mechanisms of varying difficulties, and the dogs were presented with them in a random order.

The dogs watched an experimenter place the hot dog in the box, and were then given two minutes to try to open it.

During this time, both the experimenter and the dog owner stood behind the dog, out of direct sight.

The results revealed that the Modis were much better at this task than the flat-faced breeds, as they succeeded in opening the box 93 percent more often, and did so much more quickly.

However, flat-faced dogs were approximately 4.5 times more likely to look back toward the experimenter and owner than were moderate-faced dogs.

This suggests that short-faced dogs tend to seek human help when they encounter problems, according to the researchers.

This in turn may promote a stronger social relationship between owners and these breeds of dogs due to their perceived helplessness.

“Humans find it very difficult to cognitively override strong instinctive predispositions, and continue to select for brachycephalic breeds, ignoring future health and well-being issues,” the team added.

The study comes shortly after researchers from RVC compared the risks of 40 common conditions in dogs with other dog breeds.

The team analyzed records for 16,218 pugs and 889,326 non-pug breeds, taken from the VetCompass database.

Their analysis revealed that the pug was at increased risk of developing 23 out of 40 common disorders.

Pugs were 54 times more likely to have brachial obstructive airway syndrome — a condition affecting the upper airway — and 51 times more likely to have constricted nostrils.

The breed was also 13 times more likely to have corneal ulcers, 2.5 times more likely to be obese, and twice as likely to have onychophytosis.

“As humans, we have the power to ensure that every pet dog starts life in good, normal health,” Dr Dan O’Neill, lead author of the paper and associate professor of companion animal epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College, said at the time.

“When choosing which dog to own, it means choosing a breed that doesn’t have severe conformations such as folded skin that can lead to lifelong, painful skin infections.

“It is essential that people make informed choices in purchasing puppies and avoid those dogs that are bred for extreme wrinkles – which are a far cry from what is described in the breed standards – and instead ‘stop and think’, and find a responsible breeder, who has his or her own needs.” Dogs’ well-being at heart.