Veterinarians need to do more to discourage people from breeding dogs with extremely flat faces. Jessica Perry Hekman, DVM, PhD, compares the recent British Veterinary Association (BVA) position statement on flat-faced dogs, which is quite forward thinking, to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) position, which is weak, at best. “U.S. veterinarians are lacking strong leadership bringing us forward. How can we help to fix these breeds? One step is a new policy from the AVMA, providing real guidance to the veterinarians on the front lines about how to talk to the owners and breeders of brachycephalic dogs.”

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Jessica Perry Hekman, DVM, PhD, tackles The Question – Is genetics absolute? In other words, can some dogs be dealt a bad hand genetically and be doomed to a life of bad behavior? She addresses real world questions like “Are pit bull-type dogs genetically aggressive toward people?” and “Is my dog aggressive because of poor socialization (my fault) or bad genetics (the breeder’s fault)?

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Were pit bulls really considered “nanny dogs” historically? Are pit bulls inherently dangerous because they were historically bred as fighting dogs? In part 2 of our “Dangerous Dogs” series, Sarah Albert tackles some of the most common myths and misconceptions surrounding pit bulls that come from both pit bull advocates and opponents.

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We are just at the beginning of a golden age of genetics. We are learning more and more about how environmental differences affect animals at a genetic level, and we are realizing that genes aren’t the whole story as we originally thought.

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