Altitude Alert: How Living High Up Affects Your Dog’s Health Differently Based on Their Breed!
Researchers embarked on a mission to define the normal ranges for arterial blood gas (aBG) measurements in healthy, nonsedated dogs of different head shapes living at high altitudes. The study, involving 120 nonbrachycephalic and 20 brachycephalic dogs, aimed to understand how altitude affects these canine companions.
The shape of dogs' heads affects their sleep
Flat-faced dog breeds are popular all over the world. In the USA and in Hungary, the French Bulldog is currently the most common breed. However, their popularity comes at a high cost in terms of health: shortened skulls are associated with deteriorative brain morphology changes, breathing difficulties and sleep problems. According to recent findings by Hungarian researchers, flat-faced dogs sleep more because their breed-specific sleep apnea increases daytime sleepiness, their REM sleep phase is longer than non-REM sleep, and their sleep EEG patterns show signs of white matter loss.