07/16/2020
Brachycephalic dogs are ineffective panters. Panting is a form of evaporative cooling that helps regulate dogs’ body temperatures in the heat. The shorter, “smushed” faces of brachycephalic dogs are quite cute, but they can create big problems when it comes to airflow.
This causes short-muzzled dogs to snort, gurgle, and sometimes have a difficult time breathing. The bone structure of their faces makes their airways like a tight maze, so much less air reaches the lungs in a breath than it would for a non-brachycephalic dog.
Many short muzzled dogs will breathe through their mouths, but they’re still not getting as much air as their longer-snouted counterparts.
Soft palates in brachycephalic dogs’ mouths block a majority of the air coming in to the trachea, which means your short-snouted dog needs to work even harder just to get a sufficient amount of oxygen in their system.
Imagine trying to breathe while someone is pinching your nose and you have a swollen throat. That’s what it can be like for brachycephalic dogs in the summer.