Background: The popularity of brachycephalic dogs continues to increase despite inherent breed health problems. Increased education of current and potential brachycephalic dog owners could reduce the desirability of severely affected dogs. Methods: Members of the general public were prospectively recruited to assess their understanding and opinions of brachycephalic breed-related health problems, before and after an educational intervention on brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS). Results: A total of 587 people participated. Before the intervention most participants considered characteristics of BOAS to be normal for brachycephalic dogs. Following the intervention this was moderately reduced. Responses highlighted that defining 'normal' for a breed is difficult. Referring to a trait as 'normal', even in a negative context results in normalisation. 99.7% of participants had an improved understanding of BOAS following the intervention. However, only 53.0% of the total participants and 29.3% of brachycephalic dog owning participants had their opinion of brachycephalic dogs changed. 99.5% of participants believed that potential owners should be more aware of BOAS and 57.3% of brachycephalic dog owners would have liked further information about breed health problems before purchasing their dog. Conclusion: Educational interventions may be beneficial in improving understanding and awareness of BOAS however, normalisation of clinical signs of BOAS remains prevalent. K E Y W O R D Sbrachycephalic, brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), breed health, public perception, questionnaire

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To compare open and closed orchidectomy in dogs and the associated complications. MethodsA randomised clinical trial of 93 dogs presented to a teaching hospital. All data included is exclusive to this study. The dogs were randomly allocated to the open or closed orchidectomy group. They were pain scored 2 hours after surgery. Complications occurring within 14 days were recorded.The data was analysed to compare complications (chi-square test), postoperative pain (Kruskal-Wallis test) and duration of surgery (t-test) between groups and to assess whether pain score (chisquare test), age, weight and duration of surgery (Kruskal-Wallis test) had an association with the occurrence of complications. Results43 dogs underwent open and 50 dogs underwent closed orchidectomy. 5/43 (12%) dogs in the open and 12/50 (24%) dogs in the closed group developed complications; there was no significant difference in complication rate (p=0.2).