That brachycephalic look: Infant-like facial appearance in short-muzzled dog breeds

Abstract

Brachycephalic dog breeds are highly popular, yet their conformation-related disorders represent a major welfare concern. It has been suggested that the current popularity of such breeds can be explained by their cute, infant-like facial appearances. The concept of ‘kindchenschema’ refers to the observation that certain physical features of infant humans and other animals can automatically stimulate positive and nurturant feelings in adult observers. But the proposal that brachycephalic dogs possess heightened ‘kindchenschema’ facial features, even into adulthood, has never been formally investigated. Here, we hypothesised that relative muzzle shortening across a range of breeds would be associated with known ‘kindchenschema’ facial features, including a relatively larger forehead, larger eyes and smaller nose. Relative fronto-facial feature sizes in exemplar photographs of adult dogs from 42 popular breeds were measured and associated with existing data on the relative muzzle length and height-at-withers of the same breeds. Our results show that, in adulthood, shorter-muzzled breeds have relatively larger (taller) foreheads and relatively larger eyes (i.e. area of exposed eyeball relative to overall face area) than longer-muzzled breeds, and that this effect is independent of breed size. In sum, brachycephalic dog breeds do show exaggeration of some, but not all, known fronto-facial ‘kindchenschema’ features, and this may well contribute to their apparently cute appearance and to their current popularity as companion animals. We conclude that the challenge of addressing conformation-related disorders in companion dogs needs to take account of the cute, ‘kindchenschema’ looks that many owners are likely to be attracted to.

A Review of Clinical Outcomes, Owner Understanding and Satisfaction following Medial Canthoplasty in Brachycephalic Dogs in a UK Referral Setting (2016–2021)

“…The infantile feature of large, low-lying eyes in brachycephalic dogs has been demonstrated to increase their attractiveness to humans, particularly to women [ 34 , 56 ]. Similar to results reported by Steinmetz et al (2017), it was reassuring that a large proportion of owners were satisfied with the cosmetic outcome of MC (87.5%, 56/64) despite the change in the appearance of their dog’s eyes [ 57 ], with the pre-existing dog–owner bond (which is reported to be high with brachycephalic breeds, particularly with Pug owners [ 23 ]) possibly making relatively minor changes in their dog’s appearance more tolerable.…”

“…While the evidence for a negative impact from BOS on health and welfare is strong, the appealingly large eyes and short nose of brachycephalic breeds are still considered desirable traits for many owners [ 6 ]. There is ongoing investigation to try to understand the emotional reasoning behind purchasing a breed with known disease predispositions detrimental to their welfare, including cultural (e.g., fashion) drivers, as well as biological drivers (e.g., the ‘cute effect’ due to their baby-like facial appearance) [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Previous studies have reported that 93% of current owners of brachycephalic dogs were likely to want to own the breed type again [ 36 ].…”

Človek, žival: poglavja o njunih soočanjih

“…Psihologi razlagajo, da ljudi tak obraz podzavestno spominja na dojenčka. Dodaten razlog je, da kratkogobčni psi v odraslem obdobju ohranjajo obrazne poteze mladiča, zato se lastnikom zdijo ljubki in jih želijo zaščititi in zanje skrbeti (Zebrowitz et al 2011;Paul et al 2023).…”

Fur Cortisol in French Bulldogs with Different Manifestations of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome

“…Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), which frequently occurs in brachycephalic dog breeds such as pugs and French bulldogs, has been described and investigated in numerous studies over many years [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The breeds are considered particularly appealing due to their outwardly "childlike" facial features [7]. However, they often suffer from stenotic nostrils, an overlong soft palate, laryngeal constriction and abnormal chonchal growth due to the unphysiological proportions of the skull and soft tissue, which can lead to breathing problems and, in severe cases, even syncope and collapse [1,2,[8][9][10].…”