| Swedish KC to require RFG for brachycephalic breeding
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Issue: 05/07/2024
From January 1, 2025, all Pug, French Bulldog and Bulldog puppies must have come from parents with approved results from the respiratory survey Respiratory Function Grading Scheme (RFG-S) to be registered with the Swedish Kennel Club (SKK).
Britt-Marie Dornell, chairman of the Swedish Kennel Club said, “It feels very good to be able to take the next step in the introduction of RFG-S and the next measure along the way to ensure that the dogs born within the Swedish Kennel Club are healthy.
“We have a decision from the kennel council that says that we should put health first in everything we do and our ambition is of course to, based on current research, be a leader in the field.”
Respiratory Function Grading is a method of grading the occurrence of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS). It was developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the British Kennel Club. The method is used in around 15 countries, including Denmark and Norway. From 1 January 2025 for the breeds in question the RFG must be completed before mating.
The Swedish Kennel Club introduced the RFG-S program at the beginning of 2023 and has also arranged training for Swedish veterinarians in the scheme, which involves studying the dogs’ breathing after they have been exposed to physical stress. The SKK has worked to make sure that the implementation of all the RFG surveys is as similar as possible.
RFG-S is currently only available to brachycephalic breeds. However, the researchers at the University of Cambridge are working on expanding RFG-S to be used on other short-headed dog breeds as well.
Last year the Irish Kennel Club (IKC) decided that from January 2024, ‘all puppies from brachycephalic breeds will be endorsed, ‘not to be bred from’’. The Finnish KC has started crossbreeding programmes for French Bulldogs.
In 2019 the Dutch government announced it was going to actively enforce laws from 2014 to prohibit the breeding of dogs whose muzzles were considered too short.
All brachycephalic breeds in Sweden are welcome to undergo RFG-S, regardless of whether the dog is registered in the Swedish Kennel Club or not. The test is done at veterinary clinics and a list of clinics that offer the service can be found at https://www.skk.se.
