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Take a deep breath. It turns out the breathing difficulties common to pugs, staffies and bulldogs might not all be due to their smushed up faces.
For years, these ugly cute facial features (short nose, small nostrils and long soft palate) have been solely blamed for their struggles with exercise, hotter weather and even snore free sleeping.
But now the Norwich Terrier has come along and dropped a bomb of the breathing kind. The discovery of a gene that causes swelling and a fluid build up in their lungs has just been identified in their ugly cute cousins as well. Meaning that their genetics may also be to blame for the snorting and shortness of breath as they suck air into already swollen lungs.
The hope now being that smushy face family members can soon be bred both without this gene and with longer noses. Ensuring everyone breathes easier.
