The Bouvier Health Foundation requested a general health survey for bouviers whose owners belong to the American Bouvier des Flandres Club. The purpose was to find possible emerging breed-related health problems, so that concerns and breed problems can be addressed. Previous surveys were used as a basis for the current survey.

The survey was mailed to all members of the American Bouvier des Flandres Club on October 18, 2005. Names were added to the list of members being mailed surveys. These additional names were given ID numbers that could be distinguished from the original names for the purpose of calculating response rates. Postcard reminders were sent out on December 8, 2004 encouraging owners to return the survey even if it was blank because they no longer owned bouviers. Non-responders were called beginning in April 2005. New copies of the surveys were mailed out to non-responders in June 2005.

Answers from the surveys were compiled into excel spreadsheets under each survey identification number. Then data was sorted into tables for easier analysis. In most cases, variables (i.e. age, sex) were specifically noted in the tables. It should be made clear that ages are in years, except when noted.

When results showed more than a 2% difference between male and female dogs in any particular health category, then a chi-square test was used to analyze the data. Two percent was chosen as a large enough difference to be biologically or clinically important. If the resulting p-value was less than or equal to 0.05, then it was considered statistically significant. Having a statistically significant p-value indicates a difference between the sexes and the frequency of these health problems.

There were a total of 1057 bouvier owners and members of the club who responded with information that could be used for the survey results. Originally, 1582 members were sent surveys and as names were added to the mailing list, an additional 79 surveys were mailed. However, 112 of these were bad addresses, and were not counted. Eleven blank forms were returned, 25 surveys were returned specifying they no longer had bouviers, and there were two unusable returned surveys. Overall, we had a 71% response rate which is moderately high. Information about the response rate can be found in Table A-1. The two returned surveys that were not usable had been answered in an uninterpretable manner, such as, having multiple dogs but not specifying the number of dogs afflicted by an illness and instead simply checking items off. Possible reasons as to why the rest did not reply cannot be certain. Reasons could include: 1) too time consuming; 2) too many dogs to include; 3) too many health problems; 4) very few or no health problems; 5) have not recently owned Bouviers; 6) some other unknown reason. The higher the response rate, the more accurate and conclusive the data. The survey includes a total of 3450 Bouviers. The top ten most reported health problems were cancer, stillbirths, sebaceous cysts, hot spots, arthritis, hip dysplasia, hypothyroidism, food allergies, fading puppies, and dermatitis. An overall plot of the health problems surveyed can be found in Graph A-1 in Appendix I.

The first page of the survey was general information about the Bouvier owners and their dogs. The median number of years an individual had owned bouviers was 12.5 years. Most owners currently only had one dog; the maximum number of dogs a person owned was twenty. General information can be found in Table A-2. The most popular activities that these bouviers participated in are pet companion, conformation, and obedience (Table A-3). See also Graph A-2. Owners reported to be most concerned with cancer, hip dysplasia, and heart problems, as seen in Table A-4. This can also be seen in Graph A-3.

Differences between the sexes were found in eight health problems using our 2% rule and chi-square calculations. Males were more likely to have hot spots and hip dysplasia. Females were more likely to have mammary carcinomas, sebaceous cysts, missing teeth, bladder infections, incontinence, and incontinence from neutering.

Non malignant tumors and cysts (Table B-2) were reported in nineteen percent of the bouviers. Females were 1.3 times more likely to have sebaceous cysts. Skin and hair problems (Table B-3) affected approximately twenty-six percent of the dogs. Sixteen percent had hot spots. Females were 1.3 times more likely to have hot spots than males.

Eye problems affected approximately eleven percent of the dogs surveyed as can be seen in Table B-4. Almost four percent were affected by cataracts. It should be noted that some people were confused of whether their dog had primary or secondary glaucoma. There were also relatively few dogs in each glaucoma group, so age trends cannot be determined. Ten percent of the dogs were reported to have ear problems (Table B-5). The most common ear problems were inner ear infections (4.6%) and chronic external ear infections (3.5%). Problems with the mouth and teeth affected eleven percent of the bouviers (Table B-6). Four percent had missing teeth. Females were almost 2 times more likely to have teeth missing.

Drug reactions occurred in almost five percent of the dogs, as seen in Table B-7. Reactions to anesthesia were the most reported, affecting 1.7% of the population surveyed. Respiratory problems affected less than one percent of bouviers surveyed (Table B-8).

More than twelve percent of the dogs reported autoimmune or immune problems (Table B-9). Almost seven percent had food allergies. The top food allergies noted were beef, corn, and wheat. Graph B-2 shows the top ten food allergies. Inhaled allergies affected almost four percent of the dogs. One percent of the dogs suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.

Endocrine problems, like those listed in Table B-10, affected more than nine percent of the bouviers. Hypothyroidism affected 6.7% of the dogs. Problems with muscles (Table B-11), such as, myopathy and myasthenia gravis affected less than half of a percent.

Twenty-eight percent of the dogs had bone and skeletal problems, as seen in Table B-12. Arthritis affected eleven percent and hip dysplasia affected eight percent. Males were 1.5 times more likely to have hip dysplasia than females. See Graph B-3 to view skeletal problems.

Gastrointestinal tract problems occurred in twelve percent of the bouviers (Table B-13). Impacted anal glands affected 2.6% of the total dogs. Stomach bloat occurred in 1.9%. Liver and spleen problems were noted in one percent of the survey population (Table B-14).

Urinary tract problems affected 12.6% of the total dogs. See Table B-15. More than five percent of the females had experienced at least one bladder infection. Females were 3.9 times more likely to have had a bladder infection than males. Incontinence and incontinence from neutering was 4.0 times and 5.4 times more likely to occur in females than males.

Almost eight percent of the bouviers had experienced a heart problem, as can be seen in Table B-16. Congestive heart failure occurred in 2.2% of the dogs and subvalvular aortic Stenosis (SAS) occurred in 1.3% of the dogs. Seventeen heart murmur grades were recorded; the median grade was 1.7. Heart murmur grades were recorded in cases of SAS, DCM, mitral valve murmurs, PDA, tricuspid valve dysplasia, and murmurs from illness. If a cause was not included with a grade, then it was grouped as an unspecified murmur. Heart problems can be found in Graph B-4. Neurological problems affected 3.7% of the total number of dogs (Table B-17). One and a half percent had experienced a single seizure, and almost one percent had epilepsy.

Reproductive problems occurred more often in females than males. Almost twenty percent of the female dogs were affected, while only six and a half percent of the males were affected. The most common problems in females were pyometras (5.0%), cesarean births (4.9%), and abnormal heat cycles (4.2%); as can be seen in Table C-2. The most common problems in males were mono/cryptorchidism (1.6%) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (1.4%), as seen in Table C-3. Almost twenty-five percent of the total dogs were bred at least once (Table C-1). In the past six years, 702 litters were reported (Table C-4). Litter and puppy problems occurred in 33.5% of the litters, as seen in Table C-5. Stillborn puppies occurred in 17.4% of the litters; and fading puppies occurred in 6.6% of the litters.

The response rate was approximately 71%, which was a moderately high rate. Problems encountered included some respondents were unfamiliar with medical terms, some found the instructions confusing, and some checked off conditions but did not specify the number of dogs affected. Cancer was the health problem that owners were most concerned about; and cancer was the number one cause of death in bouviers surveyed. Differences between the sexes of more than 2% were found in eight health problems. Males were more likely to have hot spots and hip dysplasia. Females were more likely to have mammary carcinomas, sebaceous cysts, missing teeth, bladder infections, incontinence, and incontinence from neutering. From this survey of 3450 bouviers, the top ten most reported health problems were cancer, stillbirths, sebaceous cysts, hot spots, arthritis, hip dysplasia, hypothyroidism, food allergies, fading puppies, and dermatitis.