Frenchies are a family tradition in the Grebe family now.  You are the current president of the French Bulldog Club of America, and your husband James Grebe also served as president.  When was that, and how long have you been in Frenchies?

We've had Frenchies since 1980, been members of the FBDCA since the mid 1980's, and have attended every national specialty show since 1984.  Jim was President of the FBDCA from 1998 until 2002, and was VP for the four years before that.  He has a lot of stamina.

I understand that the French Bulldog Club of America has a considerable amount of information about Frenchie health on their website.  What is there?  How were you involved with putting it there, and how do people find it?

The club's website (www.frenchbulldogclub.org) has a Health & Genetics section that was put together by the H&G Committee a few years ago.  I chaired the committee at that time, and the committee put together the materials on the site.  There are links to other sites with health-related information pertinent to Frenchies, a download called "A Letter To My Vet" for new owners whose vets might not have experience with our breed, archived health articles that were printed in the Frenchie Forum, information about our Canine Health Foundation and CHIC involvement, data from the Spine Database underway at OFA.  We are about to have a major site reconstruction, and plan a much improved H&G section which we hope will be interactive and allow us to do some online surveys and data collection.  We will also be working with the expanded Education program as well.

Tell us how you got involved with Frenchies.  Who was your first Frenchie?

We got our first Frenchie in 1980, at a time when it was nearly impossible to find one at all, and even harder to convince a breeder to let you have one if you'd never owned a Frenchie before.  We were very lucky to get the late, great Minnie who set the hook and made us devotées of the breed for all time.  Other Frenchies followed, and through them we met people all over the world who have become our great friends.  These little dogs have opened doors and taken our lives along paths we would otherwise have missed.

You wrote Healthy Frenchies, An Owner's Manual back in 1998.  How did that come about?

I'd written a number of articles over the years for the French Bullytin.  In '98 I revised and updated a number of them, had my friend Becca Williams do some wonderful original drawings to illustrate them, and it was published as a volume by Ardesign.  Unfortunately it is now out of print and unavailable and I don't think that there are any plans to reprint it.

What is your background, and what do you do for a living?

Mine is a checkered background.  My doctoral and postdoctoral research was in the field of developmental and medical genetics, with additional emphasis on vertebrate anatomy and physiology.  During the early years I taught at the college undergraduate level in a variety of courses for allied health students and biology majors, then moved into human anatomy and taught gross anatomy, embryology, and radiographic anatomy to medical students.  I also worked for many years as a medical-legal consultant doing literature research and medical records analysis for attorneys in a wide range of personal injury cases.  I still do that occasionally if there is a case that interests me (for example I just finished working on one that involved a man who was run over by a forklift); but finally quit teaching a couple of years ago.  Twenty years in a gross anatomy lab is plenty.

How did you segue into Frenchie health?

Prior to getting Frenchies I had dachshunds (Fledermaus was with me for 18 years, and Ursula for 15), and a Boston Terrier.  Along the way I'd picked up a fair amount of basic canine health information, and when we got into Frenchies I became interested in the particular problems associated with a short-faced chondrodystrophic dwarf breed.  This fit very well with my professional background and interests, too.

You've been the person to go to about problems with Frenchie spines and backs and necks for years now.  How did that happen?

I wrote a couple of articles … one on hemivertebrae, the other on premature degenerative disc disease … and immediately started hearing from people about these issues.  Now both articles are on the internet and that has really increased the numbers of folks with questions about these.

What is the story that you hear the most?

There are two.  First, someone's dog will have an X-ray done for some unrelated reason (check for gut obstruction, look at the lungs or heart, whatever....) and a vet without much Frenchie experience will notice abnormal vertebrae and panic and tell the owner that the dog is a goner.  In fact, this is usually just an "incidental finding" that is causing no problems at all.  More serious is when a previously asymptomatic dog about 5 years old suddenly develops acute pain, hindlimb weakness or incoordination or paralysis, and is diagnosed as having a herniated disc.  In this case immediate treatment is required, with steroids and crate rest, to avoid permanent damage.  This conservative treatment usually does the trick.

Tell us something about Frenchie vulnerability when it comes to spines and back and necks.  What is the worst threat to Frenchie health in that area?  What can conscientious Frenchie owners do  to lessen the chances of harm - is there anything they can do?

Although some people feel that back trouble can be avoided by not letting their dogs run, jump, climb stairs, I have come to believe that if a disc is severely degenerated, then restricting the dog's activity is not likely to make that much difference.  The vet orthopedist I talk with says (and  I agree) that a prematurely degenerated disc is a herniation waiting to happen.  Once the degenerative changes occur it's just a matter of time until the disc ruptures, regardless of the dog's activity.  I've known several Frenchies who had a sudden disc herniation while just strolling across the living room.   

What makes Frenchies vulnerable to back and neck and spine problems?

Like Dachshunds, they have a condition called chondrodystrophy, which causes abnormalities in their cartilage.  This causes the intervertebral discs to degenerate earlier in life than in other breeds.  It also causes abnormalities in the way that the fetal cartilage skeleton is replaced by the definitive bony skeleton, and this is manifested by shortened and thickened limb bones that are flared at the ends ("good bone"), and by shortening and malformations of the vertebrae, especially in the thoracic region.  The vertebral malformations can be multiple and still cause no problems for the dog; when they do cause trouble it is generally before one year of age.  It's the disc degeneration that is the cause of most back trouble in Frenchies, and this seems to be  unrelated to vertebral malformations.

Are there any early warning signs that say, trouble is coming, watch out?

No, unless you have an X ray done for some reason and note a narrowing of the disc space (usually in the area where the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae meet .... around T13/L1 or L1/L2).  Or more importantly if you see evidence that the center of the disc, the nucleus, has become calcified, which shows up as a white spot on the X ray.

What is it that you can offer people in terms of advice or reassurance?

If you catch a disc herniation early and treat it properly and quickly, the dog most often recovers without surgery.  Being alert to any sign of pain or weakness in a dog about 5 years old (+/- 1 year) and recognizing the warning signs of a disc herniation is key to getting it properly diagnosed and treated.  If your vet spots some abnormal vertebrae in your adult dog, but they are not causing narrowing of the spinal canal or compromising the spinal cord, then just assume that they are not causing any real trouble.

So many vets recommend surgery for back problems.  Is there anything an owner should do first to verify that his or her Frenchie needs surgery before going ahead with surgery?

The vet orthopedist at the specialty clinic here says that if the dog is not completely paralyzed, and if it has some reflexes, and if it is not incontinent, then it should be given steroids and crate rest.  If the condition worsens in spite of this, then surgery may be needed and should not be delayed too long.  Generally a vet will do a myelogram (a dye is injected into the spinal canal and an X ray taken, to show exactly where the disc is and how badly it is herniated); or if an MRI is available, that is easier on the dog.  Whichever is done will require anesthesia and the vet will probably recommend that if the study shows a severe herniation, then surgery on it should proceed then and there, under the same anesthesia.

Have you ever faced spine or neck or back problems in your own dogs?

Yes.  Bel's dad had a disc herniation at age 5 years (that's when most of them happen.  It responded well to steroids and crate rest and he recovered completely without any further problems.

Tell us something about the relationship you have with your own Frenchies.  What do you do with them (therapy dog work, obedience, eating lunch... etc.)

They like being on a lap, they love to go for walks, they enjoy car rides, and that's what we do as "family activities".  Our late lamented boy Verbal was a Therapy Dog and he and Jim visited nursing homes.  Verbal's mom Bel-Gazou (now nearly 11) keeps our house safe from bunnies and chipmunks and squirrels, and during good weather she spends considerable time keeping watch over the back yard and giving chase when indicated.  Doocee, the new boy, loves nothing better than to sit on my lap while I work at the computer.  It is hard to type with a Frenchie head draped across my right wrist, which is his favored position.

Do you mind if a person contacts you when his or her Frenchie develops a spine or back or neck problem, and they don't know what to do or what to expect?

No, provided they keep in mind that I'm in the Central time zone, and don't call when I'm likely to be asleep or sitting down to dinner.

What do you love most about this breed?

They make me laugh a lot.

All of the French Bulldog pictures in this article are Grebe Frenchies past and present. You can contact Jan Grebe at JDGrebe@aol.com

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