There Was a Reason It Ranked No. 1 in the US... The Secret to the Popularity of French Bulldogs

Four Times More Help Requests Than Moody...
"Feels Like a Baby" Increased Bond with Owner

An experiment revealed that the secret to the popularity of the dog breed 'Bulldog,' known for its short nose and muzzle, is its 'baby-like behavior.'

"The box won't open, please help"... Bulldogs requested help more than 4 times as often as Hungarian Mudi

[Image source=Pixabay]

On the 22nd, a research team led by Dr. Dorottya Ujfalusi from E?tv?s Lor?nd University in Budapest, Hungary, published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports that in an experiment involving finding food inside a box, Bulldogs looked at humans more frequently and sought help more often than other dog breeds.

The researchers conducted a behavioral comparison experiment involving 15 English Bulldogs, 15 French Bulldogs, and 13 Hungarian Mudi, a herding dog breed with a medium-length muzzle.

The dogs were shown three boxes with varying lid-opening difficulties, each containing sausages. The order of the boxes was randomized, and the dogs were given one box at a time to open within two minutes to eat the sausage.

The experimenters and the dogs' owners observed from behind the dogs.

As a result, English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs had a 93% lower success rate in opening the boxes compared to Hungarian Mudi, and it took them longer to open the boxes. However, they looked at their owners and sought help much more frequently.

By the one-minute mark, about 90% of Hungarian Mudi had opened the boxes, whereas only about 50% of English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs succeeded.

However, when the boxes did not open, the behavior of turning back to look at the owner and seeking help was 4.49 times more frequent in French Bulldogs and 4.16 times more frequent in English Bulldogs compared to Hungarian Mudi.

Bulldogs' help-seeking is an expression of 'helplessness'... "Feels like a baby, increasing bonding"

[Image source=Pixabay]

The researchers explained that this behavior in Bulldogs expresses 'helplessness' when facing a problem and shows a tendency to seek human help, which can promote a stronger social bond between the owner and the dog.

They added that people may perceive Bulldogs exhibiting such behavior as 'babies,' and this behavior that increases human-dog bonding partially explains why Bulldogs remain one of the popular companion dog breeds despite health issues.

However, the researchers noted that this study could not determine whether Bulldogs' more dependent behavior on humans is due to genetic factors or if the owners' attitudes toward the dogs cause such behavior.

French Bulldog dethrones 'Labrador Retriever,' the 30-year champion, as the most popular companion dog in the U.S.

French Bulldog and Labrador Retriever.
[Photo by American Kennel Club]

Meanwhile, according to local media such as CNN in the U.S. in March, the American Kennel Club (AKC), citing 2022 registration statistics, announced that the French Bulldog surpassed the Labrador Retriever, which had been the most popular companion dog for over 30 years, to become the number one most popular companion dog.

The French Bulldog ranked 14th in 2012 and jumped to 2nd place in 2021. Then, last year, its registration rate soared by more than 1000% compared to ten years ago, securing the top spot.

Additionally, the French Bulldog has gained fame as a pet chosen by Hollywood stars recently, causing its price to skyrocket to several thousand dollars.

Because of this, in 2021, two of the three French Bulldogs owned by pop singer Lady Gaga were kidnapped.

In February, a 70-year-old man in South Carolina, U.S., who came to trade companion dogs, was shot by an unidentified group and had his French Bulldog taken away.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.