A New Type of Pure Bread Pug

Scientists at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea have announced they have created a new pure-bread dog for the show ring.

The Journal of New Age Science (JNAS) reports:

Lead scientist Bo Hi Pak and his team (they call themselves "The Dog Pak" and refer to him as "the Pak Leader") worked for two years to isolate the gene cluster that determines eye number and location in dogs.

"We chose the pug for this first attempt at a purpose-bread dog because, after looking at all the possible candidates for genetic manipulation, we thought it looked most like a loaf of bread, and we really wanted to see what could be done with a pure bread dog as those genes are the ones that are best understood."

Pak and his team started with a young dog named "Cindy" imported from the U.K., and they crossed it with its own grandfather over 20 times in order to create 100 frozen zygotes that could be manipulated in the lab and then transplanted into the uterus of a Shi-Tzu.

"We wanted to create something unusual and, after a frustratingly long period of creating dead dogs and blind dogs, we managed to create Sy," said Pak, referring to the dog named after the mythical monster cyclops.

"Then we received the latest paper from the Royal Veterinary College in the UK about Building Better Brachycephalics, and we realized that a lot of smash-faced dogs like Pugs end up with serious eye issues, and often go blind in at least one eye, and we thought we could help."

The problem Pak and his team sought to tackle is indeed legion among brachycephalic (smash-faced) dogs. As the recent paper from the Royal Veterinary College notes:

"In a recent case series the majority of corneal ulcer cases were brachycephalic, with 50% represented by the prominent-eyed Shih Tzu and 25% by the Pekingese"

The good news is that Pak and his "Dog Pak" have come up with a perfect solution with a new breed of dog they are calling "EYE-SIS".

Said Carolyn Woodthorpe-Smalley, chair of the Kennel Club's Pug Health Committee: "This is a pure bread dog. Of this we have no doubt, as Cindy's lines, and her grandfathers, go back more than 100 years. Because of that, there is no question this is a registerable dog, and one that is clearly bread for function."

Pak says he has received more than 60 inquiries from prospective owners, many of them Americans, who are anxious to own a new version of this old breed.

"We didn't start this to make money," said Pak "but research is expensive, and we are grateful that we can see a possible new source of income to help us create Flat Coated Retrievers that have six legs, four in the back and two in the front. We think this might be the perfect solution for cancer and hip dysplasia in that line of pure-bread animals.  But first, we have to manipulate the gene for the Pug's sphincter, so it can breathe better from the hole in the back."