BOAS is the collective term for airway abnormalities in brachycephalic dogs causing chronic breathing difficulty. Understanding its components helps owners recognise and address their dog's welfare needs.
BOAS causes chronic respiratory distress that is frequently normalised as characterful or cute by owners of brachycephalic breeds. The sounds of laboured breathing that owners find endearing represent the sound of an animal working abnormally hard for every breath. Dogs with significant BOAS experience constant respiratory compromise at rest, worsening dramatically with any exercise or thermal challenge. The welfare suffering is not limited to crisis moments but represents a continuous baseline deficit in respiratory comfort. Surgery to correct conformational abnormalities provides genuine welfare improvement for moderately and severely affected dogs, but the ideal welfare solution is prevention through breeding reform that eliminates the extreme conformations causing BOAS. Supporting veterinary advocacy for breeding reform is more welfare-impactful than individual surgical correction alone.