Skin fold dermatitis is a painful and easily missed condition in dogs with excessive skin folds, particularly brachycephalic breeds whose facial and body anatomy creates chronic skin infections.
Skin fold dermatitis causes chronic pain and itching that is often unrecognized because dogs cannot verbally communicate discomfort in skin folds hidden beneath excess tissue. The malodor associated with infected folds is noticed by owners as a grooming issue rather than a welfare problem. Chronic infections lead to skin thickening, ulceration, and potential spread to surrounding tissue. The scratching and rubbing behavior of affected dogs is frequently dismissed rather than recognized as a pain response. Skin fold conditions in brachycephalic breeds are a direct consequence of breeding for extreme conformations - welfare problems that are entirely created by human aesthetic preferences in dog breeding.