Skin fold dermatitis causes chronic pain and infection in dogs with excessive facial and body folds. This preventable welfare condition results from breeding for extreme conformation.
Skin fold dermatitis causes genuine suffering — the combination of pruritis, pain from secondary infection, and chronic inflammation creates welfare impacts that are often underestimated because dogs mask discomfort. The root cause is breeding for exaggerated physical features that create these structural problems. Welfare-positive management requires daily fold cleaning in affected dogs, prompt veterinary treatment of infections, and longer-term consideration of surgical correction. Breeding away from extreme conformations that cause fold dermatitis is the ultimate welfare-positive solution.