Barrel Vs. Deep-Chested Dogs (Examples Included)
Knowing and recognizing what barrel and deep-chested dogs are, is the first step to understanding your dog’s personality, health, and abilities.
Many dog breeds are naturally barrel-chested such as the Pug, Boxer, and Terrier (to name a few). Yet, oodles of mixed-breed dogs also end up with barrel chests due to their assortment of genes.
There are dog breeds that, via breeding, develop barrel chests, although they are not naturally intended to. An example of one of these breeds would be the Labrador Retriever.
Barrel-chested dog’s chests are (surprise, surprise) in the shape of a barrel. These dogs have deep, wide, rounded rib cages and wide, rounded shoulders. The bottom of their chest ends above or in line with their front elbows.
Barrel-chested dogs are typically strong, solid, and muscular, and your medium to large breeds are often bred for hunting and guarding. Not only are they known to be highly loyal and protective, but they also make remarkably affectionate companions.
There are small, medium, and large deep-chested dog breeds. The Doberman Pinscher, Daschund, Great Dane, and Greyhound are all excellent examples of dogs with this chest type.
Deep-chested dogs have oval-shaped chests that appear taller and narrower than wide. Their chest area falls as low or lower than the elbows on their forelegs.
Dogs with this chest type are usually very athletic and enjoy running and endurance activities. They, too, are well built for hunting and other endurance-type jobs.
There are a few noticeable differences between deep-chested and barrel-chested dogs that are worth a mention.
I know I have covered this already, but it’s worth a second mention, given that it is one of the most recognizable and unmistakable differences between deep and barrel-chested dogs.
The chest shapes are markedly different. Your deep-chested dog has an oval egg-shaped chest, and if you glance at them from the side, their stomach appears higher than the bottom of their rib cage.
Poles apart, the barrel-chested dog’s chest appears wide and barrel-shaped from the front, and the top and bottom of their chest look straight.
Deep-chested dogs are more athletic and suited to running and endurance activities than barrel-chested dogs. Their oval-shaped chests give them the breathing space needed for more vigorous and active activities.
While deep-chested dogs better handle long-distance or lengthy athletic activities, barrel-chested dogs have the strength to endure physical activity (think, strength-associated activities such as guarding, fighting, and digging).
They have the stocky, muscular build, wide legs, and thick necks required for these muscle-demanding activities. The strength and power they hold at the front of their bodies is a good deal more than that of a deep-chested dog.
Both deep-chested and barrel-chested dogs can suffer from a potentially life-threatening condition known as Gastric Dilation and Volvulus (GDV).
While barrel-chested dogs can suffer from Gastric Dilation (GD) or bloat, it is usually only the larger breeds that are affected (if at all). Despite this, the risk of suffering from GD or being predisposed to respiratory conditions is not greater than in another chest-shaped breed.
If a barrel-chested dog is unfortunate enough to suffer from bloat, it habitually does not develop into GDV, which is significantly more dangerous.
On the other hand, deep-chested dog breeds are at a much higher risk of developing GDV than barrel-chested dogs. This is due to the deeper, larger size of their chests.
The larger chest size makes it easier for their stomachs to expand and dilate with gas and provides more room for the stomach to rotate or entwine. Careful dietary, exercise, and medical checks are recommended to avoid developing this condition.
Deep-chested dog breeds are naturally born deep-chested. Dog breeds not naturally deep-chested do not develop deep chests through time or breeding. A dog is either born deep-chested or not.
Barrel-chests can, however, be present in non-typical barrel-chested breeds, such as your mixed breed dogs and other breeds as a result of breeding.
Deep-chested and barrel-chested breeds are both dogs.
No, seriously, there are other similarities. Let’s discover some of them.
Both deep-chested and barrel-chested dogs lean towards the more energetic, high-energy dog breed variety. These dogs thrive on being active and need a fair amount of exercise and activity.
Without exercise and stimulation, many of these breeds are known to get up to heaps of mischief. This misbehavior is usually due to pent-up energy and associated frustration.
Most deep-chested and barrel-chested dogs tend to be medium to large in size. There are smaller barrel-chested dogs, but a lesser amount.
As a result, your deep-chested and barrel-chested dogs will usually be found in your larger dog breeds.
Both your deep and barrel-chested dogs have been bred for hunting and other jobs requiring heaps of energy and stamina.
The dogs with these chest types, in particular, the medium to large breeds, are typically hard-working and well-known as being both energetic and wonderful companions.
As dogs with both chest types can develop bloat, it is suggested that you keep an eye on their eating and exercise practices and behaviors to avoid any health complications.
Avoid exercising your deep and barrel-chested dogs vigorously right before, during, or right after a meal to prevent any excess swallowing of air.
If your dog is like mine and tends to believe every meal is their last, invest in a puzzle bowl to slow the eating down.
A useful chart for comparing several key barrel-chested and deep-chested dog similarities and differences.
| Barrel Chested Dogs | Deep Chested Dogs | |
| Common traits | Strength | Running; endurance; speed |
| Common jobs | Hunting; fighting; digging; guarding | Working, hunting |
| Build type | Rounded, wide shoulders; muscular; stocky; thick necks; deep, wide chest; front legs wide apart | Athletic; energetic; oval, tall, narrow, and wide chest; front legs fairly close together |
| General size | Small, medium, or large | Medium to large |
| Chest appearance | Straight top and bottom; ends in line with or above forelegs | Oval-shaped; falls as low or lower than the elbows of the forelegs; taller and narrower than wide |
| GDV Susceptibility | Low to medium. Larger dogs are at risk. | Medium to high. Larger male dogs are at greater risk. |
| Exercise Precautions | Avoid before and after eating | Avoid before and after eating |
Barrel-chested dogs have a lot of strength and power in the front of their bodies, as this is where most of their muscle sits. This makes them better suited as guard dogs than your deep-chested breeds.
Deep-chested dogs also tend not to develop respiratory issues easily. If you are extra cautious and stick to a simple exercise and diet routine, you will ordinarily have no respiratory difficulties. GDV is not as risky or common in barrel-chested dogs, and they are commonly identified as healthy, fit breeds.
Deep-chested dogs are fantastic hunting dogs and are known as hard workers.
They have the extra lung capacity for running and endurance activities. Deep-chested dogs typically have more endurance than the common barrel-chested dog breeds.
There isn’t one specific activity that leads to the development of GDV, but there can be several reasons as to why bloat occurs. Bloat is caused by swallowing air, but unlike humans, dogs cannot release this air by eructating (burping). It is unknown why d ogs cannot release this unwanted gas. Some of the obvious symptoms of bloat can be:
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV), also known as “bloat,” stomach torsion or “twisted stomach.” Bloat is an extremely serious condition that it most common in large, barrel-chested dogs (Great Danes, Doberman, Boxers, Mastiffs, etc.) and should be considered a life-threatening emergency when it occurs. The gastric dilatation is one part of the condition and torsion is the second part. Bloat is due to a number of different and sometimes unknown reasons. The stomach fills up with air and puts pressure on the other organs and diaphragm. There are no home remedies for bloat, therefore, a trip to your local emergency vet is a must. GDV is life-threatening if it is not treated immediately. Even with a treatment, it has been known that 25-33% of dogs with GDV don’t survive. Understanding the signs, prevention and need for immediate treatment will help reduce the risk of mortality if your dog develops this problem.
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus is unfortunately very common in dogs and since it can be fatal, it is important to follow these instructions to help prevent bloating. If you see your dog have these symptoms, transport your dog to the vet immediately. For more information on GDV, consult with your veterinarian.
Some recommendations from a licensed veterinarian include feeding your dog with a slow feeder bowl (to make sure it takes longer for them to ingest the food). It’s also recommended to hold off on any physical activity for at least 2 hours after a meal. Sometimes even cutting their meals into four smaller portions will help prevent bloating. In the hotter seasons, make sure your dog drinks water in small portions and drinks fairly slow. Drinking too much water too quickly can cause them to swallow a lot of air.
Amazing! They, quite simply, are an amazing team of professionals who treat the animals in their care as if they are their own.
What Is A Barrel-Chested Dog?
As the name suggests, this is a canine with a chest that looks like a barrel. He comes with a ‘heavy’ chest and a deep ribcage.
Many people confuse the barrel-chested with deep-chested but the two mean different things.
A deep-chested dog has a narrower chest that goes below the dog’s elbows.
Examples include Dobermans, Irish Wolfhounds, and Dachshunds. A barrel chest is broader and round-shaped.
Slobberbone – Barrel Chested
I have two dogs that are more or less the same height. One dog has a slender, agile build and the other is stocky and robust. I’ve started noticing how other dogs at the dog park all have different chests, so I looked into it and found out that there are three types of dog chests:
A dog can have a deep chest, a barrel chest, or a round chest, depending on the shape of their rib cage. Deep-chested dogs have narrower, taller ribcages. Barrel-chested dogs have wider, shorter ribcages. Most dogs have round chests that are not tall enough or short enough to be deep or barrel chests.
Dogs were bred for different reasons, which is why they have different chests. But chest shape has nothing to do with the dog’s size – a small dog will just have a smaller chest than a bigger dog, even if both dogs have a ‘deep’ chest.
There’s no one size fits all here so let’s explore where a dog’s chest is, how to determine the chest type, why dogs have different chests, and the differences, traits and health concerns of deep-chested and barrel-chested breeds…
A dog’s chest runs from the bottom of the dog’s neck to the stomach. The chest includes the dog’s ribs, the dog’s spine from the shoulders’ points to the end of the ribs, and the dog’s breastplate that connects some of the ribs together in the ribcage, opposite the spine.
In the picture below, you’ll see a red area towards the front of the dog. This red area shows where a dog’s chest is found:
Most dogs have round chests. When looking at these dogs from the front, their ribcage is round in shape, like a circle. Their chests may be slightly deep or barrel shaped, but not enough for them to be classified as deep- or barrel-chested dogs.
The red circle on the Labrador in the following picture shows how a typical round-chested dog looks from the front:
Round-chested dogs were bred for many different jobs, such as herding, swimming, or acting as companions. Some dogs that are typically round-chested are Corgis, Golden Retrievers and Labradors.
Labradors are round-chested dogs, but some breeders have introduced barrel chests into their breeding lines over time. This is why some Labradors appear more barrel-chested than round-chested, though this is not true to the breed.
We know that dogs were bred with certain chests depending on what the dog was used for.
Labradors were bred to help fisherman by carrying nets, swimming in and fetching fish from the icy ocean, and keeping fishermen company. None of these ‘jobs’ needed a deep or barrel chest, so Labradors were bred with broad, round chests.
A deep-chested dog has a narrow, tall ribcage that is egg- or oval-shaped from the front. The height of a dog’s ribcage is called the ‘depth’. A ‘deep chest’ means that the ribcage is higher from top to bottom than it is wide, from left to right. Deep chests fall as low as, if not lower than, the dog’s elbows in its front legs.
Here is a picture of a deep-chested Great Dane dog – see how the chest has an egg-like, elliptical shape to it, with a lot of space between the top and bottom of the ribcage?
The following picture shows the same deep-chested Great Dane from the side – see how low the chest falls compared to the dog’s elbows?
A dog’s size doesn’t determine its chest type. Any size dog can be deep-chested, even small- and medium-sized dogs. A deep chest is narrower and taller than a round or barrel chest.
Dogs with deep chests were often bred for running, speed and endurance. The shape of the deep chest gives the dog’s lungs a lot of space to expand, so the dog can take deeper breaths. Deeper, slower breaths provide more oxygen to the dog’s muscles, which gives the dog energy to run faster or over long distances.
Many deep-chested dogs love running, agility games, and playing fetch – Click here to see the full list of dog breeds that love playing fetch.
But all the space in a larger dog with a high ribcage makes it easier for the dog’s stomach to fill up with gas or fluids, then turn over. This is commonly known as bloat or GDV (Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus). GDV is a life-threatening condition and requires medical attention.
You’ll also need to take extra care to manage and monitor what your dog eats if your dog develops pica – an eating disorder where dogs eat non-food items. Here’s more info about pica and how to manage it.