If your flat faced dog struggles in warmth, tires quickly, sleeps badly or noisily, gags and regurgitates, or has ever collapsed or gone blue, the answer is very likely yes, and sooner beats later. For quiet mild dogs, a functional assessment with a vet who grades airways is the honest way to decide rather than waiting for the first crisis.
Australian summers are the forcing function. Dogs that manage in October are in emergency rooms in January, because panting, a dog's whole cooling system, runs through the exact airway that is obstructed. If surgery is going to happen eventually, having it done before summer, in a planned way, at a chosen clinic, is strictly better than having it decided by a 41 degree day.
Send a video of your dog breathing at rest and after play. An honest read, from $250.
Common in the breed and healthy are different claims. The airway grading schemes exist precisely because the breed norm includes real obstruction. Get the assessment from a vet, ideally one who sees a lot of brachycephalics, rather than from the person who sold the dog.
Older dogs with established obstruction still gain meaningfully from surgery, though tissues weakened by years of effort, laryngeal collapse especially, cap the ceiling. It becomes a candid risk and benefit conversation rather than an automatic yes or no.
An independent written opinion on the diagnosis, the technique and the quote. From $250.