bulldog skull
Some veterinarians are trying to increase public awareness of bulldog health issues. This movement was started by Dr. Meredith Kennedy, who had seen too many bulldogs die of relatively common and easily preventable diseases. She has a list of 25 veterinarians who are providing analysis of the bulldog’s unique physical conditions and its various health problems.
I will definitely link to this website once it is up.
Bulldogs can be good family dogs, but they can’t be kept by the casual dog owner. Their biggest problem is that they cannot adequately cool themselves, and they very easily can overheat. Some individuals also have an elongated soft palate, which jams in their trachea, preventing the dog from breathing.
I’ve never actually wanted a bulldog. For one thing, they can’t swim very well, and secondly, they aren’t the easiest dog to train. Further, they don’t live very long. I’d rather get 13 years out of a golden retriever than 6 out of a bulldog.
My bulldogs would make lousy retrievers!
But the average lifespan for dogs I’ve bred is just over twelve years.
The skull you’re showing has some good length to it. Many of the dogs bred today would have a much more compressed foreface, unfortunately.
Long skulls are a-okay and much healthier too, while the dog still retains the “bulldog” look without the extremes that cause health problems. I love me a long skull
Hello, my Bulldog ‘Kizzy’ died in March age four aand half. She was of Ockobo Mystyle blood line. I dedicated so much time and affection to her. She had a healthy diet and was of small stature and lean in weight. I excercised her regularly, (short walks). The only health problems I had were her in growing eyelashes and skin allergies which were all treated by the vet. She did undergo several eye ops under general anasthetic, but the problem was sorted by the age of three. My partner took her for a short walk in march and as they reached the house Kizzy’s legs gave way and she died. My partner attempted to rescuss her but it was to late. I am still devastated and feel like I have lost my daughter. I know of three other dogs of the same blood line who died in the same way at a young age. I am no where near ready to take on another bulldog, but when I have finished at university I know that I will want one again. The heart ache that I still feel concerns me, particularly in respect to worrying about the same thing happening again. Could you give me any advice on blood lines, or if the chances of this happening is part of the breed. Thankyou.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
Bulldogs are very good natured dogs, but they have all of these health problems that come from their unusual conformation.
I am not familiar with bulldog lines– especially those in the UK.
Bulldogs are such a nice breed and we all be aware of how much care and hygiene they need. I have a bulldog pup myself and you are right when you say they are not the most athletic breed around, but they can be very loyal. You just have to think what would you expect from a dog.
Too bad too many people buy a dog because they saw it on television.
A bulldog, while a very nice breed to have as a family dog, does have some interesting conformation issues that lead to health problems.
The bulldog is one of many breeds that have been bred to monstrous consequences. I don’t think you can possibly claim to love the breed and produce more of these dogs. If you were to transplant all of the problems a normal bulldog experiences into a lab, gsd, pointer most people would do the humane thing and euthanize the dog; because we’ve grown accustomed to these animals we are no longer shocked by the disabilities that are inherent in the breed. The current phenotype needs to disappear and breeders should return to the original bulldog archetype.
Yes, but the original is something like an American bulldog or a pit bull.
There are tremendous differences in bulldogs, AKC registered bulldogs, depending on how they are bred
My dogs are CERF’d. They pass OFA for knees, shoulders, thyroid, cardiac. They are all participants in OFA’s pilot studies for trachea and spine and have been declared “normal”
They have had there upper airways examined by an experienced veterinarian under anesthesia and have been pronounced normal with no congenital obstruction.
They score in the top 20-30% on PennHIP
We do not keep intact for breeding any dog with:
exercise intolerance
heat intolerance
dogs who have audible obstruction of the airway, no matter how it looks on film
skin or allergy problems
temperament issues
tight or undersized nares
All of our dogs have a nice, well arched neck, fine wrinkle pattern that does not press on the eyes , good moderate front and rear angulation, rounded eyes with healthy lids. None have an inverted tail, digestive issues, crooked leg bones or any of the thing oft preceived by the public as “normal” when, in fact they are NOT
They run, jump, play and handle our triple digit summers as well as our short coated terriers do. Average lifespan is about 12 years,
They are not going to hunt, run a race or be flyball champions. But they can do agility, obedience, show, and be pretty darn low maintenance house pets. It has been a twenty two year journey to get them to this point and there are MANY bulldogs out there that should not be bred, ever. That goes for many many individuals in other breeds as well
Currently due to over popularity, less than 10 % of bulldogs offered for sale come from responsible breeders. Most are imports from eastern Europe or puppy mill and commercial and “web mill” bred
My dogs are natural breeders. Free-whelping is about 50/50. Give me two more generations and I’m pretty sure I’ll have that sorted
And I’m not “blind” to problems. I am an active rescue member and deal with bulldogs who did not have the advantage of good genetics daily. As the oldde english bulldogge, victorian bulldog and american bulldog breeders do little rescue, we get them. And based on the rescues we get in, have the same range of issues poorly bred bulldogs do. Joints, eyes, skin, airway….
I would far rather get a well bred dog from health screened parents if that dog was a bulldog than deal with the clinical dysplasia, epilepsy, cancer, PRA and other issues that can afflict other breeds due to poor breeding practices.
Poor breeding with no regard to health, only profit, commercial breeding, sad “lalala” acceptance of health problems as “just part of the breed”, over-reliance on close inbreeding or line breeding and vaulting popularity are the things that can make the life of any purebred dog and also many half bred ones, a living misery. Good breeders who will make the tough choices to give pups every chance at a long and healthy life are needed in greater numbers right across the board.
A couple of months ago I said that bulldog breeders who put health first–like you– are not the problem. Indeed, anyone who really care about this breed would be doing exactly what you’re doing.
I just worry that the overpopularity of this breed is really going to hurt them. They are good family dogs. They aren’t nuts like my dogs are. My dogs must retrieve to be happy, love wallowing in mud, and shed so much that you wonder when they are going to go bald.
Bulldogs are definitely the right dogs for some people. I really like boxers, which the bulldogs of my ethnic heritage. In fact, if I just wanted a pet, I’d get me a nice female brindle boxer.
But even my “golden boxer” could swim very well. Both of her golden housemates could swim circles around her. And retrieve? If you threw something for her, she’d give you this look that said “Me? Retrieve? Puhleeeez!”
Well said!!! Too much emphasis on poorly bred bulldogs. We need to find a way to shut the money makers down.:(
The damage of bulldog popularity is huge and ongoing. We have put ads in National magazines, major newspapers. I spend untold hours on the phone and in email trying to convince people that buying a puppy sight unseen off the internet or from a broker or from someone who claims to health screen but has no certificates to back it up is so not a good investment!
Some people get it others it’s hard to say and others are gonna do what they like and convince themselves that the puppy they just mail ordered is somehow not a puppy mill creation. I give them rescue’s contact info and hope that he public gloms onto something else.
I nominate pet rocks! Who’s with me?
My husband wanted a bulldog when we started looking to get our first dog together. I said ‘no way’ due to all the issues I see so many of them have… but once I saw your dogs, Jennifer, I wished we had known about you then. I still say you need a website to show off your breeding program, so I have something to link to folks to show that there ARE sound bulldogs out there! =)
:D If I update my website soon, the pet rock option will be listed I tell you.
And “miniature pet rocks” too. Perhaps tea cup pebbles?
Seriously though, I do need to get things up to date, including links to recommended health screenings and the BCA Health data pages and performance dog pages.
And links to others participating in our Ambassador of Health and Pioneer of Health programs.
I’ve got two young dogs I am very excited about but they are just 14 and 16 months and I hate to jinx anything. So far very good on everything but I hold my breath until they cruise past two. I did not breed either of them, but they are both descended from our dogs.
The biggest reason, other than computer lack of know-how, that I don’t have much of a site is that we just have not been breeding much at all. Small children tend to put big dents in plans.
And then there are the internet cruising “interesting folks” out there. My site has two older male dogs on it, period. I had someone ask me when the puppies were due from the breeding between them. I responded that as they were both males, and 3/4 brothers to boot, it probably was not going to happen. They were very loudly unhappy that they had been “misled” by the way I had advertised the breeding. :D
LOL@ ‘Teacup Pebbles!’
Thank you for this post