Are you ready for a bulldog? That seems to be the question I always ask people when they come running up to my dog saying, “OMG I have wanted a bulldog forever” or “I am so getting one. They are so cute”. Yes yes, they are very cute and yes they are great dogs. But that comes with a warning….unless you are neurotic, paranoid, and pay attention to every little thing with your dog, don’t get a bulldog. I try to say that to anybody that comes up and asks me about my girl. I know, it is a being a bit of a buzz killington as most just want to pet her mug but I am trying to be honest.
I don’t even have a standard English Bulldog, like most celebrities seem to have. I have an Olde English Bulldogge. They are the breed that created the English Bulldog along with a Pug. I got this breed because they don’t have AS MANY health issues as regular English Bulldogs do. They are a bit taller and leaner so the skin fold issues are a bit less but I am pretty sure if I wasn’t super attentive to her, she would have died a couple times over.
Let’s start with some of the shitty stuff first before we get to the amazing things that bulldogs can bring to your family if you truly want to get one.
One of Elsa’s (She is older than Frozen so don’t think it) biggest issues is her allergies. I always joke that because I have really crappy environmental allergies that of course I would get a dog with the same thing. Lots of bulldogs have skin allergies and can get hives easily, which Elsa does get. Her biggest issue with bugs. Bulldogs have such a high pain tolerance that when a deer/horse fly is sitting on her eyebrow she doesn’t try to swat it away. This usually results in an ER Vet visit if I don’t catch it fast enough for a steroid shot. We have now created a “First Aid Kit” for her when we go over to my parent’s house. It has a dog safe bug spray, a prescription for Prednisone and cheap 25mg bottle of benadryl. Dogs can take 1mg per pound of benadryl. That is more than a person can take. She starts swelling almost immediately and if I can get 3 benadryl in her fast enough that is that and it goes down.
Food allergies are another thing that lots of bulldogs have issues with. This usually shows itself with yeast issues. Elsa doesn’t have too big of an issue with this one…thank god but we try to do our research and get her a bulldog friendly food like Taste of the Wild.
Do you like snoring? I hope so….
Bulldogs are a breed that is more susceptible to mast cell tumors. From petmd.com:
Mast cell tumors (or mastocytomas) are graded according to their location in the skin, presence of inflammation, and how well they are differentiated. Grade 1 cells are well differentiated with a low potential for metastasis; Grade 2 cells are intermediately differentiated with a potential for locally invasive metastasis; and Grade 3 cells are poorly differentiated or undifferentiated with a high potential for metastasis. Differentiation is a determination of how much a particular tumor cell looks like a normal cell; the more differentiated, the more like the normal cell. In general, the more differentiated the mast cell tumor is, the better the prognosis is.
Boxers, bulldogs, pugs, and Boston terriers appear to be more susceptible to mast cell tumors than other breeds. The mean age for the development of this condition is eight years in dogs, though it has been reported in animals less than one year of age.
Elsa had two removed from her back leg that were pretty small since we caught them early enough.
One issue that most people seem to ignore and is a bit TMI, but you need to “wipe” your bulldog after they come inside from doing their business. Bulldogs are so short that they cannot reach around clean themselves. This results in marks everywhere or infections. Our vet recently told us after Elsa got an infection was that she has never seen a bulldog that hasn’t had infections downtown regularly and she attributes Elsa to only having one in her 7 years to use maintaining her business. We use chlorhexadine antibacterial and antifungal wipes regularly to clean her in between baths.
They do drool a decent amount and they are very messy drinkers. All of our walls have drool or slobber marks about 3 ft up from her shaking her head. You will get marks on your furniture from them rubbing their heads on it. You will step in water that dripped from their mouth after they drank water and walked around the house looking for you.
If you are an active person, they are not active dogs. They think they are, but they are working dogs. I always say Elsa is a sprinter whereas most dogs are cross-country runners. Elsa recently was diagnosed with two severe issues that would require a seriously expensive surgery. She has what are called “stenotic nares”, where her nostril swell when she gets hot, making it hard for her to breathe. A surgery would require them to be cut back. Her other issue is that she has an “elongated soft palate.” This makes it hard for her to breathe because her uvula basically hangs too low and will swell and makes it hard to breathe. There is a video of this happening below.
Ok, is that enough bad stuff that might give you a second glance at a bulldog? My recommendation is that if you are a neat freak, don’t like bodily fluids, and snoring, I honestly would think twice about getting a bulldog. Once again I am not saying that sound like a dick, but they are hard work and they are messy.
OK ONTO THE GOOD STUFF
If you asked me if I would get a bulldog over again, I would say hell yes. I don’t know if I got lucky or if all bulldogs have the same temperament, but Elsa is literally the sweetest dog I have ever met in my life. She went to doggie daycare regularly before I started working from home and she was just the love of all the people working there. She squints her eyes and smiles when she sees you and makes so much noise because it makes it hard for her to breathe.
She absolutely loves my daughter and has from her birth. Elsa is a rough playmate and now that Inga is older and wants to play with Elsa, she will immediately mellow out if Inga takes a toy or comes next to her. She really does love all kids.
Bulldogs don’t shed all that much and have a pretty short coat that is easy to maintain.
They really are a funny dog. Elsa really enjoys dressing up in costumes and going to the Renaissance Festival in MN. We dress her up for Halloween too, since some kids are scared of her already. A bulldog dressed as a grape…I mean come on.
As I sit here writing this, I find it really hard to write down the good things specifically. But I mean that it is hard in a good way. I mean she is snoring on the floor next to me and farting up a storm. My bulldog cannot be explained with anything other than pure love. She is the epitome of a dog that is alive with the sole purpose to want to make you happy and you are alive just to make her happy. She is so excited to see me if I gone for two days or two minutes. She just wants to give kisses and lay next to your feet and eat your food. She will tolerate anything and everything and I would pretty much sacrifice anything for her.
I hope that some of this information can be helpful if you either own a bulldog and some of these issues have shown up or if you are thinking about getting a bulldog. I really am not trying to scare you away, but I kind of am at the same time. This breed only needs the best and you can’t slack with these ones.
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