The English Bulldog Puppy Blog

Dog breeders and dog buyers may find genetic as an intimidating and confusing topic. Break those common misconceptions about genetics and English bulldog breeding as we offer basic concepts of breeding. An average person should know how to dispel myths in breeding and owning purebred dogs. Here are few myths and why they should remain as myths.

Myths
Myths 1: Purebreds are “weaker” than mutts.
A mixed-breed dog is also called mutt, mongrel, tyke, cur, bitzer, feist or random-bred dog. Mongrels exhibit more genetic faults and inherited disease traits than any breed. Statistics would show that this idea is a myth. This myth never seems to convince anybody most probably due to the combination of the following:
1. Crippled and sickly mutts are less likely to be counted as they are less likely to be among people.
2. It is profoundly true that Nature does a great job on keeping her children than a manipulative man would do. Nature doesn’t look after her children individually. Sickness, death and dying are normal regulators to separate out the numbers to an acceptable level. Nature has her own way of controlling the disease by letting afflicted individuals be born, suffer and die.

Myth 2: The best dog breeding is between an uncle and niece or aunt and nephew.
There is no single explanation to further justify the combination of breeding. Some people have gotten poor puppies while some luckily are raising nice and healthy puppies. Is it limited to uncle-niece or aunt-nephew combination? The answer is negative. As in any breeding, the quality of a dog is a priority when considering the type of dog breed. Unfortunately, there are no ready-made formulas for dog breeding.

Myth 3: Breeding a moody bitch will steady her temperament
When a bitch has a poor temperament, breeding is not going to help it improve. In fact, it will only increase the risk of producing more dogs with flighty temperaments.

Myth 4: Any dog carrying an undesirable gene should be neutered.
Every breeds of dog carries genes for undesirable traits including health problems. An average of three to five bad genes is carried by each dog. If this myth is true then all dogs should be neutered leaving no more dogs. The secret is to avoid doubling up on such genes when breeding. With increasing DNA tests being developed for different genes in different breeds, it will be increasingly possible. When dogs identified as carriers are bred only to dogs tested clear of the gene then the progeny should only be carriers and clears, not affected.

Myth 5: Repeat litters are never as good as the first ones.
People who believe this myth have this pseudo-scientific explanation behind it: “To avoid inbreeding in the population, nature makes sure the second litter isn’t as good.” How on nature make this possible? According to the theory, the eggs will only allow inferior sperm to fertilize them if the eggs recognize the sperm as coming from the same sire the bitch was bred to last time. Not unless the bitch is bred to a different stud in between, the offspring will only be sired by the inferior sperm. If humans follow this logic, all second-born children of humans would be e inferior unless the mother had been fooling around with another man!

To set facts straight, no mechanism has ever been identified by which an English bulldog or its eggs could recognize sperm from the same male or the last time she got pregnant. The eggs similarly don’t have any way to differentiate sperm carrying good dog-show traits versus bad dog-show traits. Although it is true that repeat breeding often aren’t as good enough as first breeding but that’s more likely due to statistical chance.

Breeders are most likely to do repeat breeding especially those extraordinary puppies. The extraordinary qualities of these puppies depended in part on the random shuffle of genes in the eggs and sperm. The chance of getting such a fortunate chance shuffle twice in a row is lower than the chance of getting an “average” shuffle. It is then expected that the litter quality will tend to regress toward the mean.

Myth 6: It costs too much to have my pet spayed or neutered.
The cost of spaying or neutering your pet will based on several factors namely sex, age, and size and vets fees. The cost, however, is a one time fee and is worth spending for when you take into consideration all the benefits it has to offer. You tend to pay more when paying for the care of your litter until they’re old enough to leave their own mother. It will provide you peace of mind as well over the health of your pet and avoid unwanted pregnancy and litters.

Myth 7: I don’t want my male dog to feel less of a male after neutered.
Pets aren’t endowed with the sense of sexuality or same ego that humans have. Neutering will not change anything on your pet’s outlook nor suffer any emotional distress about neutering.

Myth 8: My pet will get lazy and put on weight when he is neutered.
The weight gain of dogs isn’t directly caused by neutering. Laziness and excessive feedings may be some of the reasons behind the weight gain as well as lack of physical activity. Spraying or neutering doesn’t have an affect on their eating patterns or tendency of becoming lazy.

Myth 9: Its better for the female dog if she has a litter.
Medical evidence has pointed out that a female dog is in fact a healthier dog that is spayed before her first heat. Many veterinarians are now offering to sterilize kittens and puppies as young as eight weeks to help prevent unwanted litters later in life.

Myth 10: My children should experience the miracle of birth.
The fact that most dogs give birth in the very early hours of the morning and require privacy and seclusion during its sensitive time of giving birth are enough reasons not to let your children watch it.
By allowing your children to watch your dog giving birth is wrong in all aspects. Only a very irresponsible and inconsiderate dog owner would let an audience stand in presence before your dog.

Myth 11: My English bulldog is purebred it should be used for breeding.
It is quite unfortunate that 1 in every 4 unwanted purebred pets are brought to animal shelters. It’s not necessary to breed your dog upon knowing it is a purebred. The motive of breeding your dog should not be solely to establish a puppy mill. There are far too many unwanted and sickly animals including English bulldogs due to such activities of creating a “puppy factory“. Only an irresponsible owner would even consider breeding for this reason.

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As an English bulldog owner, you may be tempted to scrimp by not regularly sending your bulldog to the vet for a regular deworming session. With so many worms that could infect your bulldog, it’ better to consult a professional since each worm needs different treatments. Dewormer dosages are based on your dog’s weight therefore it is most recommended to have your pet weighed by the vet who will give you dosage instructions together with information about possible side or adverse effects of the product.

Regular deworming of your English bulldog may be more than just getting rid of parasites in its system. Out of all internal parasites, the most serious risk to bulldogs is heartworm. Heartworm generally is caused by an infected mosquito injects the larva into the dog’s circulatory system. After the parasite travels its way to the dog’s heart, it stays in the heart consuming cardiac muscle while growing and reproducing at a very alarming rate. You may not be aware of the number of worm that could possibly infect your dog. Dogs may have up to 200 worms. Once your dog gets infected with any of those 200 worms, symptoms may vary form loss of energy, loss of appetite, to coughing and development of a pot belly and even anemia. In a worst case scenario, the effects of residing parasites could cause a cardiac failure leading to death over a period of a year to two.

The treatment of an infected bulldog is often difficult to manage. It involves an attempt to poison the healthy worm with arsenic compounds without harming the weakened dog. This attempt frequently fails and does not succeed. Blood testing for heartworms does not necessarily indicate the severity of the infection of your pet.

“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.”
Prevention is the unbeatable course of action in contrast to curing the already infected dog. The importance of deworming your bulldog should begin at about six weeks of age and maintained on a prophylactic dose administered monthly. This dangerous and fatal disease is prevalent in America, Australia, Asia and Central Europe.

Other internal parasites
Heartworm is one of the numerous parasites that live in the dog’s intestines. Other canine internal parasites include roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms. Roundworms feed and survive on intestines of dogs. They grow as long as 10 cm o whitish color.
Roughly 705 of puppies will be infected with Toxocare. Toxocare is the most common roundworm either as a fetus or form their mother’s milk after birth. That’s why pregnant dog bitches should be wormed with a suitable product in order to prevent the transmission of worms down to their offspring (or pups in this case). Watch out for signs of parasite infection such as abdominal distention, vomiting, diarrhea and debility. There may not be obvious signs either that your puppy is suffering from these parasites. When you see worms, it is a serious sign of a more severe infection. When you do, seek a veterinarian advice.

Parasitic infections of dogs and humans
Be alarmed when your dog has parasite infection. Dogs are the reservoir for Toxocara canis. Puppies pose the greatest risk of spreading the infection to humans. Humans normally get infected by ingested of embryonated eggs from contaminated sources. It would be wise to keep your home clean especially when you have children. Young children with pica or eating dirt are at more risk as they are prone to put contaminated objects with infectious Toxocara eggs. Humans can also contaminate foods by not washing their hands before eating. Toxocariasis in humans may cause epilepsy or blindness.
Hookworms can be very dangerous to humans and cats. These are common parasites of dogs regardless of age. They are commonly found in warm, humid climates. Hookworms got their names for feeding by hooking onto the intestinal wall of the intestine with hook like teeth. The symptoms of dog hookworm include anemia (in most severe cases), diarrhea, diminished strength and vitality and skin irritation and intense itching. The presence of pale gums, diarrhea or weakness might suggest the need to determine the red blood cell count of your bulldog. Your dog will have a stunted growth with significant weight loss if you let hookworm infest its intestines. Hookworms can easily penetrate skin tissue thus making it possible for people to catch the larvae when walking barefoot on infected soil. Children shouldn’t be allowed to play in areas where dogs defecate.

The dog tapeworm is a common infestation in domestic bulldogs. The adult tapeworm lives in the animal’s intestines with a length of about 50 to 70 cm. The body of the dog tapeworms is composed of many segments. Each segment contains 30 eggs. When the segments reach the tail of the worm, they will then fall off as dog’s feces. The eggs themselves aren’t infectious to mammals. The fleas act as a medium that will ingest the eggs when they land on the stool. No symptoms is seen when humans especially children become infected with tapeworm. Some will have diarrhea, camping, abdominal pain and rarely anal itching.

A yearly fecal test should do the trick to get rid of those nasty dog parasites. Collect a small fresh fecal amount, label the specimen with the time when you collected your dog’s feces. Save your English bulldog’s health and life with regular deworming. Take this initial step on having a parasite-free home where your loved ones and their health isn’t put at risk.

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Santa Ana – A microchip was all that made a lost English bulldog for 4 years to be back to its rightful (and ecstatic) pet owners.

English bulldogs don’t come cheap especially priced at $1,800 that made Louie and Eleanor Amezquita not thinking twice about having an identification microchip slipped under the dog’s skin behind the neck.

Louie Amezquita named their English bulldog puppy “Chico” from his favorite 1995 comedy classic, “Friday“. Ice Cube played a character in the movie who owned a bulldog named “Chico“. “Chico” soon was sewed into blue fabric on a yellow pillow with tennis ball decals slapped to it.

“Chico” soon drooled and panted his way around the house and did unspeakable things to the lawn. It chewed on furniture at a rate that tested the patience of the Amezquita family. Despite all its faults, “Chico” as a plump, strong and friendly pet manages to be the family’s favorite.

Four years ago, an eight-month-old “Chico” bolted right out of the family’s garage. Louie was in the garage of the family’s tan, stucco two-story in Victorville and opened the garage door. As for any other dogs, “Chico” ran so fast that within seconds it was beyond of Louie’s line of sight.

The family immediately searched for their favorite pet dog. Louie and Eleanor started looking all over their neighborhood along with their four teenage children: Louie Jr., who was 19; Valerie, 18; Raymond, 16; and Andrew, 15.

A police report was filed as well and put up flyer. Four months went by yet “Chico” was nowhere to be found even with the police on his trail. The search in the streets of greater Victorville and beyond ended with “Chico” still missing.

The couple was so devastated by the loss of their dog that Eleanor’s sister bought them another English bulldog which they named “Chico Jr”.

Oddly enough, “Chico Jr.” followed what “Chico” did; it ran away after a few months. They didn’t put a chip in it this time.

ROSCO
Last month roughly four years later and 80-something miles from Chico’s last sighting in Victorville, a couple brought their English bulldog to the Grand Pet Healthcare Center in Santa Ana.

The couple had to take their animal to a veterinarian. They were on their way to Mexico which requires a health certificate from the Department of Food and Agriculture as ordered by the government and airlines. They came to see Dr. Roy Kraemer inspected the animal and sign off on its general health.

As the doctor examined the bulldog, the Santa Ana couple chatted in Spanish with the vet tech. They mentioned they’d found the “Rosco” (their dog’s name) four years ago. The health care center has a scanner that reads most brands of microchips. As the tech scanned the dog along the back of its neck, where chips typically are injected, he found a chip.

The next day, the tech told Dr. Kraemer about the chip. They called the chip company and got hold of the contact numbers for the Amezquitas, the original owners. The police report for a missing bulldog, at this point, shows the missing dog would be about 5 years old.

When the Amezquita family heard of their “Chico” found, they were excited since their dog is very close to their family. In contrast, the couple who adopted “Chico” or “Rosco” was distraught to know that the Amezquita wanted him back. Rosco, after all, had been in her home for years. Cpl. Berg of Santa Ana Police Department made the couple understand that the stakes are higher than just losing a dog. The couple could be in serious legal trouble if they refuse to return “Rosco” to the Amezquitas.

The Santa Ana Police Department’s Animal Services never had a case of a dog missing for four years found and returned to its rightful owners. The lost bulldog was in custody of the police department. That night, Louie and Eleanor Amezquita drove 80 miles from Victorville to pick up their dog.

The prodigal English bulldog is reunited with its owners the moment the handoff was made by Berg. The family decided to call the dog “Rosco” not “Chico” to avoid any confusion on the part of their dog. It looks like an identification microchip was all the Amezquitas needed to have their dog back after 4 years.

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LINKS to Avoid Falling Into Bulldog Scams

Puppy Mill? Woman claims her sick dog came from same Elkhart Co. breeder – WSBT

Internet Mother of six on welfare paid $2,000 for English bull dogs- Telegraph Journal

English Bulldog SCAM - Complaints Board

Bethlehem woman victim in bulldog scam – LehighValleyLive

Nigerian Buldog Scams – Museum of Hoaxes

Beware of the English Bulldog Puppy Scam – Associated Content

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Just like any other responsible dog-owner, it is best to ensure that your English bulldog puppy is in optimal health. One of the ways to achieve optimal health of your dog is have it dewormed. Read this guide to know whether it’s time to deworm and other important tips.

photo credits to Kami Jo

When can I deworm my puppy?

Don’t neglect to bring your pet to a veterinarian for its first round of vaccinations at six weeks old. Prior to this, it’s necessary that your English bulldog puppy must be dewormed at twenty days of age.

When deworming is done at six weeks of age, your veterinarian will start at around that time with the correspondent vaccinations. In this way, your dog will be protected from some of the most common and dangerous diseases such as:
• Coronavirus
• Hepatitis
• Leptospirosis
• Parainfluenza
• Parvovirus
• Rabies
• Bordetella or kennel cough

Vaccination of your puppy is necessary to eliminate all potential parasites so its body will respond to the vaccination the way it should. When your dog fails to be dewormed, it is placed at risk of getting gastrointestinal disorders which is common to puppies. This condition will interfere with the normal development and makes your puppy more susceptible to many diseases.

Is deworming that important?
The answer is yes especially in a house with kids. Some parasites can be passed on to humans. Children usually have more contact with pets. External parasites such as fleas, lice and ticks can severely irritate your dog’s skin and coat as they feed on the dog’s blood. By disinfecting, it wards off intestinal worms such as Toxocara and tape worms that can expand directly. For the latter, different medicines may be needed. Tapeworms are treated with control over intermediary guests when these are louses and fleas. Avoid putting your dog at risk and lose weight, damaged coats and having allergic reactions from parasites. In locations where sheeps are commonly found, special care must be given because of the threat of hydatid tapeworm.

How often can I deworm my adult dogs?
It is also recommended to administer the dose semiannually to adult dogs. Puppies and younger dogs require more treatment regimen.

How can I deworm my dog?
There are two options on how to deworm your dog. You may want to purchase deworming products which doesn’t need any prescription. Make sure to follow instructions on how to give the proper dose. You can also seek professional advice on deworming and consult with your vet for a recommended regimen for your zone. I personally think it is much fool-proof to discuss the plan and method convenient for your dog with your vet. Apart from these medical advices, the vet will examine how your dog’s dermatological situation is doing, as well as the type of vaccination and the current state of health your dog has.

Remember that a deworming should be indicated based on the age of the dog, his weight, if he lives with other pets and the condition of his coat and skin. A fecalysis or feces analysis is practical to do to confirm if your dog has parasites. In case parasites are present in your bulldog’s feces then you will readily find out the type of effective and rapid way to get rid of those nasty parasites.

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Pacifiers are what made Lulu, Jennifer Zwart’s English bulldog, the winner of VIP’s most unusual December claim award.

Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) based in Brea, California, selected Lulu among the 75,000 claims received that month. It was reported by the dog owner that her baby’s pacifiers were gone missing for six months. She didn’t expect Lulu to be eating the missing pacifiers not until she saw Lulu licking a dropped pacifier then it was gone the next minute.  Zwart then took Lulu to a veterinarian for an x-ray. The X-ray was unclear, however, thus made veterinarians decide to perform surgery. During the surgery, the doctors made a “binky count” as they pulled out one pacifier after another. At the need of the surgery, Lulu had swallowed 15 pacifiers, a bottle cap and a piece of basketball.

The surgery of Lulu was a huge success. Zwart now makes sure no pacifiers are left lying around their house.

As the most unusual claim submitted in December, Zwart’s claim will be placed in the running for VPI’s first Hambone Award. VIP employees will nominate the most interesting claim by July 2009 and ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year.

The Hambone Award is named in honor of a VPI-insured dog that was trapped in a refrigerator and ate a whole Thanksgiving ham while waiting for somebody to find him. The dog was eventually found with a licked-clean ham bone and a slight case of hypothermia.

All pets are nominated for the award that made full recoveries and granted insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses.

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Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy has gone out on a full support for Barack Obama from PBR-fueled fundraisers to performance at the presidential inaugurations. There is no stopping him on offering his help to President Obama especially on the first family’s pick of adopting a White house dog.

President Obama and his family made it public of their plans to adopt Portuguese dogs that will move in the White House on April this year. News reports have made it clear that Obamas, or specifically the fist lady, Michelle, are thinking of adopting a Portuguese water dog, making good on their pre-election promise to daughters Sasha and Malia. A White House spokesperson said the Obamas are favoring the Portuguese breed for its temperament and hypoallergenic.

When Wentz heard of that the Obamas are thinking of adopting their own Portuguese dogs, he decided to help them sway their final choice by sharing his open take on the breed. He knows first hand how it is like to grow up with two Portuguese pooches for most of his life. His parents own Pandora and Marley, their household Portuguese dogs, and they patrol their house in the Chicago suburbs. “I know I am right on the verge of being invited to the Lincoln bedroom with all of my glorious connections to the president, but I think the final step may be me giving the Obamas advice on getting Portuguese water dogs,” he said. He shares, “I know I am right on the verge of being invited to the Lincoln bedroom with all of my glorious connections to the president, but I think the final step may be me giving the Obamas advice on getting Portuguese water dogs,”. He added that “I grew up with two … they were great dogs for the boy I was, being that I barfed from swinging on swing sets, cried at my first 10 birthdays, wouldn’t eat anything but the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches my mom made and was allergic to everything. They were the perfect answer to that.”

The hypoallergenic thing may sound very big; Wentz however cautions that one of his water dogs is “pretty bad”. He still thinks that English bulldogs make a great White House dog from the fact he and his wife now owns a pair of English bulldogs. “I can’t lie, I think Hemingway is a pretty good candidate too, because he’s the exact opposite of my parents’ water dogs,” Wentz muses. “But I can’t say he’d be any worse than having Cheney around tearing that place up.”

We will have to wait and see which breed of dog joins the first family soon. Let’s hope the President would heed Pete Wentz’s thought on English bulldog as the first family’s dog.

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