So tell me, please, why DO Bulldogs cost so much?? And how do you breed them????
Oscar, our first mini ever produced...
So many times I get calls asking for my retired dogs, if I had any runts, if I had extras that haven't been sold,that maybe I will sell for less....
If your first question and highest frustration with wanting a bulldog, is why breeders have to charge so much for puppies...well.. I personally would have said a long time ago... maybe this is not the breed that you should be looking into. I was wrong in a way....and I have learned that lesson by owning them myself, the hard way. This is also why I let you pay out your puppy. Its not about how much it is, its about what you get from me, and what you should get from any breeder, over the life of the dog.
I thought for a long time that if a person could not afford to buy a bulldog with cash in hand, wanted just to to adopt one due to cost, asks for one for free..or calls and asks for one of my retired dogs, you could not possibly afford to own one in its lifetime or care enough to .
I know now, that as a responsible breeder and lover of this dog, I was wrong in thinking that, because the truth is, most folks with a home, or apartment, and central heat and air, can afford to own your average bully once it is purchased. As long as they have a good breeder that cares about their dogs and their bully family.
BEFORE I DO GO ON....
I will say for certain, you should not go looking for a bulldog in a pet store.
*They are extremely over priced there.
*The person you have selling you your dog is someone that does not have a bully, but acts like they know everything about them, not knowing anything but your average dog knowledge.
*has no knowledge speficially of this breed,
*selling you a VERY HIGH DOLLAR dog.
You may as well get a mutt. You won't know the breeder, you won't know the parents of the puppy, their demeanor, or their grand parents, so you have no idea what your dog will look like as an adult, so how do you know in reality what it is actually worth? How do you know what, or how good, your pedigree actually is? How do you tell how good your pedigree is? And to boot, you get no continuing help from anyone but a vet, which accumulates outrageous bills for issues as simple tummy aches.. after you have made that purchase.
The most important thing to owning a bully is being able to know immediately when something is wrong. If you love your dog and pay attention to it, most of the time its something simple that only requires a simple, but fast, fix. With one call to your breeder (the breeder you responsibly bought your baby from, that kept in touch with you, and answers any and all questions you have 24 hrs a day) most of these simple issues can be taken care of from home.HOWEVER, if you go buy one from a pet store, you have no one to call but a vet, because you don't know who your breeder was, or anything abou them. That pet store is not going to help you at all, and now you have a vet that demands to see your dog in person, because they can't legally tell you anything without seeing your dog, and charges you an office visit plus any proceedures and medications you may need, for something as silly as a tummy ache. AND that is IF you get lucky enough to find a vet that specifically has knowledge of this particular dog, a bully, as a breed. Most vets have no specific knowledge of the bulldog, do not own one, has not owned one, and has no clue what specific allergies and ailments are completely normal to a bully and can and should be able to tell you, over the phone without an office visit, what to give them for a quick fix. You yourself could have once had one, but have not had one in a while, and forget your tips and tricks to owning a bully. It can be hard and expensive to care for a bulldog with no help, as they are not what some might refer to as a "wash and wear" breed.
Besides your constant care and continued help with your bully after you take it home, there is so much that goes into your baby even prior to its conception!
THIS IS WHY, AND PLEASE READ TO THE END HERE, ITS IMPERATIVE TO ME YOU KNOW WHY THEY COST WHAT THEY COST.
If you are thinking of breeding your bully AT ALL, this is where you need to begin reading.....it is not for the faint of heart, because if it CAN go wrong, IT WILL.
There is a great deal of time, effort, HEARTACHE, and expense involved in breeding, whelping and raising a Bulldog litter. It can truthfully cost up front, anywhere from $1500-$2000 to breed, deliver (whelp) and raise a litter of only 3-4 babies from conception to 8 weeks of age, prior to selling them. KEEP IN MIND,all of this is all without consideration for my bulldogs that I care for daily, my time, and deep love that I have invested in each and every baby I have, the smells and sounds of the wonderfull bulldog butt that my family endures inside my home while I breed, feed and raise them entirely indoors. Sometimes, with the very best of luck for me, nothing goes wrong from conception, to the wonderful day your baby is going home with you. And then after that, I have to be sure I do what I can for you, so that you do what you need to do to make sure your new baby gets no illnesses or injuries past puppyhood. (it is very important that you see vaccines page)
The average litter size for one of my bulldogs is normally 4-5 puppies. Typical Olde English Bulldogges have been known to have as many as 11 or more, because the breeds are mixed with larger Americans or even Pit Bulls, somewhere in the bloodline to create a bulldog that is taller and can withstand being outside and delivering puppies naturally. My largest litter, because my pedigrees have SO much English in them, has been 8, and it ripped Lola's uterus, even with a c-section.
Breeding:
I personally A.I. all females without question. Reason being is it is less stress on my boy. There is no danger of him overheating, no danger of either getting injured, and no danger of any STI's, and yes, dogs get them too. God forbid one dog make the other sterile.Also because this is more reliable in counting days to me than natural breeding....counting days has been proven to be over 98% accurate for artificial insemination for me. This process, natural or AI, requires knowing the exact day she will be ready for breeding, by paying close attention to her heat cycles. I document each and every heat on paper for reference, and every odd action she makes, every day.Now, for other breeders that use outside males for stud, this is not to mention the expense for the stud service, which, on average will cost $1000+, or a pick of the liter puppy, depending on what bloodline of dog the breeder chooses to conceive with. Obviously, as with my Witten, the more fabulous and detailed your male's pedigree, the higher your stud fee will be. Its all in the PEDIGREE!!! You can have a fabulous looking dog, but if your pedigree isn't there.....why pay so much?
Karie Elling, at Lollipop Kennel, and I have a super tight relationship. Karie and I now keep all of our stud services for our own females, in house, between she and I alone. We no longer outsource for males for stud, because we know what we have in our studs,and we know with 100% confidence how the other takes care of her dogs, how healthy they are, and we know without question what our boys will produce, and what we can expect from them during artificial insemination.
Pregnancy:
We then hold our breaths, not knowing if the breeding took or not. We do have to have an ultrasound to determine pregnancy, and if you don't have a high dollar doppler like I do, this will require a visit to your friendly vet... Then later on in a pregnancy, its time for x-rays. Sometimes we have to make multiple vet trips just for x-rays. Reason being, the actual conception date can be anywhere from 1-5 days after the female is bred, each time she is bred. Even if our count is 100% correct from that very first breeding, from which your due date is determined, there is no way of knowing what day the the earliest conception actually took place, which will determine your delivery date. Day one, day five, day three? NO one knows for certain unless there is only one date the dog is bred. Sometimes when you make that trip to get x-rays, the puppies are not far enough along to judge if they are ready, and you have to come back. Just one breeding date can mean the difference in a hairless puppy with undeveloped lungs that will die, to a healthy fat plump baby. So we have to come back if the doc says so, which DOES REQUIRE the xray, so it is not for our benefit of counting, it is for the benefit of the puppy.This step is number one in knowing what day we will go in for our C-section.
This event, the C-section, is, as you can imagine, costly, and if after hours or on a holiday, is extremely costly. This proceedure is 100% necessary in with my girls,without question, and must be timed exactly right to insure the life of each baby. To make sure that the babies are 100% ready, I have to wait until the moment I know for sure that momma goes into labor, and then rush her to the vet, which again, requires 100% attention and dedication to staying home with my dog no matter what, on my part. I can't leave the house because she has to be watched. I have to know exactly when she begins labor, and have to be ready to take her in at any second, day or night. I have found that not only do I have a fabulous vet, he is the only clinic I personally recommend, and he and his staff have a link on my links page if you want a great vet that knows my dogs and is on call for them 24/7. My reason for this is not only cost, not only the attention and care you get from them, but for me,THEY KNOW BULLDOGS. Dr. Finley, Dr. Tarwater, Dr. Pearce,Dr Youngblood, Dr Calvert, Dr Mean, Dr Vaughn and Dr White at Alvarado Vet Clinic are the best at knowing and teaching about bulldogs.Keep in mind, a bulldog is NOT just a dog, and any average vet may have general dog knowledge, but thats like asking a Dodge mechanic to work on a Bently, yeah they know their way around a car, but they have no clue about details. TRUST ME, this is no lie and most of my references will tell you they ended up at Alvarado simply because of this reason. THE DRIVE IS WORTH IT.
Now back to having babies...
Special diets for the momma dogs..and constant monitoring is necessary. If she does not have the proper nutrients, the right envoronment, and proper treatments...forget it.
You can't just breed these dogs and walk away. And if you have one and you bred it thinking you can let her just have puppies because she is a free whelper, regardless of whether or not she does, you were nieve in thinking that to begin with, so give her to someone that knows better for her benefit. Go rescue a dog that is fixed, please.
Whelping:
Knowing exacty when we start taking temperatures of the females, daily, is important, and time consuming, again, I am in my home for weeks once this particular process starts. She is the most important thing in my life for that time period. Forget the gym, forget soccer games and parties, you have no spare time, it all goes to her. For me this is beginning at taking her temperature to monitor when she should begin pushing so that she will be rushed to the vet for her c-section. The stress then of wondering if a vet trip is needed on a weekend, in the middle of the night, or in my case, yes, it happened on THANKSGIVING..can be overwhelming, and cost nights and nights of sleep...and a hit to your pocketbook..its not free.
Puppies:
Then, lord help us, you thought all that was stressful and hard...well now its finally puppy time. All this time all we have been taking care of, is momma. We have, though, in the meantime, also been getting the nursery ready with a doppler scanner for detecting heartbeats and distress of the babies, which was NOT cheap, heating pads, emergency bottles and formula which is not cheap but must be on hand at all times, blankets, towels, washrags, medical supplies and tools, puppy pads, weight scale, warming lights, play pens, medicines, baby monitors, thermometers, and everything we need to bring a baby into the world. NO we don't get donations, I pay for all this as well, its part of it.
Don't fool yourself, and don't take this lightly, when I say this is not easy, please believe me, this is not easy. This is not like the birth of any other dog. Breeding these dogs takes a huge amount of time, money, effort , sleepless nights and stress from a breeder, or its not worth doing at all, because you WILL lose the babies.If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it. You will lose more than you will ever gain, and each puppy lost is overhead that you don't get back, and a very hard lesson learned. Regardless of what you think you know about a bulldog, or what others have told you, about how easy it is, or this dog free whelps...whatever...you must know....this is a special breed (and I don't care what anyone has told you, whether Oldie or English once they get here) these dogs require the help of humans to breed, deliver, and bring a litter to a healthy 8 weeks of age. I don't care if you have a bloodline that has produced free whelping dogs since the dawn of time, leave that dog to her pups alone and you will lose them. What a waste of a life, and shame on you.
In spite of their chunky appearance (all bullies should be chunky by a week old) and tough looking exterior, as a newborn all the way up to a 8 week old puppy, a bulldog baby is extremely fragile. Keeping the litter alive and healthy requires constant monitoring of the puppies (and by constant, I do not exaggerate in saying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without fail, by video monitor, baby monitors,and yes, even sleeping in the room with them.) If you work full time, forget it. Raising puppies is not possible for you unless you work from home and/or you have a dog nanny thaat can give undivided attention to the momma and babies from the day you breed until the day they leave your home. For the first few days, I sleep in the floor next to my bullies and I always have the smallest of the litter as close to my heart as possible to keep them warm and happy so I know exactly when it needs the full attention of mom to eat and so it does not get cast aside.
(so before you call and ask me if I have a runt that is cheap,let me tell you RIGHT NOW and save us both time, don't bother dailing MY number. Go get another breed of dog entirely, because you are going to upset me by asking for a "runt".
Facts about my minis :
What one would refer to as the "runt" of a bulldog litter:
1. took the most work and attention to get to the point of moving on to a new home at 8 weeks old, and if you do not know why minis are born, DO NOT BREED THESE DOGS, OR ANY DOG FOR THAT MATTER.
2. took the most time, care and effort to make sure it lived, and is healthy and can live on its own, away from mom, by 8 weeks of age.
No, you will not get it at a discounted rate...the smallest puppy is always my favorite, the most valuable to me emotionally, most fragile dog in a litter all around. So don't bother asking me at all about a "runt", if you want a small bully, use the proper term and ask for the mini, and tell me why it is you want it)
Bulldogs do not make the best mothers. Don't discount this and think a dog takes care of its own. If you don't know why, again, don't breed. This means I, as the breeder, cannot leave my house for more than 2 hours at a time. Once they are weaned at 4 weeks, and away from momma, and can be put in a playpen, it is safe to leave them alone to play without constant monitoring. My puppies are wormed at 4 weeks, again at 6 weeks, and also given puppy shots. It is a breed that requires the MAXIMUM amount of effort on my part to make sure that all the puppies turn out healthy, and what I have paid to get them here is not wasted, as the loss of just one bully is detrimental to me not only financially, but losing a baby is the worst pain ever, emotionally, much less to my puppy owners, to say the very least.
The whole procedure is VERY costly in every way to a breeder. You will find that most breeders range their pet quality bullies around $1500-$3000. Champion show dogs with or without breeding rights, will go for much much more. Now you know why.
*******END NOTE******
Beware of cheap bulldog puppies; they may cost you a lot more in the end - not just money, but heartache too!
Do your research on your breeder; please ask for references, then make sure you ask your references questions!!!!! ASK TO SEE THE PARENTS, WHERE THEY ARE RAISED, how many they have, how they care for them..etc. and make sure you have a pedigree of some kind, before you buy your Bulldog puppy. This is not just a dog you are purchasing, it’s lifestyle, its a delicate dog that requires your utmost attention to keep him healthy, and as a family member, you want to be sure your baby is in good health, right?
