How responsible breeders raise Healthy Bulldog Puppies (2024)
Healthy Bulldog Puppies: A Guide for Responsible Breeding
Many wonder how we have been able to stay singularly focused on breeding healthy bulldog puppies for such a long period of time. After 15 years of breeding bulldogs, our answer to this question is deep and meaningful. You simply can’t be great at too many things. We feel the most important problem within the bulldog breed has always been health problems. The breed is fantastic, minus the problematic health issues that raise their ugly head. From our perspective, why not solve the most difficult but important problem for our adopters. Isn’t this what our job is as breeders?
Lazer Focus
To make progress on the ONE BIG PROBLEM, we cannot be distracted. Let’s consider breeding for rare colors. Many breeders lose focus on quality and health because they become infatuated with rare colors. Now, to be clear, we actually believe that many rare color bulldogs are healthier than standard colors. Probably a mix of both rare and standard is the best combination within a bloodline. The problem with rare color breeding is that it becomes one dimensional. Achieving the goal of producing rare colors consumes a breeding program to the point that health and quality are ignored. Obviously this type of outcome would only distract us from ultimately solving the issue of bulldog health, thus at Bruiser Bulldogs we intentionally ignore all color types and only focus on the health attributes of the bulldogs we breed and the healthy bulldog puppies we produce. The following is a social media post from 10 years ago that demonstrates our unchanged singular mindset. A decade later and we still have that lazer focus to simply produce healthy bulldog puppies.
If you are interested in learning more about how we raise healthy bulldog puppies you are welcome to visit the following pages:
– Our complete guide on how to select a bulldog breeder – click here
– Learn how the AKC is destroying the Bulldog Breed –click here
– Selecting the correct English Bulldog for you family -click here
Social Media Post 10 Years Ago
Recently we agreed to partner with a trusted breeder within our network to use their stud, Hollywood (pictured below) in a series of 4 breedings. Hollywood is everything that I believe in and want in our bloodline. From a phenotype standpoint, he breathes better than any bulldog I have been around.
That means he has a huge trach and no palate issues. His snout is extended slightly by about 1/2 inch which gives more room for his palate and reduces entropion issues. He has perfect eyes (no cherry eye or entropion) and is the perfect size (I like my males between 50 and 53 lbs). His hips are tight as are his patella tendons. No allergies to speak of. Basically, he is my dream dog because of his health and is one in a million. He also just so happens to be a rare lilac color which places his value around 10k to 15k, which ironically has nothing to do with his health.
Planning around these breedings, made us realize we could easily get into the rare color game with Hollywood’s offspring. All it would take is another rare color-carrying stud and we would be producing expensive, beautifully colored puppies. We mulled it over, but we were hesitant to act on it. People know us for having the strictest health standards in the industry. We didn’t want to introduce health problems into our bloodlines in the pursuit or rare colors. As we began our search for this stud, we quickly became enamored with all of the beautiful, colored dogs.
The lilacs, the blues, the chocolates..they are all truly beautiful dogs. But, we could never find the dog that fit our health standards AND carried the color we wanted. After stud shopping for several weeks, we eventually came to the frustrating realization that you really can only have one top priority. If you are searching for a rare color-carrying bulldog, that will always be your top priority and health will come after. The selection criteria will instantly become limited and force you to make slight compromises.
If you are into mini bulldogs, that is your first priority. You are looking for bloodlines that are 35 lbs and less. If you are looking for health, then that is your first filter point. The more points of emphasis added to your breeding program, the more diluted it becomes. Breeding healthy bulldogs is complex and every small detail matters. From a 3/16 inch increase in nostril size to 2.5 lbs less weight on the hip structure, every single detail matters in creating the perfect, healthy bulldog.
Rare colors are fun but they add another hurdle in the attempt to rid the bulldog of their health issues. Am I saying I wouldn’t create a color bloodline if the perfect, healthy color-carrying bulldog comes knocking at my door? I certainly would. Until that day comes, I am content working towards creating a bloodline that excels in health within a breeding culture that has somehow forgotten how important that is.
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