Bulldogs

“Bulldog” is a name used generically to describe the English Bulldog, also known as the British Bulldog. However, the word can also sometimes be used (incorrectly) to refer to the smaller French Bulldog.

The Bulldog is a short, stout dog that has connections to the UK partly due to its seeming similarity to famous prime minister Winston Churchill! Perhaps as a result, the dog has become in many ways synonymous with English culture – the BBC referring to the breed as an English icon. That said, the dog is still popular around the world.

The Bulldog is also a very muscular dog, and has a distinctive, wrinkled face. The story goes that these wrinkles are to help blood to run away from the eyes during fights. Despite that seemingly aggressive origin, Bulldogs are actually very good natured. They are social animals that have a good understanding of human behavior – apparent in displays of affection and sympathy. They get along well with other dogs, with children, and with other pets. Despite being rated as one of the less intelligent breeds, they are nevertheless among the most obedient and trainable. This makes the Bulldog a popular choice for many families.

Choosing a Bulldog is also a very practical decision that can save you money and also reduce the amount of work that you need to do to keep your new friend happy and healthy. Getting a smaller pet is also likely to be cheaper in terms of food and supplies too. In fact, a pet that you don’t have to walk so often can also help to save you money because you’ll be spending less on gas – a cost that many people forget when they prepare a budget for their pet.

Bulldog Food and Health

When considering the health and diet of the bulldog, you should try to think in terms of the dog’s evolution. While bulldogs have been bred a lot and today look rather different from their wolf ancestors, they still have a lot of their roots in that origin.

Thus, you need to try and feed your dog the same kind of natural foods that they would have evolved to enjoy. Obvious examples include lean proteins that come from animals, and plenty of nutrients (which they naturally would have gotten from the organ meat in particular).

On the other hand, just like the human diet, dog food can often be ruined by the inclusion of lots of unhealthy sugars and additives. These can cause inflammation, poor eating behaviors, and other issues in dogs. Therefore, you should try to avoid them and steer yourself toward the most natural foods possible that are made from unprocessed meats.

When considering the type of food, you don’t need to worry so much about the breed. While you can get foods that are specifically designed to be good for bulldogs and a host of other types of dogs, these have actually not been demonstrated to be in any way superior to more generic foods!

With that in mind then, it is often preferable to give your dog foods that don’t have a breed on the packaging – as these will likely be less expensive!

At the same time though, what is useful is to look for food that is designed specifically for your size of dog. That is to say that food aimed at smaller dogs (like bulldogs) will be a good choice. Consider the age of your dog too – when your dog is a puppy for instance they will tend to do better with puppy food like High Protein Dry Dog Food, as this often contains more energy as compared with adult dog food like adult wet dog food. Likewise, food aimed at older dogs can sometimes be beneficial for including nutrients that help to combat issues that can occur in older age.

Something you do need to consider is that your little dog has actually got a condition called brachycephaly. This is the technical term referring to the slightly flatter snout of the bulldog. This has been selectively bred for as it is visually distinctive and therefore desirable.

But while this might be a cute/fun look, it can actually cause some difficulties for your little dog when it comes to eating. You try picking food out of a dog bowl without a snout!

Therefore, another thing to consider is getting a bowl that has an angle, and maybe one that is elevated in some way. This way, they will be able to eat with ease. And likewise, you should also look for dog food that has larger ‘bits’ that are easier for your dog that is Naturals Dry Dog Food to get up out of the bowl to chew and swallow.

Leashes and Collars for your Bulldog

When choosing a dog leash and dog collar for your bulldog, there are a few things you need to think about. On the whole, these are:

Comfort
Look
Training

So, when you first start out with your pug, it is a good idea to get a regular collar rather than a harness. Likewise, you will want a fairly short, leather leash. These work well because they allow you to provide immediate feedback for your dog, and to pull them easily in the direction that you want them to move in.

Better yet, you can even consider getting a ‘training collar’ as Premium Dog Training Shock Collar. This is a type of collar that delivers a very minor electric shock to your dog, to let them know if they’re behaving correctly or not.

Now, this might strike you as cruel but don’t worry: your dogs have very thick skin, and therefore it isn’t actually painful to them. It is simply a way for you to communicate from a distance.

So how do you use these tools to train your bulldog to walk next to you? The difficulty with training a dog to walk is that you are trying to train them on something rather abstract – you are training them not to do something, which is harder than training them to do something!

But there are ways around the challenge. The best option is to practice walking toward a treat in the garden. If they tug on the leash to try and get closer faster, that is then when you will either pull them back, or deliver the small shock. On the other hand, if they walk at a slower pace as they should do, then you can reward them with a treat or with praise.

When choosing a collar for your bulldog, you should make sure it fits tightly. You don’t want your dog to be able to slip their collar, but this is something that can sometimes happen quite easily owing to their thick necks and relatively small heads! They’ll be safer if you pick something a little tighter, so try to find a collar as Martingale Dog Collar that fit jut snugly enough for you to fit a finger under.

There are lots of collars that you can get for bulldogs, but often people will choose the slightly more classically ‘butch’ look for those stockier bulldogs. That might mean going for something with studs or spikes. Then again, you can also enjoy the contrast of something pink and feminine on the big burley frame of your pup!

As your bulldog gets a little older and more used to walking, you might choose to switch them to a harness like No-Pull Pet Dog Harness. This will allow them to feel a little more comfortable, as the harness won’t dig in around the neck and will instead support your dog by the torso.

Best Crates, Beds, and Doghouses for Bulldogs

When thinking about places for your dogs to sleep and rest, there are three good options.

The first is the dog crate. This is essentially like a cage and often can be used to transport your dog as well. Crates don’t just give your dog somewhere they can hide to feel safe, they also give you the option to do some crate training as Folding Metal Dog Crate . That essentially means you’ll be training your dog to go to their ‘room’ when it’s bedtime, or when you need some quiet. This is a useful skill, especially if someone comes to the door.

Bulldogs enjoy having their own space like this too. Just make sure it is the right size – bulldogs are quite small so this should be easy enough for the most part.

The next option is a bed that is Ortho Quilted Couch Dog Bed. This can work like a create, giving your dog somewhere to call their own. They often will also sleep on their bed, which could be located in your room or somewhere else in the home. Look for something comfortable and plush and ideally make sure there is also room for some of their toys.

Finally, consider a dog house for outside, which will serve as somewhere they can go to escape the rain and/or the direct sunlight. Don’t make the mistake of keeping your dog here overnight though – bulldogs are small with fine fur and thin skin, they are very much ‘indoor’ dogs!

Bulldog Toys

If you want your dog to be as happy and healthy as possible, then getting them a variety of fun toys is another must. So what kind of dog toys should you invest in? Well a good starting point is anything that they can chew.

Related Post: Best Chew Toys

Like all other dogs, bulldogs like chewing on toys such as wishbone dog chew toy in order to help clean their teeth, strengthen their jaws, and exert a little destructive energy. Trust us: you’d probably rather they spent that energy on chewing toys rather than on chewing furniture!

This is especially true as well when your dog is young, in which case a conk can be a very good option as it is made from a proprietary type of rubber that provides just the right amount of resistance for your little dog. You can get conks aimed at different ages and sizes of dogs, so try to find the right one for your bulldog, and consider their age in this as well.

Bulldogs like toys that squeak and that make noise. This feedback makes the toy more engaging, so look for squeaky bones and the like.

Related Post: Dog Squeaky Toys

Again like all dogs, bulldogs also enjoy playing with people. That makes things like ropes very fun for them as they can play tug of war like Pups Products Dog Rope Toys. They can even get their teeth around the nice large knot at the end of this.

Related Post: Rope Dog Toys

Grooming Insights for Bulldog owners

You should aim to brush your bulldog roughly three times a week and this becomes extra important when the dog is shedding (that normally happens in spring and summer). This is good for their skin and for their fur.

Related Post: Dog Grooming Brush

You should try to wash your bulldog relatively often. Once every few weeks is generally a good idea, though you can often smell when the time is nigh!

The thing to remember about bulldogs is that they have those deep ridges in the skin on their face. We’ve already seen how those short snouts can be a problem for eating, and it turns out their wrinkled faces also create another issue, that being that those grooves can attract dead skin and grime leading to skin complaints as well as bad smells.

So this is why you should wash your bulldog more regularly than some other breeds, and why you should be careful to wash these areas specifically when you do so.

Other jobs for bulldog grooming include ear care (making sure to cut the tufty fur in the ears as well as washing them), tooth brushing, and nail clipping such as dog nail clippers trimmer boshel. You can do these things yourself, or you can take your dog to a groomer.

Related Post: Best Dog Nail Clippers

If you notice that your dog is scratching a lot, if their skin looks red and painful, or if they are shedding a lot of dead skin – then they may have some kind of infestation. When grooming your bulldog, you should always take the opportunity to look for other signs and problems. You should also be sure to inspect their feces regularly as this can also be a useful sign of any issues.

Here are just some of the different common infestations and health problems that can afflict your bulldog, which you should look out for. Once you identify the issue, you should then be able to find a wide number of products designed specifically to help treat those problems. Here are just some to look out for:

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are the best known form of worms that can affect our pets and this is because they are so common. Tapeworms actually use fleas initially as an intermediate host and are this way carried over to the cats or dogs when they groom themselves. Tapeworm can be identified because they are made from a ‘chain’ of smaller segments, each of which is filled with hundreds of eggs and which can break away from the main body of the worm. Disgustingly they can grow up to a foot in length.

The main sign of tapeworm are the rice-like egg segments appearing in the stool, while worse infestations can cause vomiting and bleeding as well. It’s a good idea to treat your pet for tapeworm whenever you treat them for fleas.

Roundworm

Roundworm will affect almost all pups and kittens when they’re in their infancy because they are passed through their mother’s milk. Initially they come from contaminated soil and infected carcasses and they are likely to cause you’re pet to develop a pot belly and a duller coat. Other symptoms include diarrhoea, coughing and mucus in the stool. If you look closely you may be able to see the worms in the stool or vomit, though not always.

Bulldog Accessories

There are a number of useful accessories that can help you to look after your bulldogs, potentially making life easier for you, and happier for them!

So, what do these include? Good options are:

Clickers

Clickers are used for training bulldogs and can be a great way to reward them without relying permanently on treats. These can be used to establish a link between the sound and ‘reward’ by allowing you to encourage your dog when they are behaving as they should.

Related Post: Best Dog Training Clicker

Clothes

Consider getting some clothes for yourself when walking. While your bulldog doesn’t need to go for quite the same long, tiring walks as larger and more athletic breeds, they will still need to go outside occasionally, even when it is cold.

Warm clothes for you is a good idea but at the same time, consider warm clothes for them too is Fabric Soft Dog Blanket ! This is a good way to keep your bulldog dry when you walk outside.

Dog Stroller

Remember that pugs are short and stout little fellows and as such, they can sometimes get a little bit tired on long walks. A solution is to get a dog stroller is 4 Wheeler Dog Stroller, and while you might not want to be ‘that guy’ (or that gal) it can nevertheless be useful for resting your dog’s tired legs and making life easier for yourself too!

Overview of the Bulldog Breed