How to train your bulldog

English bulldog puppies are a bundle of joy.  They are friendly, playful – in short, a great addition to your family (they're pretty much the best dogs on the face of the planet in my humble opinion!!!).  ;-)

However, the arrival of your newborn canine demands some house training, and fast!  Otherwise, you risk turning your home into an obstacle course of “piles and puddles”. Not fun....

House training your bulldog puppy does not have to be a stressful exercise, especially if you follow a few time-tested tactics. 

Here are a few essential tips for helping your young canine (and yourself!): 

A puppy’s bladder is small, and control is not part of his makeup.  It is unrealistic to expect him to suppress his “release” while you are at work or otherwise occupied.  Assuming that you, your wife/partner, or your kids can’t escort your puppy to a special outside area every 2-3 hours, the dog must have access to an inside location to do his thing.

Puppy owners must work as a team and demonstrate consistency, patience, and persistence if puppy house training is to be successful.  Note that it may take many weeks, even months, to get it right.

English bulldog puppies can be trained at three weeks of age at the earliest.  Keep in mind that potty breaks will be very frequent at the start.   I didn't get to pick up my English 'Bullie' until she was 5 weeks old and I know many breeders won't let you take the puppy too early so it depends on where you get your English Bulldog. 

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not punish your puppy when he “accidentally” relieves himself in the house.  Similarly, always reward your dog immediately after he has completed his job in the proper location.  Training is a learned activity, so your bulldog must know why he is being rewarded to associate it with positive action.  

House breaking a puppy is a behavioral activity that demands rigor on the owner’s part.  Dogs must be directed towards the desired end, and incentives should be triggered in their brain as motivation.  Fortunately, you will have a lot of practice daily with an active puppy, so going outside should become automatic in no time!

Here are a few more ideas for your house training efforts: 

Scout your puppy’s routine and “relieving” sequence.  Normally, he will have to go after meals and at specific hours of the day.  Watch carefully and try to catch him just before he takes off.  When your bulldog starts squatting, circling or sniffing around, that’s the time to lead him to the designated area.

Use verbal cues to direct your puppy outside when he is ready to relieve himself.  Ideally, one unique keyword should be used at all times in a loud, firm voice.  This should distract your puppy and allow you to pick him up and carry him out before it is too late…

In the designated “release” area, use a special word (e.g. “dumper”) that triggers your puppy’s to act.

In the end, praise your bulldog with a treat or reward that signals your approval.

During puppy house training, there will be several occasions when your timing is off, and you’ll have no choice but to clean up the mess and try again next time.  Remember that your bulldog is only acting naturally, so do not punish him after the fact.

Dog owners who persevere with their English bulldog puppies are quickly rewarded with obedient, well-behaved dogs.  It’s a “win-win” situation for all, and you will once again be able to enjoy a relatively clean, odor-free residence.

Why do over 80 per cent of Bulldog births happen by caesarian section?

Why are so few Bulldogs born naturally? 

One piece of research has particular relevance to the ongoing debate on the breeding of pedigree animals. As part of a major survey, carried out jointly by the BSAVA and the Kennel Club, data was gathered on the percentage of litters of puppies born by caesarian section compared to "natural" births. The differences between breeds was quite astonishing.

The caesarian rate in humans has been reported to be approximately 20% of all births in the UK, and around 30% of all births in the USA. The study on dogs looked at 150 breeds. There were seven breeds where the reported caesarian rate was zero ( President Obama's chosen breed, the Portuguese Water Dog was one of these). Most dog breeds had a relatively low rate of caesarians, but twelve breeds were identified as having rates greater than 40%. These included St Bernards at 41.2% and Irish Wolfhounds at 40.3%.  Three breeds were singled out as having caesarian rates of over eighty per cent – the French Bulldog at 81.3%, the Bulldog at 86.1% and the Boston Terrier at a remarkable 92.3%.

Caesarian sections are carried out to save the lives of puppies and their mothers when the bitch is unable to pass the pups naturally (and perhaps sometimes pre-emptively because of a fear that she won't be able to give birth naturally). The reason for the inability to give birth is usually that the pups' heads are too big to pass through their mother's pelvic canal. This is a characteristic that is heritable. If breeders chose to breed from dogs with smaller heads (or bigger pelvises), caesarians would be much less common. A difficult birth causes significant suffering to the mother, and any surgery inevitably involves some  pain. The high level of caesarians in certain breeds is something that should be addressed as an animal welfare issue.

It would be easy to reverse this trend towards caesarian sections in certain dog breeds. When puppies are registered with the Kennel Club, it could be compulsory that a note should be added to their pedigree, recording whether their birth had been natural or by caesarian section. Breeders would then be to factor this information into their choice of future breeding stock. Over a few generations, selective breeding using easy-birth dogs would be very lik ely to bring about a significant reduction in caesarian rates.

Will the Kennel Club take this type of action? I'm not holding my breath.

The History of Bulldogs

By Jon Bastian

One of today’s most popular dog breeds and human companions was originally bred for aggression. Here’s the history of bulldogs.

Bulldogs in the Beginning

Like the pit bull, bulldogs were originally bred to help butchers control livestock, although bulldogs most likely predate pit bills, with a history that can possibly be traced back to the 5th century in England and a breed called the Alaunt. By the 15th century, in addition to catching horses, cattle, and boars in legitimate (if dangerous) farming use, bulldogs were also used in the barbaric “sport” called bull-baiting, in which trained dogs would latch onto a tethered bull’s nose and not let go until the dog had pulled the bull to the ground or the bull had killed the dog. Over the course of 350 years, until bull-baiting was banned in 1835, bulldogs were bred for aggression, and an 80-pound dog could easily bring down a bull weighing close to a ton by corkscrewing its own body around its neck, tossing the bull over its own center of gravity.

After Bull Baiting—the New Bulldog Breeds

Once bull baiting was outlawed in the UK, it would seem that there would be no further need for the breed, and they probably would be extinct now were it not for their exportation to the United States and Germany. In the US, bulldogs continued to work at herding hogs and cattle, particularly in parts of the South where the terrain was too rough to allow for fences. In Germany, bulldogs were crossbred to eventually create the boxer. In England, the original working bulldog was bred to a smaller size, although there is some disagreement as to whether this was accomplished merely by selectively breeding smaller dogs, or cross-breeding with pugs. One noted bulldog breeder stated categorically, “I do not believe that a 15-pound Pug was ever crossed in the 17th or the 18th century with a 100-to-120-pound Bulldog. I do not believe that this was possible in those days, since they did not know artificial insemination.” (from a 1997 interview by David D. Jackson, MD, FACS.)

That breeder, John D. Johnson, should know his bulldogs, since he is one of two men credited with saving the breed and creating the American bulldog. Beginning as a teenager in the 1930s in rural Georgia, Johnson began selectively breeding remaining herding bulldogs, later on joining forces in the 1960s with Allen Scott of Alabama. However, the two men ultimately did not see eye to eye on what an American bulldog should be, so eventually went their separate ways, Johnson creating the larger, short-muzzled “classic” type named for him, while Scott bred the smaller, more athletic “standard” or “performance” type, which is also known as the Scott type.

Bulldogs Today—the Comeback

The bulldog—American and English—has gone on to become a popular companion and working animal, as well as a very widely used mascot, and one of the more famous corporate bulldogs is associated worldwide with Mack Trucks. In the US alone, the bulldog represents nearly four dozen universities and 250 secondary schools, and is the unofficial mascot for the US Marines. In the UK, the dog is associated with Churchill Insurance (although Winston Churchill’s dog, while often called a bulldog, was most likely a pug) and is the mascot for various football and rugby teams. Why such popularity? Perhaps because the breed shows such fierce loyalty and protectiveness toward its humans. As Johnson pointed out at the end of that interview, “They say that dog is man's best friend but they are wrong. Man is dog's best friend.” This is particularly true in the case of a breed that would no longer be around had not two men decided to do something to save it.