Any English Bulldog Owners ?

Bitsy was pregnant when we adopted her, and we had her spayed and aborted the puppies. Everyone we told was aghast, saying, "Why did you do that? Why don't you want to breed her?"
 
Ummm....let me think about that one. [sm=rolleyes.gif]

Just some info for the folks about EB.  Many mother bullies died in childbirth as do many puppies.
 
You have to schedule her C-Section for before the 63 days.  You need a bulldog vet.  You can't wait til it's an emergency and have an ER vet know what to do.  Like using a size 6 tube to intebate.  Bulldog moms are sedated so they don't even know they gave birth so they reject the babies.  Sometimes you have to hold the mom down and make her nurse.  You have to take the babies away after nursing so the mom won;t kill them.  It's 24/7 job for you.
 
Our 10 year old bullie just died of a heart tumor.  She was show quality but we had her spayed.  We just bought a "pet quality"  puppy for $2000 and will have her spayed. All her littermates were show qualtiy tho ( $2700) , so she could suprise us in 2 months.  There is no reason to breed a pet quality dog.  I don't mean to offend you, but your girl looks pet quality with her long and narrow body.  Pretty face tho.  Maybe your picture doesn't show her body right. A good breeder will make you sign an agreement to not breed a pet qualtiy dog.
 
I do hope this breeding has no problems.  Good luck
 

ORIGINAL: ErinM

I adopted Bitsy from the pound - this is her from the Petfinder picture (she's bigger now). She's probably mostly English bulldog - she was picked up on the streets so I'll never really know for sure.

OH MY GOSH!!!
Can I borrow her???!!?!
DAHV.
She's ADORABLE!!

No offense taken. I didn't adopt her for any other purpose than companionship, so I could care less about bloodlines and breeding.
 
In turn, I would never pay for a dog - I am a resuce owner all the way. I adopted Bitsy from the pound, where she was picked up off the streets. Purebreeds don't matter much to me. I was looking for a dominant breed, (EB) but I paid $50 for adoption fees and she is just as good as any $2000 in my book!

Hollysmom...I own an Olde English Bulldogge and would appreciate it if you wouldn't link them with designer dogs like the Valley Bulldog which is 1/2 EB and 1/2 Boxer.
 
Here is the history of an OEB...
The Olde English Bulldogge originated in England between 1600 and 1700.  These were the early ancestors to many of the Bull breeds that exist today including the English Bulldog and the American Bulldog.  They were bred to participate in blood sports like bull baiting.  This so called sport, became quite popular in England through out the middle of the 18th Century.  Bull baiting primarily consisted of staking out a bull and allowing several Bulldogges to attack it.  A dog of great courage and agility was needed for bull baiting. This dog was of medium size; larger dogs were considered to be the result of mastiff crosses.

Around 1835, laws were passed in England prohibiting bull baiting and the Olde English Bulldogges main purpose of existence vanished.  Within a decade the numbers of bulldogs declined drastically almost to extinction.  Dog show fanciers eventually decided to reconstruct the breed, but wanted to tone down the aggressive temperament of the original Olde English Bulldogge.  They crossed the remnants of the existing stock with the pug and over the years that followed they developed the modern English Bulldog.  Unfortunately though, this modern dog is wrought with all kinds of genetic health problems.

  The modern Olde English Bulldogge is a reconstruction of the original Olde Bulldogge of the 17th and 18th century. Various genetic crosses have been used in carefully and thoughtfully planned breeding programs to obtain this goal.  The foundation of most of today's Olde English Bulldogges can be traced to English Bulldog, American Bulldog, APBT and Mastiff.

These dogs  were used very selectively in various combinations to obtain the desired physical and mental traits of the original Olde English Bulldogge.  The result has been a good looking Bulldogge of great athletic ability that is much healthier and physically fit without most or all of the problems that plague today's modern English Bulldogs.  The goal of all Olde English Bulldogge breeders should be to produce genetically healthier Bulldogges that are free breathers, free breeders, and free whelpers.
 
Hope this helps you understand this breed a bit better. Thank you![]

Are you talking about the OEB of today that David Leavitt created (a Leavitt bulldog?)
Because he left the IOEBA because the OEB that he created back in the 70's had been changed by other breeders and he felt that they weren't keeping his new created breed true to his breeding standards, hence the Leavitt Bulldog. He has now *re-created* his creation to continue with his plan. These are working dogs. He wanted a dog that would have the strength and determination of the EB of the olde, but his dog was to be friendly and to be of more solid temperment.
I looked heavily into this when I first decided to get a dog. I wanted an EB SOOO badly. I came across info on OEBs and the way it was stated on several OEB websites made me believe that I was going to get an EB withOUT the health problems of the EB. So, highly interested in learning more about this relatively new breed, I started reading more and more trying to grasp all the info I could about this breed. The first thing I read was linked to David Leavitt. But until I did direct research on the breed that David Leavitt created, I didn't realize the conflicting issues with what he created to the IOEBA standard OEB.
See, they took what HE created and went with it. His breed standard got a bit forgotten and *stolen* after he left the breeding/creation pool.

Anyway, I emailed at least four breeders of the OEB breed (not Leavitt bulldog breeders) and found that a puppy would range anywhere from $1000-$1800. But not one of those four breeders told me of ANY health testing they did on the moms and dads OR the puppies.
So, (and this is my own ethical/moral values put into play in my head) I got to thinking about it and every OEB I looked at looked COMPLETELY different than eachother. I was NEVER going to know what kind of puppy I was going to get and I wasn't going to have any health testing done on the puppy or parents before purchasing. I understand that a new breed is still in the "making", but when I read what I read from David Leavitt coupled with no health testing, I couldn't bring myself to part with that much money, oh, and then all of the ethics and morals started whirling in my head and a few pics from some shelter sites, and I decided that none of this mattered to me so I adopted a pit mix from a shelter, but that's besides the point.
I don't want to put down the OEB breed, I contacted some REALLY nice and helpful people/ breeders while doing some research, but if someone came to me saying they were looking for an OEB, I'm going to suggest to them to look into a Leavitt Bulldog first. And if they tell me that they can't put the dog to work or exercise them for 5-10 miles a day, I'm going to tell them they should look for a different dog. It's what I had to do.

In response to chewbecca; My husband and I were like you, we have wanted an EB for years. Couldn't afford one back in those days, so we decided to try out a pug and fell in love with the breed and have our second one now.
 
Like you, I was doing research and ran onto the OEB's, too and for months I read everything I could and yes, I know all about the David Leavitt bulldogs and how and why he left the IOEBA. Even in his pursuit for the perfect OEB if you look at the kennels that belong to the Leavitt Bulldog Org. the OEB's all look somewhat different just like the ones that are registered with the IOEBA.
 
To sum this up I was able to purchase my first OEB. He is 5 months old now and when I took him for his vet check in the 48 hours allotted to me after receiving him, my vet was so impressed and went on and on so much I thought for a few minutes I wasn't going to get him back. He just couldn't quit handling him.[] I looked at dozens of websites and hundreds of pictures of pups and then one day I spotted the one I wanted. He is less bully than some of them and is very athletic. He can jump straight up in the air over a foot high wanting me to throw that toy. I have had lots of different breeds of dogs in all of my years and I have to say he has been the easiest to train. He is so loving and such a pleaser that he can learn anything in a few hours, except for his potty training...that took about a month. He is very well socialized and even people that aren't dog people think he is beautiful.
 
Designer breed? Well, I guess if he is one I'll have to say I am totally pleased and in love with this guy...no regrets here!
 
I praise you for the research you did and your decision to adopt a pit mix, great dogs with the right people. Have a good evening!

I don't think OEBs are designer breeds. They can be put to work and were a breed originally bred for that and to make for a healthier dog. AND originally bred to bring back the original bulldogge of the olde.
Just because I didn't get one, doesn't mean that there isn't a soft spot in my heart for them!
I'd love to see pics of yours![]

I want to get some new ones of him and then I'll try and figure out how to put them up...I think he's a beauty, but then again, I might be just a little prejudice, ya think?![]

I can't wait!
I am a sucker for ANYTHING in the bully family!

Hi chewbecca...I have tried and tried to put some pictures up of my OEB, but for some reason I guess I'm just not doing things right. If you'd like to see some pictures of Slugger go to...

OMG!
He's SOOO pretty!
Which breeder did you buy from?
I bet I know who you got him from.

He's gorgeous!

Thanks for the compliments. He had been playing in 85 degree heat all day trying to learn how to catch his new Kong frisbee. He is really athletic! Wears me out pretty good at times.[8D]

 My husband weighed him Sunday and he's up to 68lbs. already and he just turned 5 months old.

When do I get to see a picture of your baby? I'd sure like to. I've read lots of your posts and it sounds like you got a great dog!

I'm going to do this the easy way, heh. I'll link you to a thread that I made with her pics in it.[]

[linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=138962]Ella having fun with her, um, er...uncle sam? Yeah. I guess.[/link]

i agree with you ErinM, I have two english bulldog's we didn't pay for the first one, she (Maple) was 3 when we got her. The family just have time for her. 2 weeks ago we adopted Sherk, he is 1 year old and only paid 1000$, we found him on a local web listing. We fell in love with him because he looked so much like Maple. We love them so much, I don't care about blood like, showing dogs.. they are just the sweetest pets. We only have one son and two dog kids....lol

PS: Sorry I don't have pictures of my kids.. still trying to figure that part out to the site.