There’s plenty of information about the English Bulldog breed on the internet. There’s a lot of false information out there too! We encourage you to ask questions and for you to research the breed. This will help you become a responsible and well educated parent to your new baby.
Instead of giving you information on picking the perfect English Bulldog puppy, we’re going to give you some things to look for in a BAD breeder. It’s a lot easier to pick a great pup from a great breeder when you remove all of the backyard breeders and puppy mills!
A great idea when looking at other breeders is to do a name search on complaint websites like www.ripoffreport.com. Websites like Rip Off Report can help you spot breeders that are out to scam people.
Bulldog Information
Signs to RUN:
1. If an English bulldog breeder is trying to sell you and OVER PRICED “TRI-COLOR”, “LILAC”, “BLUE” OR SOME OTHER CRAZY COLOR BULLDOG- RUN! Beware of the word “RARE”.
Reputable breeders are sick of seeing English Bulldog puppies on other websites that are being sold for $4,000 and higher simply because they are “TRI-COLORED” or some other crazy color! A “blue” or “lilac” color doesn’t come from a “blue” gene per say, but a diluted black gene. All puppies have some sort of recessed gene (welcome to the crazy world of genetics). When these recessed genes are compounded through breeding you get all kinds of things- good and bad. I found a website that offers more information on it. You can find the article here. This article is about the French Bulldog breed but easily suits the English Bulldog breed. The most common sense approach is to follow the AKC (who determines which colors are appropriate for each breed) and to look at the AKC show ring dogs. You will not see black, blue, lilac, tri-colored bulldogs in the show ring. The AKC website states that the colors for English Bulldog conformation are Red, White, Brindle, Fawn, and/or any combination of the four colors. Click here for the AKC Bulldog Standard page. If the AKC doesn’t want it, WHY WOULD YOU?
2. If an English bulldog breeder has several adult dogs on its website and they all look completely different- RUN!
A reputable breeder is trying to improve the breed. They will breed dogs that look similar in shape, size, and are similar in other ways. This is not to say that they won’t breed a smaller female to a larger male, it just means that they will not breed an English Bulldog that is way too short and broad to a bully that’s way too tall and narrow in hopes to compensate for both dogs downfalls. When breeding to improve the breed, you will not leave a dog with massive shortcomings in your breeding program. There are TOO many breeders out there that breed English Bulldogs that look like “junk yard dogs”. If you purchase a bully from a breeder like this, you can rest assured that the dog’s life (and yours too) will include many trips to the vet for problems that could’ve easily been prevented.
3. If you find an English bulldog breeder that’s breeding a “miniature” English Bulldog- RUN!
The ONLY way to accomplish a miniature anything is to breed the runt of each litter to another runt. If a human baby has a low birth weight, research has shown that it is more likely to have health problems than a baby born at a normal birth weight. The same goes for dogs. But, for breeding miniatures, you have TWO dogs with low birth weight breeding which can only affect the puppies they produce. A “miniature” English Bulldog is NOT able to be registered with the AKC because the AKC doesn’t recognize the label but DOES recognize the health problems that are associated with the miniature English bulldog.
4. If you find an English bulldog breeder that is a lot cheaper than the others- RUN!
Breeding English bulldogs, when done professionally and safely, is expensive. It’s not just putting two dogs together and then raking in the money! There is extensive planning that goes into each and every breeding when a breeder is doing it for the right reasons. Please be wary of ANY breeder selling their pups for less than $2,500.00.
5. Let’s face it… ALL puppies are cute.. not all adult dogs are though. If the adult English bulldogs are ugly- RUN!
It takes up to 6-8 months for all the traits and features of an English Bulldog to present themselves. A great judge of how the English bulldog puppy will look later on is to look at its parents and grandparents. And although looking at it’s parents and grandparents, that’s still not a fool proof way to see how the pup will look in the future BUT it’s a great place to start. If either of the parents of the puppy you’ve picked isn’t spectacular, rethink your choice. You want an English Bulldog that’s going to look like an English Bulldog. You definitely don’t want people asking you what breed your dog is. Make sure that both parents are great looking dogs! I promise you that complete strangers will stop you on the street while walking your dog IF you take the time and precaution when picking out a perfect, well bred bully!
6. One sign that DOESN’T mean an English bulldog breeder is unreputable is if the breeder doesn’t allow you to visit their home!
This doesn’t fit for everyone but does fit for us. Our bulldogs are not raised in a kennel away from our home, they are raised IN our home WITH OUR CHILDREN! If you were trying to sell a car on the internet, for example, would you let every person that was interested in the car into your home to discuss it? Or would you feel more comfortable discussing the car in a neutral area? Every day breeders hear about new cases of puppies being stolen, people breaking into their home because of the expensive puppies they are breeding. We are NOT willing to take that chance. We can send you all of the pictures you like, but we also must be careful of who we allow around our children! If not letting you into our home is a deal breaker for you, it’s also a deal breaker for us. We all will agree that when meeting someone on the internet there’s only so much you can trust about the person, we use the same amount of caution that YOU, the buyer, should use. Jason and I live in a very rural area away miles and miles away from a police department. Because of this reason, we just can’t take the chance of letting someone in our home. We will meet people at my parent’s home which is in the next town and a block from the local police department. They live smack dab in the middle of the town, have a fenced in backyard, and Gryphon (Griffin from a past litter). My parents and family love meeting all of the new families and we can show you the true meaning of “southern hospitality”. Read the testimonial from Champ’s parents who got to meet our parents.
7. If someone asks you to wire money, lives outside of the U.S. or Canada, is giving the dogs away and only needs you to pay shipping, etc, etc, etc- RUN!
Ok, we all know about scams, but I ask you to really use your common sense here. A scammer can only scam someone who is wanting to get scammed- by this, I mean if you use your common sense, common English bulldog knowledge, and your gut instinct, you will not get scammed. Ask anyone who owns an English bulldog if they want to get rid of it and they’ll tell you “no”. Most people love their animals like family and don’t want to get rid of them and if they do, for some reason, they usually have friends or family willing to take them. If someone needs to legitimately get rid of their dog, why would they advertise it on the internet? Internet advertising is EXTREMELY expensive so they’d have to spend a lot of money just to “give” the dog away. As far as other countries are concerned, do NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING COMING FROM AFRICA or any other country. Africa is KNOWN for criminal activity and internet fraud. Dateline NBC is constantly airing stories on credit card thieves in South Africa! Also, DO NOT WIRE MONEY TO ANYONE! Western Union and Money Gram offer no protection against crooks. Your best bet is to pay through PayPal. This protects you with up to $10,000 against fraud. Please remember what your “mama” taught you…if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
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