American Bulldog info, please!

[DietitianInTraining]

My husband and I bought an American Bulldog today. Anyone else here have one, or have in past? As some of you probably know, we also have a toy poodle is my BABY. He probably weighs about 8 lbs... this Bulldog probably weighs close to 100 lbs. I was terrified how they would be together, but they've been great so far. He is the most laid back dog i've ever seen. (Though he may just be a bit depressed or sad from the move..) Anyways, I was just wondering what you all thought of this breed. I'll try to post a pic of him sometime tomorrow...

 

[sattie]

I don't have any info on the breed itself... I would offer some advice on bringing the new dog home, but since he is already home, not much point in it now.

Congrats to you and your new family member. If you have further questions about, please ask!

 

[sattie]

OHHHHH... can't wait to see the pics!!!!

 

[babetoo]

my impression is that they are very good natured. wouldn't leave new one and poodle together unsupervised , til you are sure of big dog.

babe

 

[Adillo303]

I do not know how old the dog is, I think some of the breed things to watch for are "Cherry Eye" and "Hip Displacia" (sp). SIL's girlfriend has one and we all love her.

Plays well with my 2 labs. My black loves her, My Chocolate is terrified of her.

Always jumps up in my lap and iss very friendly.

 

[Russellkhan]

I have an American Bulldog. They are great dogs, very good natured and very trainable, though it's hard to say what training will be like starting with an adult dog you didn't raise.

Gizmo is a bit overweight, he weighs in at about 130 lbs, probably should be around 110. He tends to be shy around new people. I'm told this isn't uncommon in the breed.

I can't think of what else to tell you, is there anything specific you want to know about?

 

[DietitianInTraining]

Well, so far so good, Sammy (my poodle) and Max (husbands bulldog) have been getting along really well. I'm still so nervous having them both loose outside, but we're always standing by the door watching. We keep my poodle in the utility room with a baby gate at night, and have just been letting Max sleep on the floor by our bed..(he's been an indoor dog all his life) I wasn't wanting to know anything in particular, I was just curious how many people have this breed and if they like em. I've never been around a big dog like this before.. He's SO much bigger than my tiny Sammy!!... Here's a couple pics I took of him. My husband dropped my camera (For the second time! ) and now it will sometimes make strange lines in the pictures, and shows nothing but white when your outside in the sun.. lol. So hopefully these pictures turned out okay..

 

[texasgirl]

He's got the sweetest eyes!! I don't know about them either. I can say, when you have them both in the room, make sure attention is paid to them both and not one over the other. Congrats on the new edition!

 

[QSis]

He's a good-looking boy, beginner! I like him!

Where did you find Max? Is he an adult? Did he come from someone's home?

Best of luck with your new family member!

Lee

 

[DietitianInTraining]

Have you heard of Craigs List? I ask because i'm surprised how many people have never heard of it. Someone had just posted an ad on there, saying he was up for adoption. He's a year 1/2 old. The previous owner was a truck driver and had been taking Max with him since he was a pup. That would explain why he's so calm.. But I guess he recently changed jobs, where Max had to stay home all the time. Well, they also had another big dog who was much older at the house. They got into a few major battles with eachother in the month or so that he was home all the time. He has a few tiny scars on his head, and had some open wounds when we got him. He only asked for $40 for the adoption.. I think we just got lucky seeing his ad as soon as we did, because he's such a well behaved dog.. and I love that he's already house trained, and fixed.

 

[Maverick2272]

In all seriousness, I thought you were asking about an American Bullfrog!! LOL. I would not leave them alone until you are sure of them, either. Eventually one will establish dominance over the other, you have to let this happen but also guide it along so one dog doesn't completely dominate the other. IE make sure your dog stays your dog and his stays his so they both know they have a secure place in the home.

 

[DietitianInTraining]

Yeah, my husband said that Sammy is probably gunna push Max too far at some point and get put in his place.. Which that's fine, I understand that that has to happen, but Sammy is just SO much smaller than Max! It would not take much from Max to seriously hurt Sammy. Nick doesn't think I should worry too much.. he says if he was going to attack Sammy, he would've done it already. And really.. Sammy doesn't jump up on him, or anything. He was actually terrified of him at first, but now seems pretty comfortable around him. They've even eaten out of the same food bowl... Nick had ahold of Max's collar just in case he went for Sammy, but they just kept takin turns eating from it... I swear, if anything happens to my dog both Max and Nick are gunna be out on the streets!!...

 

[sattie]

Awe, what a super sweet dog! And love Sammy too! Bless you for adopting!!!

 

[TanyaK]

He's adorable ! I have an English bulldog but I don't think the 2 breeds are even related. We adopted our staffie as well and it's a great feeling to give a dog a home! Hope everything goes well !

 

[pacanis]

I think they are related Tanya.
Going from memory, as I looked into getting an Ambull at one time, the English bulldog as we know it was created by show people from a working bulldog. Short, squat, can't whelp naturally, breathing problems if it gets too hot. The leggier bulldogs; Olde, American, Alapaha, were created to get the bulldog back to its more natural state of being a working dog, like they were originally bred for.

At least that's what I read, but that information is only as good as the oldtime breeders' records

 

[TanyaK]

I think they are related Tanya.
Going from memory, as I looked into getting an Ambull at one time, the English bulldog as we know it was created by show people from a working bulldog. Short, squat, can't whelp naturally, breathing problems if it gets too hot. The leggier bulldogs; Olde, American, Alapaha, were created to get the bulldog back to its more natural state of being a working dog, like they were originally bred for.

At least that's what I read, but that information is only as good as the oldtime breeders' records

I'm sure they have the flatulance, drooling and snoring in common then

 

[pacanis]

lol, some traits it's hard to breed out.

 

[Constance]

Most big dogs are very tolerant, even protective of the little ones. Your bulldog has "sweeteyes", and I doubt you'll have any trouble with him.

My daughter has a Great Dane and Papillon, and if they're not a pair! The little dog is super-hyper, constantly bouncing up and down and barking, while the Dane is very laid back and mellow.

Below, Gizmo and Baby...