Bulldogs: WHY are they so expensive?

**NOTE** 
We are NOT classified ourselves as "breeders".  We MIGHT have 1 litter a year.  Our babies are our babies and spoiled. They sleep with our boys, in our beds and our couches.  They are never kenneled unless they need to be potty trained but 99% of the time, never in a kennel.  They are trained and we absolutely cannot imagine having any other type of dog.  They are with us until the day they pass away.  We spoil them rotten and know that they are family FIRST and foremost.  We love our babies when we do have them.  Take that into consideration when reading this and considering one of our babies!  


I get questions ALL the time about our babies.  I will be doing a couple of blogs about what you should know and why are they so expensive!  If you don't know this already, raising bulldogs is a Full-time JOB!

There's no such thing as a "cheap" bulldog.  If you get one for $500 or so, you either need to be aware that you might be part of a scam or you are getting an older/retired dog or a rescue. I have a series on how not to be part of a scam here and here.

Lots and LOTS of research goes in to knowing how to raise English Bulldogs.  I think I researched and made hours of calls to my dear friend Karla for probably 2 years or more before we even started breeding our first girl, Leia.

First of all, there's several check ups with the vet to make sure she's okay to breed.  Bulldogs are VERY hard and difficult to breed.  They do not take every time!  There are progesterone and fertility tests that go along with her before she's bred.  Lots of costs involved with being at the vet everyday with blood work, scrapes etc to see if she's ready.  Then, it's the calling the person that you want to have bred to their male.  Sometimes you have to take both of them to the vet and have them do it. There are tests before you start on both of them and then the female has to be artificially inseminated  Now, just to this point, you have probably shelled out over $1000 or more just to this point.  BUT that's IF she takes the first time.  Libby, our last female, didn't take twice......and didn't take until her third time ($$$$$$$$$$$).  We have our girls go to a friend who has been doing it for many years. There are still AI fees involved, depending on which male you choose to use.

People ask me ALL the time about "breeding normally".  It CAN happen.  It DOES happen. But it's not always safe for the male or female.  People ask why......there are a long list of reasons why but here are a few:

1.  The female is usually more aggressive than the male (clears throat)
2.   Due to their special breathing needs, both of them can overheat, overexert and have a heat stroke during the process. (and cause death)
3.  Due to the way they are built, it's difficult for the male to mount the female

Now, you think she might be pregnant.  You take her to your vet for an xray or sonogram (sometimes more than one).  We choose to put our girls on a preventative antibiotic before she gives birth (2 weeks).  We also start changing her diet to puppy food a month before she gives birth for extra nutrition. ($$$$) We also start a protocol so increase her milk supply so that she can sustain the pups after they are born.

Our house looks like a hospital (NICU) unit before the babies are born.  We have heating lamps, baby wipes, scissors, emergency equipment, incubator, Oxygen concentrator, oxygen tanks etc......anything you can imagine, just in case she has the babies here.  ($$$)

Almost ALL English & French bulldog babies are born by cesarean. ($$$$)  It's too dangerous for them to have the babies on their own for a variety of reasons.  I know, this last litter, if we had let Libby have hers on her own, we would have lost atleast 2 of our babies.  We have them here with us, because they were able to get them out quickly and rescue them!!  So a few days before her first due date, I am taking her temp every few hours.  We have already called our vet to let them know that we will be having babies soon.  Once her temp starts to drop to 97-98, we call our vet and let him/her know that we are on our way with momma.  Of course there are several thousand dollars wrapped up into this and we haven't even sold our first puppy!

Then we come home.  We are upping our temp in our home to keep them comfortable and keeping a heat lamp on the babies to keep them warm.  English bulldog moms should not be kept with their babies.  They do not realize how big and klutzy they are and many of them end up laying on top of them and suffocating them to death.  There's a 25% mortality rate with these babies and a variety of problems can surface.

So when mom is not nesting them in a whelping box, guess who is making sure they eat every 1 1/2-2 hours for about 3 weeks?  yep......you guessed it.  It's yours truly!!  We are up, making sure all the pups are eating well and nursing well.  Making sure mom is being good and nursing well.  We are watching all of them to make sure they are sucking and gaining weight.  We have to weigh them every time and wipe them clean if mom doesn't.  If she doesn't have enough milk, that requires me to weigh them before and after to see how much they got.  Then I have to figure out how much they should've gotten and subtract that.  Then supplement with homemade formula (which costs a small fortune) and feed them.  Then burp them.  EVERY 2 hours!

When there's one or more that doesn't latch on good or gain weight like the others, we have to separate that one and feed it by hand (tube or syringe feed).  We have to make a special formula for that puppy to make sure it's getting that nutrition.  Sometimes the bigger ones will push out the "runt" or smaller one, so we are making sure they are doing well.  Meanwhile, in their crib/puppy/nursery crate, it is lined with blankets/sheets etc so they can grip their claws and be able to walk.  We do laundry ALL The time!!  Our heating (electrical), water and overall bills increase dramatically when we have babies!  ($$$$$$$$$$$)

They start weaning and we are making sure they don't choke and do well eating (because they have very small windpipes and esophogus tracts).  We have them on a specialty puppy food, that is small and easy for these guys to swallow!  It's great but very expensive!! (mom is on it too!)  We finally start getting them weaned and we do start training them to go outside once they go on food, so they are easy to train when their new owners get them!

So now, starting at 2 weeks......we start worming them and then we go to the vet for their check ups. This is at about 6 weeks old.  They get their shots and check ups to make sure they are okay!  We also have to buy the heartworm meds and if there's any other health issues, infections, parasites etc, the medicines can be worth it but VERY costly!! The more we have them here, the more we have to take care of them.

Now don't get me wrong, we love it.  We love the puppy breath, kisses and playing with them.  We spoil them rotten like we do our own, but it's not free or cheap especially when you multiply it times the number of babies in a litter!

Our pups are also NOT like any other pups from other breeders.  You can read about that HERE.

So, as you can see, we literally spend multiple of thousands of dollars before they are even sold.  So it is REALLY insulting for you to lowball a breeder on the price of a puppy.  You really need to consider how much the care and time goes into the life of a bulldog.  The cost of a puppy PALES in comparison to the cost to maintain a bulldog!!!

If you are considering buying an English bulldog, I hope you do all of your research.  If you have owned one in the past, you know these things.  If you would like a rundown of the care of an English bulldog, you can read my article/link here!

I will leave you with a saying from our vet (a bulldog owner his whole life and lover of the breed) that fits them accurately:

"Bulldogs are the BMW of dogs.  They are expensive to buy and expensive to maintain, but one of the best dogs you will ever have and they are worth every penny!"