What to do if your dog is lost? Part 3

I'm doing a 3 part series on what I've learned from our 4 day disappearance of our sweet girl, who came home for a Christmas miracle!  You can read
Part 1 here
part 2 here

Now we are rejoicing that hopefully with these tips, your baby is HOME!  Praying that this helps someone like it did us!  Let's go forward!

AFTER YOU'VE HUGGED & KISSED AND HELD A MILLION TIMES YOUR BABY.....WHAT'S NEXT??

1.  CHECK THEM FOR OBVIOUS INJURIES, ABRASIONS ETC. ALSO CHECK FOR TICKS!

2.  ONLY GIVE THEM 8 OZ WATER AT A TIME. THAT'S WITHIN A HALF HOUR OR HOUR IN BETWEEN.

3.  ONLY GIVE THEM A SMALL HANDFUL OF FOOD EVERY HOUR OR TWO.  IF YOU HAVE OTHERS, KEEP THEM SEPARATED FOR A BIT.  I AM TALKING 1/2 CUP AND THEN 1 CUP EVERY HOUR OR TWO........YOU NEED TO CONTINUE THIS FOR THE FIRST 2 DAYS OR YOU WILL GET STOMACH BLOAT!

4.  TAKE TO YOUR VET TO HAVE THEM CHECKED OUT.  CHECK FOR GIARDIA, LEPTO OR ANY OTHER ISSUES.

5.  RE-NOTIFY ALL VETS THAT YOUR PET WAS FOUND.  TAKE DOWN ALL SIGNS.  TAKE THE LOST/STOLEN FLAG OFF OF THE MICROCHIP.  NOTIFY ALL SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS/GROUPS ETC THAT YOUR DOG WAS FOUND. RECOVER ALL FLIERS.

What to do if your dog is lost? Part 2

I don't know what I would've done without help from such sweet, kind-hearted people. One of those was a volunteer pet detective. Later on was the search and rescue person.  I could literally have NOT found our baby without them!  I am forever grateful!!!

I will now go through things to do to "profile" your area and help your area for them to come home.

You can catch up with PART 1 HERE

THINGS TO DO AT HOME:

1.  LEAVE YOUR GARAGE/FENCE DOOR OPEN

2.  PUT USED/WORN CLOTHES OUT ON THE FRONT PORCH AND ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE (change out daily)

3.  PUT OUT FOOD AND WATER ON THE FRONT AND SIDE OF THE HOUSE

4.  IF YOU HAVE OTHER DOGS, CLOSE UP THEIR CAGE AND PUT THEIR WATER/FOOD BOWL IN A PLASTIC BAG TO SEAL FOR THEIR SCENT.

5.  DON'T GROSS OUT, BUT URINATE ON SOME CLOTHING.  DRAG IT AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD ON A STRING OR DRAG IT AROUND WITH A CAR AND PUT IT IN THE FRONT YARD.


THINGS TO DO FOR PROFILING THE AREA:

1. USE GOOGLE EARTH TO SURVEY YOUR AREA.  LOOK FOR ANY AREAS OF WATER.  REGARDLESS of how we humanize our pets, they still are animals with instincts.  When the sun rises, their insatiable desire is for WATER.  They can live without food for a few weeks but not water.

2.  TAKE A FELLOW DOG/PLAYMATE WITH YOU!  Take a favorite animal, "treats/cookies" etc when searching

3. USE A CALM, NON EMOTIONAL VOICE!  NEVER show emotion.  Especially for a dog that might be skittish, scared or disoriented!  They WILL bolt!

4.  GO OUT AT NIGHT.  IF IN THE CALM YOU HEAR A DOG BARKING, YOUR DOG MIGHT BE NEARBY!

5.  DRIVE AROUND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD WITH YOUR CAR WINDOW DOWN AND ANOTHER PET INSIDE!

6.  IF IT'S USED TO RIDING IN A CAR, DRIVE AROUND WITH A VAN DOOR OPEN!

7.  IF YOU HAVE THEM, PUT UP OUTDOOR CAMERAS, OUTSIDE!  THIS IS SOMETHING WE WILL BE GETTING SOON!!!

THINGS TO DO IF THERE'S A SIGHTING:

1.  ASK THEM TO DESCRIBE YOUR PET AND COLLAR!  INCLUDING THE COLOR!

2.  GET TIME, LOCATION AND EVERY DETAIL OF THE SIGHTING.

3.  USE A NON EMOTIONAL VOICE WHEN SEARCHING FOR THEM.

4.  ONLY 1 PERSON GOES TO SEARCH.  I CAN'T SAY THIS ENOUGH.  ONLY ONE PERSON GOES TO SEARCH.

5.  BE CALM.......AND IF YOU SEE YOUR PET, SIT DOWN.  JUST TALK.  CALMLY.  IF YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PACK MATE, BRING THEM TOO.

6.  KEEP A FLASHLIGHT, LEASH, FAVORITE TOY, TREATS AND TENNIS SHOES/HIKING SHOES IN YOUR CAR DURING THE SEARCH.

7.  DO NOT GIVE THE MONEY FOR THE REWARD UNTIL THE DOG IS FOUND.
 
IF YOU STILL HAVEN'T FOUND YOUR PET, THERE ARE WONDERFUL VOLUNTEER PET DETECTIVES AND SEARCHERS.  DO NOT SPEND THE $2000 WE WERE QUOTED!!

What to do if your dog is lost???? part 1

We never knew what horror, torture and pain it's like to lose a furbaby!  On the early morning of  December 21st that horror became a reality.  She wandered off after being let out and when we went to find her she was gone.......I did NOT sleep, eat and was consumed with grief for 4 solid days.  I cried more than I have in a really long time for my girl.  Just wanted to know that she was okay.  On Christmas night, we got a phone call on our way home from our family's home.  They thought they had seen her.  There was our first sighting!  We rushed home and looked but couldn't find her.  When the boys came home and doing their own searching, she was in front of the fence.  Our girl was HOME!  She is our Christmas Miracle!  The Lord heard our Cries!!!  Lots and lots of them.

I consulted with on many groups, conversations, phone calls and texts with a volunteer pet detective and an on the ground search and rescue person that has dogs for scent and searching.  I have been asked by several to list ideas of what helped to bring our Harley girl home!

1.  TAKE RECENT, CLEAR PHOTOS OF YOUR PETS AND KEEP THEM UPDATED AT ALL TIMES!!!

2.  YOU MUST HAVE THEM MICROCHIPPED!  I was reluctant at first but ALL of our pets are microchipped!  Make sure you REGISTER your chip and make sure you flag the dog/animal as lost/stolen until they are found!

3.  YOU NEED ANIMAL TAGS WITH NAME, ADDRESS, OWNER NAME, PHONE NUMBERS on EVERY animal you have!

TAG TEAM AND HAVE EVERYONE DO A JOB & DIVERSIFY!!

4.  SIGNAGE!  SIGNAGE SIGNAGE!  We had 8x10 photos, laminated.  We took foam core (Dollar tree), stapled yellow cardboard to it and stapled it to steaks.  I gorilla taped it on top of the back to hold it.  Put LOST DOG, REWARD, YOUR PHONE NUMBER.  DO NOT put the reward amount! 
Put these up at EVERY intersection within 2 miles of your home!

5.  Fliers:  Go and hand out fliers to EVERY home within 2 miles of your home! MAKE SURE YOU GO TO EVERY PET STORE IN YOUR AREA!  Check neighborhood.com (the app) for your neighborhood if possible but ours wasn't on there.

6.  GIVE EVERY SCHOOL BUS DRIVER, FEDEX & UPS DRIVER IN YOUR AREA A FLIER.  TAKE THEM TO THE POST OFFICE. PEOPLE TALK........A LOT! TAKE THEM TO THE SCHOOLS!

7.  Notify EVERY source about your lost pet.  The animal shelter, your local groups on fb, online garage sale groups, CRAIGSLIST.  Check for sale on CRAIGSLIST as well and check multiple times of the day!  Harley's photo and information was shared 1500 times over a 2-4 day period! Check the animal shelter EVERY day!  in person!

8.  Email EVERY vet in your county and every county surrounding you.  Give photos, exact descriptions etc.  Give microchip numbers

Next I will detail the profiling part and what to do from home on your own!  

Our Babies: 8 Reasons why our puppies are NOT the same vs other breeders

As I wrote in the post about Why Bulldogs are so expensive, people have asked why ours are expensive.  I wanted to shed some light on why we take pride in raising our babies and why ours are so different from other breeders.  I have bought other babies from other breeders and I am NOT bashing them.  But I will tell you how ours are dramatically different.

1. POTTY TRAINING: When our babies start transitioning at about 4 weeks from nursing to traditional baby mush, they are taken outside to go potty.  Everytime they wake up, they go potty from then on.  After they eat, they go potty.  They are TRAINED to go outside.  By the time they leave here, they are crate trained, cry to go potty and are extremely easy to potty train at home.  I have yet to meet another breeder who does this.  Some say they are "paper trained" but that's a bunch of hooey.

2.  SOCIALIZATION: They are well socialized not only with our other bullies, but our children who have always had bulldogs.  They are held, cuddled, snuggled with, kissed, played with on a regular basis. They spend MORE time in someone's lap, bed or our couch then they do in their play pen!!!!! THEY ARE PEOPLE DOGS!!!  SO many of my breeder friends, leave them in their cages/pools.  They are fed and their bedding is changed but other than that, they are NOT socialized.........other than their kennel mates.......

3.  TRAINING: They are trained on BASIC commands:  Leash training, sit, shake, gentle (to not snap at little ones), and training them NOT to be food or bowl aggressive.

4.  NO BAIT SWITCHING:  Our puppies are ONE price..........No bait switching for limited vs full registration

5.   MICROCHIPPED: I am constantly floored and shocked at as expensive as these babies are, that many, if not MOST puppies are NOT microchipped.  NOT us. Ours ARE microchipped.

6.  BULLDOG VET:  We LOVE our vet.  He has always owned bulldogs.  He & His dad went to UGA.  He RAISES bulldogs.  He studied as a protege under the ONLY vet at UGA that's allowed to treat the mascot and specializes in bulldogs.  So any of our babies or bulldog issues go to him!

7.  INTERVIEW: Believe it or not, NOT just anyone who lays down the cash can buy our pups.  Every single person who buys a pup, goes through an interview process and has to meet certain criteria.  Questions have to be answered.  These babies are ours and raised like family.  If we feel someone is not a good fit, then we move on.  Even if that means, we have to have them a little while longer.  I haven't met ANY other breeders who do this!

8.  NEW PUPPY PACKS:  When our babies leave our home, we want them to transition as easy as possible.  So we give a gift bag of different important items as they transition with their new family.  You can read about our New Puppy Packs HERE.

New Puppy Pack

When our babies leave our home, we want to make sure that they are set for a while with products that we recommend.  That the new family has plenty enough to begin their lives with their new family members!  Here's a list of things that I enclosed in their new puppy pack:

1.  A card/letter to the new owners. Wanted them to know how loved the special baby was and how we wished them nothing but a lifetime of happiness, joy and love.  No different than a new baby welcome home card :)
2.  A folder with all of their paperwork, care instructions, AKC papers, shot records etc.

3.  A gallon ziploc of Puppy food:  this is for them to get started on their  new journey as a bulldog owner.  They can use any dog food they want to, but it's enough to transition them.  

4. Poop bags: self explanatory

5.  Squeaky toys/chew toys: You see these?  They love them.  We order these, inexpensively from Chewy.  PLEASE DO NOT GIVE BULLDOGS ANY KIND OF BONES OR RAWHIDES!  Bones will splinter and puncture major organs etc…….bulldogs have VERY strong jaws and you might think they won’t splinter a big beef bone……..but they will.  Rawhides are NOT digestible!  The rawhide will get slimey and get caught in their throat………so don’t even waste your money!!

6.  Leash/collar/harness:  You will find (if you don’t know) that you don’t walk your bulldog!  They walk you! Lol.  They are built tough and strong as an ox.  They might be short in stature but they are very very strong!  Let them wear their collar/harness around the house so that they can get used to it.  It will take a while.  Even with the leash attached.  I have enclosed all three for you to see what works best.

7.  Wipes:  just like babies, puppies get messy and dirty……..and they love to get messy and dirty.  They are there to wipe your little one.

8.  Benadryl:  Sometimes they will have an allergic reaction to something.  It could be a bug bite, something they ate etc.  They can have ONE Benadryl to help with that.  It might make them sleepy so be aware of that

9.  Stridex pads:  If you haven’t owned one or don’t know, you may not know that these are terrific for their tear stains and wrinkles………

10.  Gold bond powder: this can be used for many things but mainly their tail pockets.  There is a tail pocket for their cork screw piggy tails and many times, it will get damp or have issues.  It’s always good to have this help with that J

11.  A good shampoo:  I don't enclose this, but I also recommend a dry shampoo

12.  freeze dried treats: When they leave our home, we train them from the time they are 3 1/2 weeks to go potty outside but we also train them to not be food aggressive, to sit, to shake and to be gentle when taking their treats.  

13: dog dish: self explanatory

14.  Squeaky stuffed animal: bullies/puppies love to snuggle and play

How puppies are so similar to human newborns!

Getting a new puppy is no small task.  It takes time and there are SO many things that have to go into it when you are considering buying a new baby, especially an English Bulldog.  This is definitely not our first litter, but I keep thinking about how similar they are to newborn human babies.  I wanted to share a fun but true list of how similar they are:

1.  They need to eat at first every 1 1/2-2 hours the first few days and then every 3 hours after that, around the clock.  It's basically on demand at first.  Ask me how I know ??  IF mom doesn't have enough milk, I am having to weigh them and figure out how much they need in order to supplement them.

2.  Mom has to lick them in order to stimulate them to go to the bathroom the first few weeks (thank goodness humans don't have to do that), but if they don't, you will go through a TON of wipes (we go through several cases!).  Just like an infant, they don't like the cold wipe on their bottoms :)

3.  Sometimes they can cry like a real human baby

4.  They grow exponentially their first few weeks of life, especially their first year of life.....just like a human baby.

5.  Sometimes (especially if you have to feed them a bottle), you will have to burp them.  Yep, over the shoulder just like a human baby.  They don't care for it too much......neither do human babies!

6.  Sometimes they can spit up, if they have had too much to eat.  Sometimes they forget to breathe when they eat, and it comes out their nose.......so I have to use a baby nasal aspirator to clean them out and then wipes.  OH.MY.WORD!  Do they HATE that.........just like a baby!

7.  Puppies are just like human newborns in the way that they are dependent on smell and taste their first few weeks of life.  Human babies are NOT born blind and deaf but their eyes are not focused for a while.  Same with puppies.  They are born blind and deaf and even after their eyes open at 12-14 days, they don't focus for a while after that.

8.  If mom's milk is not adequate enough, or you have a baby runt (like we have) that is not latching or nursing well, then you need to make up a batch of high fat puppy milk replacer formula.  I will do a different post with that recipe in it!

9.  Puppies teethe, chew, gnaw just like human babies when they are teething.  OH man!  Are their puppy teeth sharp!  We call them "shark teeth".  Their poor mommy!

10.  Just like human babies, they need to be kept warm after they are first born.  Human babies are swaddled and since we keep mom & babies separate during nursing time, we have to put them under a heat lamp, check the temp and gradually acclimate them to room temperature........

11.  Puppies, especially bulldogs, just get so excited and happy to be fed and drink milk.  Sometimes that means that they eat way too much and yes they get belly aches, just like human babies.  So we have the infant mylicon handy if they have a belly ache!

12.  Just like human babies, puppies have to go to the vet for their regular check ups as newborns/babies and get their shots/immunizations!

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!"