Took Harry to the vet today because it turns out he had some 'kennel conditions.' Things where his breeder/previous owner (either Rhonda at luv-a-bulldog.com or luvabulldog.com or someone named Jared Babb, but they won't tell me who actually owned him before me it is very confusing)whatever probably wasn't willing to invest in taking care of properly. In fact when I mailed her about them she said oh no, don't waste money on a vet, etc. But I did, and good thing because the issues I was concerned about were multiple infections (fungal, bacterial) that were really bothering the poor soul.
But the kids think it is hilarious that because I am always running after him with various cremes and grooming procedures and now he hides from me. So after 20 years of daydreaming about having a bulldog again I have one that hates me. Typical of my life.
Not exactly true, I point out that my kids usually resist this kind of upkeep and they know I am the only one that cares about them enough to do it. And when he can tell I don't have any of the evil objects in my hands he usually convulses with joy to see me. The famous bulldog body wag in absence of a tail and presence of extreme uncontrolable happiness.
I am adding to my interesting historical knowledge of the breed but will probably post separately about it. The one fact that stood out was that bullbaiting, the activity that shaped the breed, was originally NOT a sport. Meat was not considered tender enough to eat unless it was tenderized or basically bothered by a bunch of dogs running around yipping at it. Butchers that sold meat unbaited were subject to fines. The power of government activism at work!
8 comments:
Holy-scrunched-face-cuteness. I think I love him - as long as he is at your house and not mine:)
Actually, that's saying a lot for me. I'm not a dog fan but he does look handsome.
I am not a dog fan either, If I hadn't gotten one of this breed there was one in a thousand chance I would have gotten any other kind. There is THAT big of a difference for me.
I would only have found the advantages of this breed having one growing up. I tried to have similar feelings about other dogs but they all just seemed wrong. Too bad, because this breed has its tricky issues. But it is the only one worth any of it. If I was wanting to avoid any of the things hard about bulldogs I would just have hamsters.
So cute! Chris and I can't wait to get a dog, sadly our complex won't allow it. As soon as we have a yard of some sort we're getting a Boxer. You may already know what they are - but they have sortof a bulldogish face but are a bigger dog. And they are surprisingly good with children. Chris's brother recently got one for his family, and their almost 2 yr old and 4 yr old poke him/tear at his jowls constantly and the dog just doesn't seem to mind...so great. Boxers also have a good mixture of playfulness and mild-lay-on-the-floor-ness. Well there's my plug. :)
One thing you may want to hear if you haven't heard is that all the boxers I have ever been around (a lot, because of their genetic relationships with EBD's) is that they mostly seem VERY hyper. At least compared to EBDs, which are happy carpert loungers. They jump on you, including kids and strangers, and get very excited and pace and run around. One of my best friends had one when I was in third grade and her mom had to be there when he was with us or he would jump and knock me over.
Also they have a noticable trail of drool from their jowels at all times. Bulldogs only get slobbery after they drink and it is pretty easy to take care of. Boxers, constant. And there is a certain odor to it.
This is just the result of my consideration of them myself they are sweet and cute, they are actually a bit cheaper than bulldogs and don't have some of the health issues because of their more normal body shape, but the tradeoffs didn't seem worth it to me.
Essentially: larger/more athletic dogs means they have been more often raised outside and haven't had the EBD's socialization with humans over the years.
The reason Bulldogs as a breed survided after bullbaiting was outlawed because their owners couldn't part with their companions for a different type of dog.
My dog Bo when he was little used to put up with seriuos abuse. My nephew James bit his ear (they are tender and EBD's dont even like them touched) but we could see the small set of human toothmarks. He waited till James was done and went and hid under the bed. This was whan he would do with all kids of unpleasant behavior that he had to endure. I would dress him in my sundresses and stuff and he would look SO SAD but he wouldn't run away for fear of hurting our feelings, which he was sensitive to. They seem to be fairly uniform that way, other breeds have a fair amount of variability. If you have experience with a non-hyper boxer, that's great, but it may not be typicical. Even though I wish it was, because otherwise I would possibly have gotten one of those, too.
Yeah, I'm not sure about typical boxers. We dog sit for Joe (the boxer stated above) and are amazed at his well manneredness (no, that is not a word) with children, his ability to be very chill, and we've never seen drool from him either. All of these characteristics however may be because he has gone through obedience school. If he gets too close to the dinner table you simply have to say, "Back off Joe," in a small voice and he backs up five feet and sits down immediately. Its quite remarkable. We're definitely going to have to get a dog that has gone through obedience school.
Probably not a bad idea. We didn't do to much of that with my bulldog when I was a kid so his manners weren't good--in fact he was a bit stubborn and capriciously stubborn--he would disobey with a twinkle in his eye sometimes. But you could always count on him to be gentle no matter what the circumstances. Not an ounce of hostility. And that seems quite common through the breed.
Boxers have an interesting history. After bullbaiting was outlawed in 1830something some of them diverged in different places. Boxers were a cross-breed in Germany with some kind of terriers, so they have a less uniform or newer bloodline and have more tendencies towards being active. That is good or bad depending on whether people like that, but it is probably more true with them that you will see less uniformity among specimens.
Mom do you remember the Damschen's boxer? They had to chain him up way back in the yard sometimes when he got too hyper. Cute though, I personally loved him.
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