My Sumo bully is everything I hoped for and more.  He inherited many of the traits of his father, Tony the Tiger, such as huge paws, a large flat skull with loads of wrinkles, wide chest with thick legs and a soft velvety coat.  T-Bone is 9 ½ months now and he is a very healthy and happy Bully.  He has a beautiful gait when he walks and is very athletic.  He loves to play Frisbee and I plan to teach him to skateboard.  He’s gentle and affectionate with the family and loves to snuggle when we’re watching TV.  He has a very sweet disposition and is always wanting to please.  I’m so proud to show him off because he is such a remarkable example of the breed.  Thanks, Chad!

A. Danzig

Marion taking ownership of Winston from Steve at Gas Station.

- V. Harp

Chad,

Here is a picture of the puppy. His name is Shrek and the kids love him. thanks again.

-M. Mills

Bloody Stools And Girardia in English Bulldog Puppies

Part 2

In our commitment to keep our dogs from of parasites we routinely treat all dogs that are new to our home preventatively for both Coccidiosis as well as Girardia.

Our policy is to treat all our new dogs for 10 days with metronidazole and then follow this up this treatment with the vaccine shot.  Girardia and coccidiosis are both extremely contagious and are found in a very high number of dogs-even when the best of care is given.

It is encouraging that the vaccine is effective and the treatment is affordable.  Some vets do not have an affordable source of metronidazole.  If your vet is unable to procure it at reasonable costs, ask him if he objects to your making use of Revival Animal Health as a cost effective source for this effective means of treatment.

Again, please understand I am not a vet.  Collies and some other breeds of dogs can react with some of the medications noted in this article.  I am not a Collie breeder.  I only breed bulldogs.  As such, the information contain in this series regarding the treatment of Girardia is simply my experience with my bulldogs and is not intended to act as diagnosis for your dog or instructions of how to treat your dogs.   This series is simply a notation of our experience and how we have managed to keep Girardia in check with regards to our bulldogs.

If you do research online you will also find Febendazole is also used in the treatment of Girardia.  Febendazole is sold in stores as either Safeguard or Panacur, but of which are registered, trademarked products.

Safeguard is usually the cheapest form of the product.  I don’t buy this product as a puppy dewormer.  Instead I purchase Safe-Guard 10% suspension to be used for Cattle/horses.  I alternate using this with metronidazole.  This can be purchased in from Revival Animal Health for about $18 to $20 for a 125 ml bottle.  Here is a link to where you can purchase this product.  http://www.revivalanimal.com/SafeGuard.html.  It is much cheaper to buy a mid to large size bottle of this product than it is to buy monthly portions of wormer every month.  Fenbendazole  is a great multi-purpose product that will kill most types of worms (except some forms of tapeworms).

We use the 10% Safeguard suspension at a dose of 1 ml (a ml and a cc are interchangeable terms) per 5 lbs of body weight for our English bulldogs.  An example would be, a 10 lb bulldog puppy would receive 2 cc’s of Safeguard 10% suspension given orally into the mouth for 3 days in a row (if being used to kill canine worms excluding some forms of tapeworms).  While some sources will say that 3 days treatment is sufficient to kill Girardia we have not found this to be so.  In our experience it has been necesary to treat for a a minimum of 5 to 7 days.  We wait one week.  Then we treat a second time with Safeguard 10% suspension for an additional 5 to 7 days.

Safeguard is one of the safer dewormers available for English bulldog puppies for sale.  It is not required to withold food before administering this product.  It is safe to give during pregnancy and when bitches are lactating.  I am not aware that any negative side effects have been documented even when given to sick or young animals.

Girardia is a squirrelly, crafty little bug.  It does not matter how you treat girardia, it is a persistent bug, determined to live.  Cysts can burrow into the lining of your English bulldog’s intestines and go dormant.  During times of stress (which includes pregnancy or lactation) the dormant cysts are covered by a hard shell that is very difficult to penetrate or kill.  An otherwise healthy dog may during times of stress begin see these cysts come out of their dormant state and all your dogs can end up being infected.  Girardia cysts literally can lay dormant for years without coming.

Some sources recommend chlorinated water as a means of helping prevent the spread of girardia through water born vector.  We choose not utilize this method.  Chlorine is a known carcinogen.  I don’t live in the city where I am subjected to chlorinated water.  I don’t choose to subject my dogs to this either.

Metronidazole is not appropriate for pregnant female dogs.  So be forewarned and do your homework.  If you are concerned and you do have a pregnant dog, then perhaps in this case Febendazole might be a better choice followed by metronidazole when it becomes safe to do so.  When faced with not being able to treat a pregnant dog with metronidazole this is a better choice than nothing at all.  But for sure, when the dog is able to receive the metronidazole we definitely choose to follow up with is drug.  It is easy to administer and has proven with our English bulldogs to be quite effective the treatment of Girardia.

In recent years a vaccine has been developed.  This is available through Revival Animal Health.  Again, a great company with great customer service.  Fort Dodge Animal Health has been given approval by the FDA to market their Girardia vaccine for dogs.  This vaccine has proven to help limit the contraction and spread of the disease.  At the time of writing this article the cost is $151 for 25 vials.  That works out to approximately $6 per shot.  Here is a link to where we purchase our vaccines.

http://www.revivalanimal.com/store/p/559-Giardia-Vax.aspx

If none of your dogs has ever been vaccinated, then this vaccine might be worth your consideration.  We have found it an effective protocol  is to treat all our dogs for girardia as follows:

Administer metronidazole for ten days, and then follow up with the Fort Dodge Girardia vaccine shot. This protocol has been effective at limiting the occurance of Girardia among our dogs.

Please understand I am not a vet.  This article is intended to be helpful in sharing our experience with this problem.  Girardia is a common parasite.  Understanding Girardia can help alleviate fear.  It does not tend to be an end of the world scenario.  It tends to be a disease that is fairly easily dealt with. In our home, we try and proactively treat all new dogs for both coccidiosis and girardia.   This way we can feel confident that the dog is free of intestinal parasites.  We don’t worry about false negative test results..  The dogs are happy and that makes us happy.

Bloody Stools And Girardia in English Bulldog Puppies

Part 1

So you have survived the maze of online ads offering bulldogs for sale.  You found the perfect English bulldog puppy.  You have brought him home.  It is now four days later and his stools are runny.   He has diarrhea and there is a small amount of blood in his stool.

First things first:  a disclaimer of Liability:   The information contained in this article is that of an experienced English bulldog breeder, not a veterinarian  The information found in this article is an explanation of our experiences and should not be construed as medical advice.   When in need of medical advice be sure to get help from a good veterinarian.

Bulldog puppies displaying soft and or bloody stools will when tested nearly always show a positive test for Girardia or Coccidiosis.  For more information on coccidiosis go to our article titled “What Is Coccidiosis?”  It is not at all uncommon to find both coccidiosis AND girardia in the same dog.  This article will deal primarily with Girardia as we have covered coccidiosis in detail in a prior article.

Giardia is a protozoan parasite, which affects the intestine.  It is not limited to dogs, but can be found in humans as well.  Puppies are exposed to the parasite through another animal’s feces that contain infectious cysts. This does not necesarily mean that your puppy needs to chow down on some dog poop he finds in the yard.  Transmission might be as simple as a dog drinking water from a contaminated puddle.  Oral ingestion allows the parasite to travel to the intestine.  An infected dog sheds cysts that can stay alive potentially up to several months in damp, wet environments.  If that cyst is ingested, the wall of the cyst is broken down by the dog’s digestive system.  A carrier of girardia may be a-symptomatic.  A mature dog may be a carrier of the girardia parasite and yet show no symptoms at all.  Girardia is not a “trailor park” syndrome.  It is not a disease that is primarily limited to dirty homes where people don’t take care of their dogs.  This is a common disease that affects puppies in all types of homes.  Transmission be be as simple as you taking your dog to the vet; your dog sniffs some dog poop on the grass, and in doing so he ingests sufficient giardia cycsts to infect him..  He might drink water from a dirty puddle.  Studies I have read suggest that as few as two or three tiny cysts ingested is all that is needed to proliferate the spread of the disease. Girardia is very prolific and easily transmitted.  The good news, while transmitted easily, it is also fairly easy to treat.

While an unpleasant experience, girardia would rarely be considered life threatening in English bulldog puppies.  Symptoms generally appear more acute in younger animals, particularly those under stress.  Young puppies that have been moved to a new home and have recently received vaccination are susceptible to a lowered immune thereby facilitating the transmission of the disease.  Statistics have shown that in excess of 50% of all puppies are likely to  contract girardia.  At any given point in time studies show that upwards of 10% of all dogs in the United States have the Girardia protazoa in their system.  The parasite is very tiny.  It is microscopic in size.  It resides in the mucous lining of the intestine disturbing the lining and causing small hemorrhages to the wall lining at the cellular level.

We have found the most effecient course of action when a dog presents symptoms of either Girardia and/or coccidiosis to simply treat the dog assuming the most logical and simple explantation is the correct answer.  If a dog does not respond, then we follow up with more in depth testing.  Thankfully the vast majority of dogs will respond to one of two treatments. Diagnosing Girardia is sketchy at best.

Even if a dog has contracted the parasite and is shedding cysts, it is still possible for the dog to pass a standard girardia fecal exam with a negative in test results.   Cysts may not be present in every stool.  As a result, false negative are not uncommon when testing via fecal examination.

The more accurate method of diagnosing Girardia is thought the use of a monoclonal antibody based ELISA test.  This test tends to be more accurate than a fecal examine when it becomes important to verify a more positive test result.  However, not all vets are set up to perform this ELISA test.  If you have to send the test off to a lab it may be several days before test results come back indicating one way or another.  Consequently, it is not uncommon when symptoms of Girardia show up to just go ahead and treat the dog.  And if this does not work, then further testing can be necesary.

Girardia is typically treated with metronidazole.  This comes in both liquid and pill form.  We buy metronidazole through an online company, Revival Animal Health.  This can be purchased online through Revival Animal Health.  Here is the link to their site. http://www.revivalanimal.com/  Revival Animal Health has a good online website.  In addition to their website, for those of you who are not online as often, or not as comfortable with the internet.  Revival Animal Health also offers an old fashioned written catalogue.

Metronidazole is offered in two tablet size through Revival Animal Health.  The small size is called “Fish Zole” and is 250 mg.  Their larger size is called “Fish Zole Forte” and is 500 mg.  When we dose our puppies as a preventative we give 1 Fish Zole tablet per 10 lbs of bodyweight, or we give 1 Fish Zole Forte per 20 lbs of bodyweight.  When we are proactively treating our English bulldog puppies (as is our custom) we treat at 4 weeks old and then again just prior to 8 weeks old.

This is where I buy most of the basic medication we use for the treatment of Girardia, Coccidia, worming and basic vaccinations.  They are a great resource.  Revival Animal Health has a vet on staff.  This can be helpful, as you can know that information you are receiving is not simply the opinion of a well-meaning phone receptionist, but rather a licensed and trained Veterinarian.   Fish Zole is metronidazole labeled and packaged for fish.  It has the exact same ingredient as prescription metronidazole.   We have opted to use Fish Zole with our English bulldogs as an off label brand simply because of cost.   This is an inexpensive product with the same great quality and potency of a name brand product.

We hope this first part of our article on Girardia has been helpful and will help eliminate some of the fear and mystery surrounding this disease.  Make sure to click on Part 2 of this article and read through the remaining information available on our website concerning the treatment of Girardia in English bulldog puppies.

Article by Chad McCarthy of www.sumobulldogs.com

5 Reasons To Buy A Puppy With Champion Parents

First, what kind of breeder should you find. Ideally you would want to find a breeder of English bulldog puppies for sale that is a show breeder or owns champion bulldogs. Often times I hear from pet owners that they are not looking to show. The implied thought is that since I am not looking to show it probably does not matter if my puppy comes from bloodlines with show dogs in his or her pedigree. This does sound somewhat logical does it not?

I believe there is great value in all new bulldog puppy owners buying from a breeder with champion breeding stock. This means more than just “champion bloodlines”. Even commercial breeders who crank out dozens and dozens of litters a year can claim this. Most dog have a certain number of champion dogs in their 5 generation pedigree. As such, the vast majority of dogs can claim to have “champion bloodlines”. But it ups the states when a dog is sired by a champion bulldog.

The value in obtaining an English bulldog puppy from a litter where one or more of the immediate parents are AKC champion and multiple great and great, great grandparents in the 4 generation pedigree are champions has to do with consistency. If you know that
the parents have a specific look, as do several generations of ancestors, then you can rest easy knowing the odds are high that your puppy will grow up to look similar to mom and dad.

5 reasons to buy a puppy with champion parentage:

1. Above average parents will usually produce good to great looking puppy. Interpretation: Your bulldog puppy should not grow up to look like a boxer.

2. Champion parents will usually come from homes where the owners were breeding for a healthier dog. Since profit is not the sole purpose of breeding with the show breeder, it is much more likely that the show breeder has been willing to spend substantial sums of money to improve his/her breeding stock. Now expensive parents does not guarantee healthy puppies. But, it is far more likely that a person willing to spend $10,000 to $20,000 on a high quality healthy AKC champion stud dog is going to be a healthy dog than a commercial breeder whose max limit is $2000 to $3000 for a commercial stud dog. So reason #2 is that you should end up with a more healthy bulldog.

3. You are more likely to actually get a bulldog? Now what does he mean by this you might be thinking. Well. Most show breeders have at minimum their stud dog’s DNA on file with the AKC. I know that we have ever single male we own for breeding purposes DNA tested and on file with the AKC. So if there was ever a doubt regarding the parents of a particular puppy this can be verified through an examination of the puppy’s DNA. Many breeder who are not breeding for show will utilize lower standard registration options, rather than using the AKC. This allows them to not need to DNA test their dogs. And without the required DNA on file. Well, people fudge (that is a nice way to say cheat or lie) about who the parents are on a given litter of puppies. Sometimes a particular litter of puppies comes from parents that are somewhat ugly and not to the standard. So breeders will say they come from some other mother and father. Then when the puppies grow up the buyer wonders what happened to their puppy. This reminds me of a birthday card I saw once. There was this fairy. The fairy had a magical want. Every time she tapped a person with her wand the person would grow one year older. So you open the birthday car, and on the inside of the card it says, “Wow, it looks like you were beat to death”. Well some puppies with gorgeous parents look like they were beat to death with an ugly stick and they look nothing like their parents. Well, often times this is because the pictures you were given are not of the puppy’s parents. It helps sell dogs. But it causes for great disappointment with the puppies are grown and look nothing like the “alleged” mother and father.

4. Bulldog puppies are much more likely to have a “bulldog head”. What is a bulldog head? A flat 45 degree angle running straight from the forehead of the dog, across its nose, and then down to its lower jaw. A proper side profile should be flat without the nose protruding past that imaginary line. This is often a difficult trait to produce. When there are many champions in a good AKC show bloodline this tends to be more uniformly produced. This is due to dog’s being selectively breed for a specific look in contrast to a breeder asking the question “which dog will give me the largest litter?”. Large litter size might line the breeder’s pockets. But litter size has nothing to do the quality of puppies produced.

5. Lastly, by purchasing a bulldog for sale from a show breeder you are supporting a breeder who is legitimately working to improve the breed. A commercial breeder rarely would have the quality of dogs that you would expect to see in the breeding program of a true show bulldog home.

Here are Sumobulldogs.com our penchant is towards heavy bone, big heads, thick stout legs and nice wrinkles. If you like all of this wrapped up in great conformation from some of the top bloodlines in the U.S. and from around the world, then give us a call or send us an email. We are very proud of the puppies we have produced. Buying an English bulldog puppy from one of our AKC champion English bulldog stud dogs is a great way to ensure your new puppy is “NOT” going to look leggy and boxerish.

Article by Chad McCarthy of www.sumobulldogs.com

How To Potty Train Your Puppy

We often get emails from prospective buyers asking if bulldogs are easy to potty train.  If you have ever owned a dog like a cocker spaniel then you know why a person might ask a question such as this.  When my wife and I were newly weds we rescued a very cute black and white cocker spaniel from a pet store.  I say rescued mostly because of his condition.  He smelled just terrible.  And this of course was an indication of his living conditions.  He was kept in a crate.  Clearly he was not let out often enough to go potty outside.  As a result, Dolorian, smelled like he had been bathed in urine.  In fact, it took about 3 weeks of regular bathing with strong smelling shampoo to get him even close to a normally healthy puppy smell.

Be encouraged.  It is not “normal” for a puppy to do their thing in their crate.  Our experience with Dolorian was atypical for a normal puppy that has been raised in a loving healthy environment.  Dolorian merely exhibited the traits of a puppy that had his natural instincts repressed by repeatedly forcing him to do what was not natural for him to do-in this case, that was to urinate in his crate and then step in or lie in that urine.

If you will work “with” your puppy’s natural instincts the process of potty training your puppy can move forward relatively painlessly.  Knowing the natural tendencies of a normal healthy puppy can make it a simple process to potty train your puppy.  Two main principles will go a long ways to helping you to potty train your dog.

1. It is not normal for a puppy to poop or pee where he lives.
2. It is normal for a puppy to need to “do his thing” relatively soon after he eats.

So common sense will tell you not to put a puppy away into his crate soon after he drinks a large volume of water or he eats food.  Crate your puppy after he does one or both of these things and you are asking for trouble.  Think about it?  If you drink two large glasses of water and then lay down for a nap, how long is it going to be before you have to get up and make a trip to the bathroom?  It won’t take long at all.

So rule number one is feed and water your new puppy soon after you take him out of his crate, not right before you are ready to put him away for an extended period of time.  Take your puppy out of his crate.  Let him come say hi, and play for a few moments.  Then feed and water him.  His natural reaction will be, within a relatively short period of time, to go to the bathroom.  No two dogs are identical.  You will quickly learn the habits of your dog.  It might be as quick as 2 or 3 minutes, or it might be 15 or 20 minutes.

After your puppy has been fed and watered and an appropriate time (for your dog) has passed be ready to take him outside so he can relieve himself. Remember the key is to work with nature not against nature.  By feeding him AFTER he comes out of his crate you are not putting him in a difficult position where he is forced to hold his bladder past a point where he is not able.  If your puppy is young, this might not be longer than 30 minutes to an hour.  So be kind and thoughtful.  Think about and plan your feeding times so they occur at regular planned intervals.  Then as much as possible stick to that feeding schedule.

If you are like our family and you have nice hardwood doors in your house, you might appreciate this last tip.  This tip is golden and literally can save you potentially hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Go to Hobby Lobby if you have one nearby, or some crafts store.  Buy yourself a simple metal old-fashioned sleigh bell.  Something solid and durable that you can hand by a leather cord from you’re door handle on your front door.  Every time you go outside stop for a moment.  Take the foot of one of your puppy’s front feed and hit the bell.  At some point in the future this will give some dinner guests a good laugh.  You will be sitting down to eat.  And one of your guests will quizzically look up and ask why your dog is ringing the doorbell.  And you will smile; perhaps a little smirk might be in order.  Oh, that’s just my dog.  He’s reallllly smart.  He is telling me he wants to go outside to do his thing.  I’ll just go let him outside.  He’ll really appreciate that.  And then you smile as you go outside knowing how really, really cool all your dinner guests think your dog is.

Follow these steps on how to potty train your dog and your English bulldog puppy should be trained most likely in as little as a week to two weeks.  Work with nature, not against nature.  You will find by doing this that your new little puppy is so much smarter than you may have originally thought.  Best wishes on potty training your new little puppy.

Article by Chad McCarthy of www.sumobulldogs.com

What Is Coccidia?

Disclaimer of Liability:  I am not a veterinarian.  The information contained in this article is that of an experienced English bulldog breeder.  This is a story of “my” experience.  We hope that this story helps you.  When in need of medical advice be sure to get help from a good veterinarian.

Coccidia is pronounced “cock sid’ ee uh”.  It is a common source of diarrhea in dogs, especially puppies.  Once a dog matures their immune system matures and to a degree in healthy dogs the symptoms seem to be somewhat self-limiting in most cases.  Coccidia are protozoa that affects the lining of the intestines.  It most often shows up in stressed or young puppies with immature immune systems.  As an adult, the puppy may posses the coccidia in his intestines, and possibly even shed cysts in his feces, but demonstrate no external symptoms of disease.

Occasionally we hear feedback from someone who has bought one of the English bulldog puppies for sale that have been listed on our website.  They will tell us that their vet told them that coccidia is caused by dirty living conditions.  Whether said outright or implied, the meaning is clear.  The puppies were not cared for properly.  This is sad.  And from a scientific perspective is just not true.

A carrier dog can transmit coccidiosis.  Mice, fleas, cockroaches or other bugs can also transmit them.  Unless you can guarantee your dog will never be exposed to a flea, a mouse, or other bugs you cannot guarantee your dog will never be exposed to coccidia.  With that said.  Cleanliness will go a long way to limiting its effect on your dogs.  ‘Regular rodent control is a must in your home or kennel.  Flea prevention is extremely important as well.  In addition to being a carrier of coccidia, fleas also are capable of transmitting tapeworms as well.  On a side note, is that not amazing that something as small as a flea can transmit tapeworms?  Tapeworms can grow to several inches long, or more, large enough to be easily seen by the human eye.  But tapeworms are a story for another day and another article….  The point to be made is that coccidiosis is usually not the result of poor cleanliness.  But rather unavoidable exposure to the feces of a carrier animal.

Exposure to the feces of a dog that has been infected with coccidia is all that is necessary for the transmission of coccidia from one dog to another.  The puppy does not have the infectious organism as a pre-existing condition.  Rather at some point it is exposed to the feces of its mother.  The majority of English bulldogs that have ever been to a dog show, the vet, or even a dog park have been exposed to coccidiosis.  While not life threatening to an adult dog, it can remain viable able to be transmitted to the puppy when it is young.

Typically the disease does not show up until after two weeks of age.  The incubation period for coccidia is eleven days.  A young puppy of less than 2 weeks old is unlikely to show clinical signs of coccidia.  It is worth noting that stress plays a large roll in the proliferation of coccidiosis.  A puppy with no visible symptoms that moves to a new home is a very high-risk candidate for seeing in increase and growth in the number of protozoan in their system.

The most common sign of a puppy that has developed coccidiosis is diarrhea and blood in the stool.  In severe cases it is said that a puppy can vomit and become severely dehydrated.  The good news is this in our experience is very rare.  From speaking with friends who are breeders of teacup breed’s severe problems in their breed seems more common with it causing dehydration and death.  With English bulldogs, at least in regards to the dogs we raise, this has never happened to any of our dogs that we are aware of.  The larger breed dogs appear to be more robust in their immune system with more reserves capable of sustaining them through an ailment such as this.

Thankfully the disease is quite easily treated.  The treatment is effective and easily administered.  We have used two drugs.  One is Sulfadimethoxine and the second is Ponazuril (sold as Marquis and is used to treat horses).  Sulfadimthoxine needs to be administered for 10 days.  It does not kill the protozoan, but merely inhibits the coccidia’s capability to reproduce.  In time, as the puppy’s immune system is restored the organism’s is held in check by the puppy’s own immune response.

Unlike Sulfadimethoxine, which limits the reproductive capabilities of the protozoan, but does not actually kill the coccidia; ponazuril will actually kill the coccidia.  Ponazuril is a drug that has developed for horses.  My understanding is that it is considered “off label use” for Ponazuril to be used in dogs. However, more and more dogs are being treated with Ponazuril.  We prefer the treatment of Ponazuril to sulfadimethozine.  It is faster, more effective and it actually kills the crafty culprit.

Ponazuril at this time cannot be obtained over the counter.  Contact your veterinarian for more information.  Our protocol is to treat young dogs with sulfadimethoxine when they are young every two weeks followed with a treatment of Ponazuril prior to shipping.  This protocol seems to do well in preventing the outbreak of coccidiosis in English bulldog puppies.  If you have bought one of our English bulldogs for sale rest easy knowing the above mentioned protocol historically has seemed quite effective in helping your new pet transition smoothly from our home to yours.

Article by Chad McCarthy of www.sumobulldogs.com

Should I Crate Train My Puppy?

In one simple word, the answer is a resounding “Yes”.  Genetically there is virtually no difference between a wolf and a dog.  The dog is domesticated.  This is true.  But genetically it very much the same.  Over time there has been micro-selection where a breed has developed as a particular strain of dog has been bred for specific characteristics.  But on a genetic level the wolf and dog have much in common.  Yes, this even carries over to a tampered with breed such as the English bulldog.

You will notice in the wild the normal habitat for a wolf to rear its young is in a den, a hole dug into the ground.  Here the puppies will stay until they can walk, and even then venturing only a short distance from their home where they keep warm and secure.

A small, secure “den” of sorts is exactly what the crate should be.  It should be located in a quiet corner of the room.  Not right by the main door where every person who comes into the house walks past the crate disturbing your new English bulldog puppies.  The crate according to nature is the secure “den” equivalent that the wolf has in the wild.  It is inherently natural for your new puppy to want to have its own home that is out of the way, quiet and secure.

Be sure when crate training your puppy that you take into consideration the steps laid out in our article, “How To Potty Train Your Puppy”.  Remember that a big part of the benefit (to you anyway) is related to potty training your puppy.  The natural instincts of your puppy will be to not want to urinate where he sleeps.  So be nice to your puppy.  Make sure you do not feed or water your puppy before you put him in his crate.  Be particularly careful of this, when they are young.

Here is an anecdotal story stemming back from when Heather and I were first married.  One of our first dogs was named Mercedes.  Mercedes was a very cute Cocker Spaniel/Poodle cross.  When she was about 3 years old we rescued an ill cared for black and white Cocker Spaniel from a pet store.  Was he a mess?  He smelled just terrible.  He fur was nearly permanently stained with urine.  He had been locked in his crate and not let out to urinate. Consequently, through no choice of his own, he unlearned what should have been natural habit of not making a mess where he lived.  Anyway, on with our story.  We brought Dolorian home from the pet store.   Mercedes literally lived the next week in our closet in a cardboard box that we used to put socks in. She was squirreled away in the very back of the closest underneath the hanging clothes.

Mercedes lived that next week hidden away in the dark of the closest.  She could hardly be drug out to eat or drink.  The thought of sharing her house with a new dog for her was not pleasant.  So what did she do?  She found herself a makeshift den.

First and foremost you want to crate train your dog because he will be more happy if you do.  As I am constantly emphasizing when I talk with new dog owners, work with nature.  Your dog will be happy if he has a secure quite “den” where he can escape occasionally the hustle and bustle of the crown.  You will be happy, as working with this natural instinct will greatly facilitate the process of potty training your new English bulldog puppy.  By no means are we advocating your dog “live” in his crate.  Your dog should no more “live” in the crate than a wolf in his den.  The crate is a safe place for retreat and sleep. Work with nature and both you and your dog will have a happy life.

Article by Chad McCarthy of www.sumobulldogs.com