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Breeding your English Bulldog may sound like a brilliant idea, I mean, who doesn’t want loads of tiny little piggy bulldog puppies running around? However, there are some important things to consider before breeding your English Bulldog.
The difficulties of breeding an English Bulldog
The English Bulldog is an extremely recognisable and well loved breed - consistently in the top 10 of most popular dog breeds, which means that breeding your English Bulldog may sound like a brilliant idea due to all the potential buyers.
Despite their popularity being a factor in whether you breed your English Bulldog or not, you also need to consider the difficulties of breeding an English Bulldog.
As a bulldog owner, you’ll know about all their health issues, and these play a factor when breeding your bully.
English Bulldogs are one of the hardest dogs to breed. Due to their short body and large puppies, bulldogs are often unable to breed naturally.
Your English Bulldogs age
A responsible breeder will generally wait for their English Bulldog to be 18 months or older before they start thinking about breeding this dog.
It is also recommended that you let your bulldog have it's first heat before you start to consider that she is ready for breeding.
Breeding a bulldog too early can increase the risk of health problems and complications as well as endanger the life of the mother and her pups.
The cost of breeding an English Bulldog
You may be thinking that you should breed your English Bulldog to make a quick profit due to their high sale price - but you’d be mistaken in thinking this.
English Bulldogs are expensive to buy because they are expensive to breed.
The main costs of breeding an English Bulldog are:
Stud Feeds: Stud fees can vary dependant on the quality of the male, their heritage and the dogs colour/markings. A stud English Bulldog will usually cost around £500.
C-Section: English Bulldogs struggle to give birth naturally due to their size and shape. so it is strongly recommended that your dog has a c-section. This will cost between £500 and £3,000 dependent on your vet.
Health screenings, registration & health guarantees: A responsible breeder will only breed the healthiest bulldogs to promote the breed. Many have passed health screenings and can show any potential buyer health certificates, from the mother and the stud. Registering the bulldog is a cost that will contribute to the price of the puppy.
Puppy immunisations: Any cost the breeder has put into keeping the puppy healthy until it is re-homed will again contribute to the price.
If you are looking to breed your English Bulldog, then it's likely that the costs are going to exceed £3,000, which will be at the lower end of the cost. This amount also doesn't factor in your own time that you'll spend caring for your dame, the puppies and everything else you need to arrange when breeding an English Bulldog.
Bulldogs on average have around 4 puppies per litter, and the sale price of the puppies will depending on various factor, including their heritage and the dogs colour/markings.
The challenges that English Bulldogs face when mating
Sometimes, English Bulldogs are able to mate naturally, however more often than not they will need to be artificially inseminated. Due to their build, naturally mating English Bulldogs can be dangerous.
The main risks that your bulldogs face when mating naturally are that the female could become injured under the weight of the male, the dogs may overheat or the bulldogs may end up suffering from excessive anxiety.
English Bulldog birthing problems
English Bulldogs have many birthing problems, it's important that you consider the difficulties that your bulldog will face when having puppies, and the affects that this will have on your dogs health.
It's not advised that an English Bulldog should give birth naturally due to the size of the puppies in comparison to the mothers birthing canal.
English Bulldog puppies have large heads and shoulders which can result in the puppies getting stuck, and an emergency c-section being required.
Conclusion
There are plenty of things that you need to consider before breeding your English Bulldog. Unless you are truly ready to breed a bulldog, and have considered everything that may take place, and all the implications, then you shouldn't be breeding your dog.