Greetings and Salutations! New Bully Mum.

[MickeysMummy]

We've recently adopted/rescued an English Bully.
A little background for him:
He's called Mickey.
His old owners didn't call him by name and kept him outside.
He's a purebred bully. He's about 44 pound and he's the love of my life.
He's wonderful with the children. He's affectionate. And he's on a path to learning.
He's picked up a few basic commands so far, we have some issues just because he spent about 11 months as an outside dog.
( he's presently 13mo )
My confusion begins with what to feed him?
We've tried many a brand and he's still shedding excessively, vomiting and having skin issues.
He will recover from skin/fur/vomiting for the first few days of changing and then it starts all over again. I can't let him without practically wearing his coat.
He vomits a few times a day. And his skin will get better/worse like a yoyo.
I'm strongly considering the RAW diet.

How to stop nipping and mouth " play."

And how to get him to listen/hear me.
He's done really well figuring out the leash walking. Following me without the leash.
Getting in the car, come ( sometimes ) sit, paw and drop it.
He doesn't seem to grasp " wait", or any recall I say or try when other people or dogs are about.
He's charged at everyone and everything that comes around me or the children.
We've taken him to the beach ( which was fun until other people wanted to pass us )
We've played outside and at the park. And he charges and barks, it looks and sounds very intimidating. Enough to scare a couple he got all the way up to once.

I adore him. But we need help. C

 

[cefe13]

What a great-looking bulldog and how wonderful for him that he has been adopted! I'm sure you will get lots of feedback from others on your questions - just one thought regarding the vomiting: At that age, Castor would throw up pretty much every day when playing, but that stopped when he had soft palate surgery. If Mickey's vomiting is connected to heavy breathing, panting and if he vomits after playing or running, please have a look at Brachycephalic syndrome. There is an article about that here on EBN here.

 

[Bella and Dozers Dad]

Welcome to EBN.

 

[2BullyMama]

My goodness he is so handsome --- thank you for giving him a second chance at a great new life.

What food and protein are you feeding? I would place him on a bland diet (boiled ground meat and rice) and then transition him to a high quality grain free food. if you want to go raw we have a few members that can help.... some brands many have suggest with her are The Honest Kitchen, Fromm, Taste of the Wild and Earthboarn

Also, as for listen and teaching... do one at a time and as he gets it, move to a new command. Give him at least a month to settle in to the new home and surrounding. Bulldogs are some what OCD and can have stress due to change.

 

[TyTysmom]

My goodness he is so handsome --- thank you for giving him a second chance at a great new life.

What food and protein are you feeding? I would place him on a bland diet (boiled ground meat and rice) and then transition him to a high quality grain free food. if you want to go raw we have a few members that can help.... some brands many have suggest with her are The Honest Kitchen, Fromm, Taste of the Wild and Earthboarn

Also, as for listen and teaching... do one at a time and as he gets it, move to a new command. Give him at least a month to settle in to the new home and surrounding. Bulldogs are some what OCD and can have stress due to change.

Agree with @2BullyMama - also with the vomiting, try getting him an elevated bowl, and slow feeder. The bowl being higher up helps with digestion, and the slower feeder forces them to not inhale their food. This may help out with the vomiting issues. We feed raw, (commercial) but it was mostly due to stomach issues, and horrible allergies we couldn't get under control. I would try a high quality kibble like Christine said, elevated, and slow feeder... see how that goes and if you notice any improvement. I have no idea what this brand is, or anything I just pulled a sample picture offline... to show you the elevation & the slow feed bowl - you can find them at any pet store

 

[MickeysMummy]

Agree with @2BullyMama - also with the vomiting, try getting him an elevated bowl, and slow feeder. The bowl being higher up helps with digestion, and the slower feeder forces them to not inhale their food. This may help out with the vomiting issues. We feed raw, (commercial) but it was mostly due to stomach issues, and horrible allergies we couldn't get under control. I would try a high quality kibble like Christine said, elevated, and slow feeder... see how that goes and if you notice any improvement. I have no idea what this brand is, or anything I just pulled a sample picture offline... to show you the elevation & the slow feed bowl - you can find them at any pet store

View attachment 87308

We're going for an elevated feeder and slow feeder as I type. I'm hoping it will help him with his excitable eating habits. And the vomiting. Thank you for all your help.

 

[Texas Carol]

Wow! That's a whole lot going on for y'all, all at the same time!

Welcome to EBN, Mickey is super handsome and so very blessed.
Thank you for rescuing him from that (UGH) so called life ;( He's
doing amazing considering all that and being a bully, amazing!

At 13 months, Mickey is a puppy and won't mature until about 2
yrs old maybe even 2 & 1/2. He'll grow bigger & broader especially
head & chest. How exciting you get to see this

Food transitions need to be slowly done, I agree w/Christine [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]...with bland diet for about a month until you decide
what to do next, gives you time to research.

A long palate could be an issue and many bullies have narrow
windpipes as well.

These are all fixable, Mickey sounds like a wonderful, loving boy
and these members here are very experienced and love to help
everyone have happy, healthy & balanced bullies.

Y'all are in great hands

 

[g8erjackie]

An outside bulldog???? Ugh how irresponsible! Thank you for rescuing him!

Teaching "wait" to Bulldogs take patience and lots and lots of treats. Carry treats with you when you're outside walking and consider getting a harness with a handle on the back (my personal favorite, it's the Kong harness with a "traffic loop"). When he rushes at people grab his harness and tell him no bark and wait. You can also ask him to sit. Give him treats for paying attention to you and obeying. I use the work "ok" as a release to let Rukus know he can move. Inside the house I taught Rukus to wait by running him through easy tricks like sit and paw. Then I'd show him the treat and say wait and wouldn't give it to him until he was still and focused (at first reward even just a second or two of waiting and increase the time as training improves). Now I can tell him to wait, walk across the room and then say "ok" and he'll come get the treat....that one is a recent development and Ruckus is 2 years 3 months old.

 

[ChrisRN]

Thank you for rescuing that poor boy! I have no doubt you will be able to address all of his issues in time.