Help Needed! New Mommy and Not Sure Whats Noraml for My Baby!

[jodimiller]

Hello all. My name is Jodi and Boomer is my baby. We are all absolutely in love with him. And I want to offer him the best care that I can to assure that he has the best life. Here are some of my concerns : First he was kept in a crate at his breeders home and grew accustom to drinking water out of a "rabbit Bottle" the kind that hang on the side. I am trying to get him use to a water bowl but I'm not sure he is drinking enough. Do they drink a lot? Also we are in the process of potty training. We live in Texas and have hot days I know that he cant stay in the heat long...and he is doing real good about going out taking care of his business. My concern here is taking him out in the heat and bringing him back in to the coolness of the house...I noticed this morning his nose was running and had dried yellow snot on his face around his nose. He went 2 days ago to the vet for a wellness check up and got a clear bill of health. He has also been sniffing the ground while out side our yard is at the moment a dried brown typical Texas summer yard. So thought the snot could be from the dirt, dust, or dried grass. Next what is the best food for him? Again want to offer him what is best for his nutrition and growth. What is the proper amount of food to feed him? Vet said Lemon juice is a must for bulldog owners....What is your advice on this? Next issue is chewing and chewing and more chewing. What is the best toys for him...someone said hoof? He sleeps a lot but is really active when he is awake and loves playing with our children barking and bouncing around ...His birthday is May 24,2013. Any advice with the above topics or anything extra you have to add would be greatly appreciated. Thank You All!

 

[MelanieNormansMom]

Hi and welcome! I'm new to the world of bulldogs as well. And it is a learning curve for sure! The lemon juice is for if they overheat and start "roaring" and can't breathe. A 50/50 mix with water in the side of their mouth with clear foam and help the airways clear so they can breathe. So it's good to just have some on hand in case of emergency. I don't know much about the whole puppy stage since I adopted a 3 year old and all that was behind him. What I can tell you is educate yourself on ALLERGIES. Bulldogs are really sensitive.A.LOT. Grain free diet seems to be the best all around way to go. Fromm Beef Frittata and Fromm Pork and Peas seem to work REALLY well. Petflow.com is a website where you can set up auto delivery. And there's a EBN coupon code you can enter in. Also get in a routine for wrinkle care, ear care, tail care, nail care, etc etc and so on. Kong chew toys, nylabones, and antlers are a good choice for chewers. There's a TON of fantastic bullies, owners, advice, articles, videos etc here. This forum has been a LIFESAVER!

 

[Khloes mama]

Hi! I'm also a new bully mom! My Khloe is the same age as your pup! This site is very informative and I've learned a lot as this is my 1st bully! We r currently having some food issues. Actually on my way out to get beef instead of chicken blue buffalo freedom. Praying that it works out for her! What part of tx? I'm in the San Antonio area.

 

[Ashleym]

to EBN and congrats on your new pup. Please post pictures we love puppies . Yes Bullies are very sensitive to heat. Keeping real lemon juice (the kind in bottle) on hand is really important. It will clear the phlem that can close their airway. The pup should be feed 3 times a day. All bullies are different but a puppy does need a bit more then an adult for their growing body 2 1/2- 3 cups a day divided in 3 servings until 6 month old then you can cut down their food to 2 cups in 2 servings. Runny nose could be from the cold/ hot difference or from allergies the crusty snot also could be from the dirt if it changes color like green it could also be an infection. Take him to the vet if you notice any wheezing or coughing with the green snot.

On the water bottle. My pup was also drinking out of a rabbit bottle when he was with the breeder to get him to drink out of a bowl we but a little bit of water in the bowl and dropped a blueberry in the bowl. He figured it out pretty fast. To tell you the truth wish he would still drink out of the bottle it was less messy. Fergus is the worst at drinking water its ends up everywhere and he drools so we have towels every where. Dont forget to wipe their chin after they drink otherwise you end up with wet patches of carpet, furniture, pant leg ect...

 

[Marine91]

Welcome to the site. You have been great information already so there is not much fore to add. What part of Texas are you from as I am down in Houston. My Harlea loves to be outside even in this heat she will flop down and sun bathe. So what we do is keep a little kiddie pool with about an inch of water in it for here to help leep herself cool during the dog days of summer. However someone is always with her when she goes out and in the afternoons we limit it to no more than 5 minutes to potty or play and we bring her back inside where she flops down on her cooling pad.

 

[Lokismom]

Hello all. My name is Jodi and Boomer is my baby. We are all absolutely in love with him. And I want to offer him the best care that I can to assure that he has the best life. Here are some of my concerns : First he was kept in a crate at his breeders home and grew accustom to drinking water out of a "rabbit Bottle" the kind that hang on the side. I am trying to get him use to a water bowl but I'm not sure he is drinking enough. Do they drink a lot? Also we are in the process of potty training. We live in Texas and have hot days I know that he cant stay in the heat long...and he is doing real good about going out taking care of his business. My concern here is taking him out in the heat and bringing him back in to the coolness of the house...I noticed this morning his nose was running and had dried yellow snot on his face around his nose. He went 2 days ago to the vet for a wellness check up and got a clear bill of health. He has also been sniffing the ground while out side our yard is at the moment a dried brown typical Texas summer yard. So thought the snot could be from the dirt, dust, or dried grass. Next what is the best food for him? Again want to offer him what is best for his nutrition and growth. What is the proper amount of food to feed him? Vet said Lemon juice is a must for bulldog owners....What is your advice on this? Next issue is chewing and chewing and more chewing. What is the best toys for him...someone said hoof? He sleeps a lot but is really active when he is awake and loves playing with our children barking and bouncing around ...His birthday is May 24,2013. Any advice with the above topics or anything extra you have to add would be greatly appreciated. Thank You All!

As other have stated bullies can overheat faster then most breeds. With that being said we have a small plastic kiddy pool under the deck (in the shade) that Loki can go in whenever he wants to keep cool if we are out playing. And we have a few water dishes around the yard if he gets thirsty he goes and get the water. He is really good at letting us know when he needs to go in, he has a white stripe on his face and we almost use it as a temp gauge when the white turns pink it is time to go inside. We live in Wisconsin and the temps are all over the board we can go from 115* to 30* in a matter of 2 days. The difference in being in the heat then the AC and vise versa has never seemed to be a problem for Loki. He didn’t drink water as much as we thought he would when he was younger, we asked our vet and she said” they will generally only drink as much as their bladders can hold”, not sure if that is entirely true but it sounded right. AS he got older he started drinking more water. Because Boomer is so young make sure that you get him comfortable with his cleaning and care. We taught Loki very young about us being able to touch him wherever we wanted makes everything so much easier as they get older. We learned that Loki can destroy a tennis ball in a matter of minutes so we started giving him Chuck it rubber balls and the Petco bouncy spiny balls. Anyways welcome to the group we can’t wait to see more pictures of Boomer!

 

[Lokismom]

Welcome to the site. You have been great information already so there is not much fore to add. What part of Texas are you from as I am down in Houston. My Harlea loves to be outside even in this heat she will flop down and sun bathe. So what we do is keep a little kiddie pool with about an inch of water in it for here to help leep herself cool during the dog days of summer. However someone is always with her when she goes out and in the afternoons we limit it to no more than 5 minutes to potty or play and we bring her back inside where she flops down on her cooling pad.

It is funny you mention the cooling pads! We just learned about them and also cooling jackets that is such a great idea!!!

 

[BruceP]

to EBN...... You are getting good advice so I;ll not add anything at this time. There are many great articles here on EBN so read read read. Keep asking questions. You've join THEE place for bully fans and we are glad to have you here.......... Now,,,,, about the lack of pix.......

 

[jodimiller]

Thank you all for the feed back!! Any and all advice is welcomed!

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi and welcome to you both. You have already got lots of great ideas and advice from members above. I have two EB siblings, a boy and a girl, and they are 17 months old, their names are Bulldozer and Blossom, and I was in your place last May, a new bully mom, with lots to learn. I actually found this site while researching foods for my guys, because I wasn't happy with the food the breeder had them on, and my female has a lot of allergies or sensitivities to chicken, salmon, grains and corn. I read a lot of people fed their bullies Fromms Beef Frittata, as many bullies have sensitivities to chicken, and a lot of dog food brands have chicken as their base. I am really happy with the Fromms, both my guys tolerate it very well. I switched them from puppy food to an adult formula when they were 7 months old, but you can do it at 6 or 7 months. Puppies should be on puppy food until then as they need the extra calories, vitamins, and minerals found in puppy food for their rapid growth and development. We also give then healthy snacks or treats such as cut up apples, strawberries, bananas, cheese strings, cottage cheese, plain unsweetened yogurt, green beans, and I also put apple cider vinegar in their drinking water everyday. You can read the dog food ratings on the home page of this site to see which are better food choices, you want to buy at least a 4 or 5 Star food, or a 6 Star rating for the best nutrition. I fed my guys 1 cup 3 times a day until they were 7 months old, and then I switched to 1 cup twice a day feedings. 1 cup in the am, and one cup in the pm. My guys also don't seem to drink a whole lot of water, so I always put 1/2 cup of warm water in their kibble. My male Dozer has a severe underbite, so his top and bottom teeth don't meet together, so he takes a lot longer to eat, the water makes the kibble a little softer for him, and kind of makes a gravy. They seem to like the water in it, and gobble it up, so I continue to do it even though they aren't puppies anymore. It makes me feel a little better too because it ensures they get the extra water. As for toys my guys eat and tear apart everything, they can't have stuffed toys, blankets, soft squeaky toys, as they will tear them apart and eat them, the only toys I give them are the Kong toys, they aren't a 100% chew proof, I don't think there are any toys that are bully proof, but they last a long time, and I only give them their toys when we are with them and they can be supervised, then when we see if the toy is worn or chewed up, it goes in the garbage. Enjoy your new baby, he's super cute, and I look forward to seeing more stories and pictures of Boomer.

 

[Lisabear123]

Nothing to add, you have been given wonderful advice. Just wanted to say