Hello from a first timer

[OzzyWood]

Hello all!
My name is Alicia and Monday I became an English bulldog mom for the first time. We found the sweetest boy at our local animal shelter and just knew he had to be ours. We lost my soul dog one month ago (to the day), and have a Chihuahua mix as well who was lonely from losing her brother.
Anyway, I am here to get advice/knowledge about English bulldogs from experienced EB owners. Specifically, I am interested in what kind of food and how much I should be feeding him (he is a 5 year old adult male, 50 lbs). Also, what advice can you all give on cleaning and drying his face wrinkles???
I soooo look forward to learning from you all so that I can ensure our boy is happy and healthy.
And, what kind of introduction would this be if I didn’t introduce the man himself?!? Everyone, please meet Ozzy!!!

 

[helsonwheels]

Welcome Alicia n Ozzy.. You have a lot of bedtime reading in here. Great advice on how to keep Ozzy healthy. Or simply ask.

 

[oscarmayer]

Hi and Welcome! There is tons of good info here and there are many veteran Bulldog people here to answer any questions. We use unscented baby wipes and Tucks to wipe face wrinkles and tail pockets. For food we fed Zignature Duck for the last few years, Acana Duck before that. We are currently transitioning to Zignature Pork in order to save a bit of $$. No issues so far. There are lots of quality kibbles available. I recommend avoiding anything made by Purina. Also avoid any treats that are sourced from China.

 

[rjisaterp]

Welcome to EBN .

Ozzywood gave me visions of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy is a real handsome young bully. Thank you for taking him into his forever home.

 

[Bulldog2001]

Hello all!
My name is Alicia and Monday I became an English bulldog mom for the first time. We found the sweetest boy at our local animal shelter and just knew he had to be ours. We lost my soul dog one month ago (to the day), and have a Chihuahua mix as well who was lonely from losing her brother.
Anyway, I am here to get advice/knowledge about English bulldogs from experienced EB owners. Specifically, I am interested in what kind of food and how much I should be feeding him (he is a 5 year old adult male, 50 lbs). Also, what advice can you all give on cleaning and drying his face wrinkles???
I soooo look forward to learning from you all so that I can ensure our boy is happy and healthy.
And, what kind of introduction would this be if I didn’t introduce the man himself?!? Everyone, please meet Ozzy!!!

Welcome!

He is adorable.

The best food is Raw diet, but if that’s now a option these are high quality kibbles:

-Natures Logic
-Carna 4

If you can feed raw or one of these listed kibbles is great to prevent health issues, allergies are one that can be prevented by good quality food and rotating proteins(one bag beef, next fish, next bag lamb, next is duck etc. )

I wipe my dogs wrinkles with a wet paper towel, and dry it with a dry paper towel, then apply Natural Dog Company Wrinkle Balm which works great!

 

[OzzyWood]

Thank you so much for your reply. I think I will give Nature's Logic a try. You recommended rotating proteins......what do you think about combining proteins? Like, if I bought a bag of beef and a bag of fish and mixed the two together......or is it best to rotate? Also.......what kinds of treats do you like for your bullies?

 

[Bulldog2001]

Thank you so much for your reply. I think I will give Nature's Logic a try. You recommended rotating proteins......what do you think about combining proteins? Like, if I bought a bag of beef and a bag of fish and mixed the two together......or is it best to rotate? Also.......what kinds of treats do you like for your bullies?

It’s better to rotate proteins, so if you bought a bag of fish and a bag of beef, I would do 1 bag of beef and the next bag is fish. OR this is what I do:
I buy 1 month in all the proteins he can have, then 1 day is beef, next day is fish, next day is venison, so 1 protein per day(unless you get the red meat or land and sea as those are multiple proteins used) and you can still rotate.

I give 1 ingredient freeze dried beef liver, or kangaroo for treats.

 

[oscarmayer]

...what do you think about combining proteins? Like, if I bought a bag of beef and a bag of fish and mixed the two together

I would not mix them. Any pup may have an issue with a particular protein. Mixing 2(or more) proteins takes away your ability to determine which protein is causing a problem, it there is one. Once tolerated proteins are established, mix away, if you like.

 

[John]

Welcome to the site, glad to have you aboard!

 

[2BullyMama]

Welcome to EBN and thank you so much for recuing that sweet face!

We use witch hazel on a cotton pad for face folds, ears and tail pocket (under tail needs to be cleaned)

Food... as others have said... avoid chicken and rotate proteins

 

[OzzyWood]

Welcome to EBN and thank you so much for recuing that sweet face!

We use witch hazel on a cotton pad for face folds, ears and tail pocket (under tail needs to be cleaned)

Food... as others have said... avoid chicken and rotate proteins

Can you elaborate a bit more on why to avoid chicken? Sorry for my inexperience, I just do really want what is best for my new baby! :-)

 

[Cbrugs]

Can you elaborate a bit more on why to avoid chicken? Sorry for my inexperience, I just do really want what is best for my new baby! :-)

Some bulldogs have an intolerance to chicken. All of my dogs get chicken in the rotation with no issues so each dog is different.

 

[Bulldog2001]

Can you elaborate a bit more on why to avoid chicken? Sorry for my inexperience, I just do really want what is best for my new baby! :-)

Chicken is often overused, and is usually inflammatory when used too often without omega 3. And inflammation =allergies and other disease.

In kibble, lots of kibble brands use low quality chicken, and chicken is usually the cheapest, so people over feed it.
Low quality chicken(same goes for other proteins), it’s how it creates a allergy and I tolerance.

Yes every dog is different, however especially for bulldogs and dogs that are prone to allergies, I always recommend Avoid chicken to be on safe side and rotate as much as you can thru all other priori prevent new food allergies.

 

[Cbrugs]

I wouldn't mix proteins together until you have rotated through them all to ensure no issues. If you start mixing right away and there is an issue, you won't know which one is causing the issue. My 2 boys are raw fed and my 2 girls eat kibble and they get one brand in the morning and then a different brand in the evening.

I use chlorhexidine wipes to clean face folds and wrinkles.

 

[2BullyMama]

Can you elaborate a bit more on why to avoid chicken? Sorry for my inexperience, I just do really want what is best for my new baby! :-)

As others have stated... it is just something in how it is processed for kibble. My female was allergic to chicken -- hives if she even had a small amount, but I once gave her raw chicken by mistake (we received a bag in our raw food order and i didn't realize till after she was fed) and she did not have any reaction.