giuseppe
New member
I got Giuseppe, my first English Bulldog, back in September of 2001 and I really didn't know what I was getting into. I read as many books I could find and as much as I could find on the internet and thought I had a pretty good grasp. He lived a long happy life of just shy of 11 years. He passed in April of 2012 with hemangiosarcoma on his heart. I learned so much caring for him over the years. Over time he had issues with inter-digital cysts, cherry eye in both eyes, ear infections, etc.. I found that it was impossible to find a vet that understands the bulldog. Even the vets that I found on the internet that were touted as bulldog specialists, didn't know much. One such vet, during a visit for lethargy and shortness of breath, told me my little buddy had an enlarged heart with thinning of the heart wall and probably wouldn't live through the weekend. After staying up with him the through the night (and crying like crazy) we brought him to an emergency animal hospital and had an ekg and ultrasound done. Diagnosis: English Bulldogs have an enlarged chest cavity so their hearts tend to look a little misshapen when compared to other breeds. They told us to treat his allergies with benadryl. $2800 to find out he doesn't do well with all the pollen in the air in the spring.
I had Giuseppe for 3 years before I met my wife. She was never much of a dog person, at least that's what she kept telling me. I explained that where I go, Giuseppe goes. She found out I wasn't kidding the first time she spent the night and awoke to Giuseppe snoring in her face in the bed. She ended up loving him more than I ever thought she would. We changed tons of plans and drove on most every vacation we took so we could bring him along. Things ended up taking on a very cool dynamic. If he was hungry, thirsty, needed his butt cleaned or his paw hurt, he came to me. For lovin, he went to mama. He would give me lovin too, but man he loved his mom. It happened way too quick with finding out he was sick and eventually having to have him put to sleep. Less than a week passed between the two. It was rough to say the least. We said we were never going to get another pooch. It was just too much.
Eventually, after three months had passed, my wife started calling me over to her computer showing me rescue dogs she saw online. We started talking about getting another breed, maybe a mutt, less issues, longer lifespan, less heart ache maybe. Then after four months had passed she started calling me over with names of breeders and road trip plans. I guess we are English Bulldog folks.
We learned a lot during our search, like it's hard to find a bulldog online. Breeders aren't always breeders. Nothing is quite as it appears. We eventually found a real life breeder, called and made an appointment and the next day started the relatively short trek of 60 miles out to pick up our new little puppy. I called the breeder, as I said I would, before we left the house and got voicemail. We were 5 minutes from her home when she returned my call and told us "I'm sorry, I tried to call you (she didn't) my husband sold the puppy last night". We were disappointed and pretty pissed. We started back home and my wife recalled seeing an English Bulldog for sale at a pet shop not far from our current location. I told her I would prefer to get our new pooch directly from a breeder. She said "well, this is the exit we would take if you want to at least go look at them". I was heading up the ramp before she finished her sentence.
We parked and walked up to the pet store and even with the door closed you could hear rap music blaring from inside. We looked at each other shrugged and tried the door and it was locked but the sign said open. We could see the cutest little bulldog in his crate so we started to knock. A young kid came out from the back and opened the door. The music was louder than ever. He brought us in and we asked him about the English Bulldog. He said "which one?". Uh oh. He took them both out and put them in a bigger pen they had for showing their dogs.
So, now we have 2 beautiful little brother bulldogs. When we brought them home the panic started. Everything I thought I knew was out the window. I realized that I needed to start learning all over again. That's how I found this site. Googling how much to feed them, what to feed them, what is this and what is that. It's like I never owned a bulldog in my life. And what did I discover? That I should have never stopped reading and learning. There is so much more info available than there was 10 years ago. I just keep thinking that if I had kept reading maybe I would have known the connection between Giuseppe's ear infections and interdigital cysts and the dog food I was feeding him. So I plan on sending a lot of time here. I probably won't ever type so damn much again... but thanks for having me.
I had Giuseppe for 3 years before I met my wife. She was never much of a dog person, at least that's what she kept telling me. I explained that where I go, Giuseppe goes. She found out I wasn't kidding the first time she spent the night and awoke to Giuseppe snoring in her face in the bed. She ended up loving him more than I ever thought she would. We changed tons of plans and drove on most every vacation we took so we could bring him along. Things ended up taking on a very cool dynamic. If he was hungry, thirsty, needed his butt cleaned or his paw hurt, he came to me. For lovin, he went to mama. He would give me lovin too, but man he loved his mom. It happened way too quick with finding out he was sick and eventually having to have him put to sleep. Less than a week passed between the two. It was rough to say the least. We said we were never going to get another pooch. It was just too much.
Eventually, after three months had passed, my wife started calling me over to her computer showing me rescue dogs she saw online. We started talking about getting another breed, maybe a mutt, less issues, longer lifespan, less heart ache maybe. Then after four months had passed she started calling me over with names of breeders and road trip plans. I guess we are English Bulldog folks.
We learned a lot during our search, like it's hard to find a bulldog online. Breeders aren't always breeders. Nothing is quite as it appears. We eventually found a real life breeder, called and made an appointment and the next day started the relatively short trek of 60 miles out to pick up our new little puppy. I called the breeder, as I said I would, before we left the house and got voicemail. We were 5 minutes from her home when she returned my call and told us "I'm sorry, I tried to call you (she didn't) my husband sold the puppy last night". We were disappointed and pretty pissed. We started back home and my wife recalled seeing an English Bulldog for sale at a pet shop not far from our current location. I told her I would prefer to get our new pooch directly from a breeder. She said "well, this is the exit we would take if you want to at least go look at them". I was heading up the ramp before she finished her sentence. We parked and walked up to the pet store and even with the door closed you could hear rap music blaring from inside. We looked at each other shrugged and tried the door and it was locked but the sign said open. We could see the cutest little bulldog in his crate so we started to knock. A young kid came out from the back and opened the door. The music was louder than ever. He brought us in and we asked him about the English Bulldog. He said "which one?". Uh oh. He took them both out and put them in a bigger pen they had for showing their dogs.
So, now we have 2 beautiful little brother bulldogs. When we brought them home the panic started. Everything I thought I knew was out the window. I realized that I needed to start learning all over again. That's how I found this site. Googling how much to feed them, what to feed them, what is this and what is that. It's like I never owned a bulldog in my life. And what did I discover? That I should have never stopped reading and learning. There is so much more info available than there was 10 years ago. I just keep thinking that if I had kept reading maybe I would have known the connection between Giuseppe's ear infections and interdigital cysts and the dog food I was feeding him. So I plan on sending a lot of time here. I probably won't ever type so damn much again... but thanks for having me.
I loved reading about Giuseppe. And I hope you will share lots of stories and pics and videos of Apollo and Enzo with us from now on. 
to EBN!! Thanx for joining.
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