Bulldogs and Drowning

---

I have had Parents tell me that their bully can swim fine, and some can, up to between 1 and 2 years of age. Sad to say, those parents lost their bullys to drowning. You may wonder...what happened? Bullys, as they grow, tend to get more dense, thicker bones and dense muscles, and start to be what I call "Heavy Boned". A lot of times this does not occur until after 1 year of age, thus the sad scenario above....the bully could swim fine until one day it sank and drowned. NEVER take a chance!! It is definitely NOT worth it. This is the ONLY SAFE way to have your Bully around or in the water!!! Even if they can swim, don't EVER take a chance.
Thank you Andria for doing it right!! Meet Lana Greene. 

Rare Bulldogs takes great care to try & produce the healthiest puppies we can. One of the factors we use is to calculate our INBREEDING COEFFICIENT for each litter. Up to 10% is widely accepted, and most of the time we stay at 10% or below. Studies show that staying below this percentage greatly increases longevity in puppies produced.

Rare Bulldogs INBREEDING COEFFICIENT is stated on every Pedigree 

Rare Bulldogs has started its Health Testing in early 2017. This is an ongoing process that will take several years to complete. As per our Geneticists recommendations, we will not take our affected bulldogs out of our breeding programs as this would be very detrimental to the breed as a whole....our breed is already in trouble as you will see in the article referenced below, PLEASE read it! Therefore, we will start with our keep back babies for our program, striving to keep breeders that are clear or at the very least, only carriers of the 3 disease genes mentioned here. If we ALL do this, we will bring back our breed. Our Breed is in so much trouble, that scientists are calling the English Bulldog Breed a DEAD END!

Rare Bulldogs considers it our duty to protect the Bulldog aka English Bulldog, our very special breed. Most consider the Bulldog an unhealthy breed. We do not. When ethical, knowledgeable breeders use healthy dogs in their programs, the outcome is healthier puppies overall. Our breed Standard reflects necessary qualities needed to produce healthier puppies in our breed.

As many may know, there has been a recent Study in the genetic diversity done on the Bulldog Breed that is rather alarming. We, as CBCA Rare Color Breeders are honored to say that we have made large strides in hopefully improving on this study. In the last 10 years, because of the diversity in adding the Rare Colors to our breeding programs, most Rare Color Breeders have seen a significant difference in the overall health of puppies produced, some in less than 3 years.

HEALTH IN GENETIC TESTING

Like all breeds there may be some health issues related to the Bulldog breed. Because they are a brachycephalic breed, bulldogs will often have breathing problems which are related to their elongated soft-palate blocking their airways. If this were to become a chronic problem, surgery may be an option. Other health issues reported in bulldogs are cherry eye & skin infections which can be easily treated by cleaning the skin-folds regularly. Some Bulldogs will be faced with health issues in their lives as are all dogs, but the majority of well-bred Bulldogs are healthy dogs. Work with a responsible breeder, gain the education you need about specific health concerns within the breed.

© Rare Bulldogs 2017 Author: Alesia Dixon

READ THE STUDY HERE

What Science Alert had to say about the study: SCIENCE ALERT ARTICLE

Personally, I bet if the study was done on our Rare Colors, the findings would be vastly different.

Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs, onset typically between 8 and 14 years of age.

It begins with a loss of coordination (ataxia) in the hind limbs. The affected dog will wobble when walking, knuckle over or drag the feet. As the disease progresses, the dog's hind legs will weaken and eventually the dog will be unable to walk at all, and can experience loss of urinary and fecal continence with eventual weakness in the front limbs. Fortunately, there is no direct pain associated with Degenerative Myelopathy.

A small percentage of dogs that have inherited two copies of the mutation will not experience symptoms at all. Thus, this disease is not completely penetrant, meaning the disease does not affect every dog that has the genotype.

Ethical breeding practices with this disorder:

No restrictions on unaffected dogs.
No restrictions with an unaffected to a carrier. If your breeding dog is a carrier, it is a must to test the intended mate to be unaffected.
Restriction on breeding two carriers.
Restriction on breeding fully affected to a carrier. Intended mates to fully affected should be clear.

The Hyperuricosuria mutation is autosomal recessive. Both parents will need to be carriers of the mutation to pass it onto their offspring. Only individuals that have two copies of the mutation, have a higher risk of developing clinical signs of the disease. Carriers of only one copy of the mutation will not develop the disease.

Dogs with this genetic mutation metabolize waste products as uric acid in their urine, this condition that predisposes dogs to bladder stones that can result in urinary obstruction. The uric acid forms into hard stones in the bladder, causing pain and inflammation as the stone moves through the urinary tract.

A dog that has difficulty urinating or appears to have an inflamed bladder may have HUU. Other signs can include blood in the urine and frequent urination. If the dog is unable to pass the urate stones without medical intervention, surgery is required to remove them. If the urinary tract is blocked, the condition can be life threatening. HUU is uncomfortable and painful for the dog.

Carriers will not show any symptoms of HUU. Affected dogs may not show any signs, so it is important to test dogs for HUU prior to breeding.

Ethical breeding practices with this disorder:

No restrictions on unaffected dogs.
No restrictions with an unaffected to a carrier. If your breeding dog is a carrier, it is a must to test the intended mate to be unaffected.
Restriction on breeding two carriers.
Restriction on breeding fully affected to a carrier. Intended mates to fully affected should be clear.

Canine Multifocal Retinopathy (CMR), a recessive eye disorder, is known to affect several breeds including the English Bulldog. This causes raised lesions that form on the retina and alters the appearance of the eye but usually does not affect sight. These lesions, looking somewhat like blisters, vary in location and size. Typically they are present in both eyes of the affected dog. Lesions may disappear, or may result in minor retinal folding. Symptoms usually appear when a puppy is only a few months old, and generally do not worsen over time.

Since CMR1 is recessive, both parents would need to be carriers of the mutation to produce an affected puppy. Breeding two unaffected or one unaffected and one carrier will not produce affected offspring. However if one parent is a carrier, a percentage of the offspring will be carriers. It is necessary to test for the presence of the CMR mutation before breeding, so as not to breed two carriers together, and unwittingly produce a fully affected puppy. Dogs have two copies of the mutation are susceptible to develop retinal deformation, although fully affected dogs do not always develop into disease.

In most cases, treatment is not required.

Ethical breeding practices with this disorder:

No restrictions on unaffected dogs.
No restrictions with an unaffected to a carrier. If your breeding dog is a carrier, it is a must to test the intended mate to be unaffected.
Restriction on breeding two carriers.
Restriction on breeding fully affected to a carrier. Intended mates to fully affected should be clear.

Cataracts are a clouding of lens of the eye caused by a breakdown of tissue in the eye. This generally results in an inability to see clearly, and can cause total blindness.

In canines, mutations that result in cataracts can be passed to offspring and is known as Hereditary Cataracts. A mutation in the HSF4 gene causes this type of cataracts in several breeds of dogs. In this case, the dog is typically affected bilaterally with both eyes affected by the disease.

They usually begin small and grow progressively, though the speed of growth is highly variable. Some cataracts will grow so slowly that the dog’s vision remains relatively clear, while others will grow such that the dog will quickly go blind. Corrective surgery is possible, though it is costly and is not always effective. One HSF4 mutation causes the recessive form of HC in Boston Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and French Bulldogs.

Because it is recessive, a dog must have two copies of this mutation to experience this form of cataracts. Incomplete penetrance means that a dog that has this mutation will not always develop HC. It is likely that a secondary gene interaction occurs in the small percentage of dogs possessing the HC mutation but do not develop cataracts, however, this interaction is not yet known.

It is important to note that not all cataracts are hereditary. Cataracts can also be caused by old age or injury. Also, cataracts that occur in different regions of the lens can also be familial, but not necessarily attributed to this gene mutation. 

Ethical breeding practices with this disorder:

No restrictions on unaffected dogs.
No restrictions with an unaffected to a carrier. If your breeding dog is a carrier, it is a must to test the intended mate to be unaffected.
Restriction on breeding two carriers.
Restriction on breeding fully affected to a carrier. Intended mates to fully affected should be clear.