Greetings and salutations everyone!,
I am the proud caregiver and faithful companion to a 4+ month old male American/English mix bulldog puppy named "Elvis".
For a little background if interested - I lost my first and much loved english bulldog (named Molly who was a rescue) to a very fast growing and aggressive cancer around 5 or 6 years ago. Although I instantly fell in love with Molly and the bulldog breed, I was extremely hesitant to eventually get another on the chance of having to go through such a heartbreaking loss again as the vet told me this type of cancer is often seen in bulldogs - I have no idea how accurate that statement is, but at the time I certainly took his word for it.
To be unremittingly honest, Elvis was acquired in an almost textbook example of how NOT to buy a puppy.
Looking to kill some time, my Wife and myself stopped into one of those detested "puppy stores" with absolutely no intentions to buy one. You guessed it - There they had 2 english/american bulldog mix puppies which to my untrained eyes looked mostly like english bulldog puppies although they were labeled as mixes.
I played with the 2 puppies for over an hour, but one really caught my fancy - although it had one pure white eye with a strikingly blue iris and one normally colored eye with a brownish blue iris but a similarly bright blue edge. I won't bore you with the "story" or salespitch behind this store acquiring these dogs as who really knows how much truth is behind it.
Leaving the store, we discussed someday getting another bulldog and even talked about getting a mixed breed bulldog hoping to possibly avoid some of the hereditary issues they can have. Having done lots of research after the fact, I now know of course that this is not necessarily true.
Anyway, my well intentioned Wife went back and purchased the puppy for my birthday as a surprise. Her reasoning being that I've been going through a bad bout of depression due to personal reasons and playing with that puppy was the first time she saw me laughing and really enjoying myself in a long time. I certainly didn't want to hurt my Wife's feelings complaining about her buying a dog there - even though we both commented on how bad an idea it was to do so before even going in to the place - so I haven't even brought the subject up once she brought him home.
I do feel bad for supporting and enabling this "store" to profit - I certainly do not approve of such commercial operations. However, the reality is I do now have Elvis, I just absolutely love him to pieces and I pray that he is a healthy and sound dog that will live a very long and healthy/happy life.... so feel free to chastise me and rake me over the coals for buying from a "puppy store" if you really believe you must. :evil1:
I've had Elvis now for almost 2 months, things are going fairly well and he is regularly attending puppy "classes". I immediately had him thoroughly checked out by a vet and he thankfully passed and now goes back regularly to follow up on his shots. I've also been doing tons of online research on the breed(s) as well as purchasing books and its amazing how much I thought I knew but really didn't. My online research has brought me to this site where I have been getting lots of great info and ideas, so I finally just joined/registered today. I still have lots of questions and comments so I'll probably be posting if I can't find answers already posted somewhere. I'll also see if I can figure out how to post some pictures of Elvis.
Sorry to be so long winded as I originally just wanted to quickly post and say hello but I likely got a bit carried away - and if you have actually read this far without falling asleep :sleepy5: thank you,
Joe
I am the proud caregiver and faithful companion to a 4+ month old male American/English mix bulldog puppy named "Elvis".
For a little background if interested - I lost my first and much loved english bulldog (named Molly who was a rescue) to a very fast growing and aggressive cancer around 5 or 6 years ago. Although I instantly fell in love with Molly and the bulldog breed, I was extremely hesitant to eventually get another on the chance of having to go through such a heartbreaking loss again as the vet told me this type of cancer is often seen in bulldogs - I have no idea how accurate that statement is, but at the time I certainly took his word for it.
To be unremittingly honest, Elvis was acquired in an almost textbook example of how NOT to buy a puppy.
Looking to kill some time, my Wife and myself stopped into one of those detested "puppy stores" with absolutely no intentions to buy one. You guessed it - There they had 2 english/american bulldog mix puppies which to my untrained eyes looked mostly like english bulldog puppies although they were labeled as mixes.
I played with the 2 puppies for over an hour, but one really caught my fancy - although it had one pure white eye with a strikingly blue iris and one normally colored eye with a brownish blue iris but a similarly bright blue edge. I won't bore you with the "story" or salespitch behind this store acquiring these dogs as who really knows how much truth is behind it.
Leaving the store, we discussed someday getting another bulldog and even talked about getting a mixed breed bulldog hoping to possibly avoid some of the hereditary issues they can have. Having done lots of research after the fact, I now know of course that this is not necessarily true.
Anyway, my well intentioned Wife went back and purchased the puppy for my birthday as a surprise. Her reasoning being that I've been going through a bad bout of depression due to personal reasons and playing with that puppy was the first time she saw me laughing and really enjoying myself in a long time. I certainly didn't want to hurt my Wife's feelings complaining about her buying a dog there - even though we both commented on how bad an idea it was to do so before even going in to the place - so I haven't even brought the subject up once she brought him home.
I do feel bad for supporting and enabling this "store" to profit - I certainly do not approve of such commercial operations. However, the reality is I do now have Elvis, I just absolutely love him to pieces and I pray that he is a healthy and sound dog that will live a very long and healthy/happy life.... so feel free to chastise me and rake me over the coals for buying from a "puppy store" if you really believe you must. :evil1:
I've had Elvis now for almost 2 months, things are going fairly well and he is regularly attending puppy "classes". I immediately had him thoroughly checked out by a vet and he thankfully passed and now goes back regularly to follow up on his shots. I've also been doing tons of online research on the breed(s) as well as purchasing books and its amazing how much I thought I knew but really didn't. My online research has brought me to this site where I have been getting lots of great info and ideas, so I finally just joined/registered today. I still have lots of questions and comments so I'll probably be posting if I can't find answers already posted somewhere. I'll also see if I can figure out how to post some pictures of Elvis.
Sorry to be so long winded as I originally just wanted to quickly post and say hello but I likely got a bit carried away - and if you have actually read this far without falling asleep :sleepy5: thank you,
Joe
