Can you believe someone actually once didn't treat her like the princess she is?

Delilah was rescued by Buddies Thru Bullies via Florida to Washington, DC, one of the many incredible dog rescue organizations staffed by selfless people.

M Barbie's photostream on Flickr shares her story - Delilah was from a backyard breeder, and she had a bunch of respiratory problems, including a hypoplastic trachea. MB says she has "watched this girl come alive now that she's home... she's full of life, love, and happiness."

Be careful of unreputable breeders. Be loving of your bulldog(s). And applaud bulldog rescue organizations and the people behind them.

Now, I'm going to go give my bully a hug.

Even with the 'greening' of these bags, he can somehow immediately tell that they are back from a visit to the grocery store, and they are filled with all sorts of good stuff: deli meats, ribs, sausages (can you tell we're not vegetarian?) chips and crackers.

With no shame, he will dive into the bags to see what we brought him. Because, really, we must have done all this shopping for him, no?!

I should really punish this sort of behavior. I should. But, first, I must take a photo. Or three.

(Oh, and please try to ignore the hairball on our kitchen floor. You're a dog owner, you understand, right?)

Well, around age 6 months, our little girl stopped eating. Keep in mind, she had been a voracious eater until then. But, suddenly, she had no interest in her kibble. The same kibble she had been gulping down for months.

We worried, we fretted. We coaxed, we cooed. All to no avail. So we did what any new 'parents' would do. We rushed her to the 'hospital'.

Urine tests, blood tests, poking prodding.

Nothing.

So the vet asked if I wanted to take an x-ray to make sure nothing was blocking her intestines. It would cost a little over $100. Uh...of course!

Nothing.

Finally, a couple of hours and a barrage of tests and expenses later, he asked me "have you tried chicken broth and rice?"...huh?

He said that, sometimes, dogs just get sick of their food and are just being finicky. "You should try it."

On the way home, looking at my sweet girl's face, I thought to myself "there's no way she could be that manipulative!"

I made some short grain rice, soaked it in low sodium chicken broth, and, skeptically, put it in front of her...

I could barely put the bowl down before she dove in.

So - as always, use your judgement if your dog stops eating...that's a first sign of many more serious illnesses. But, if he/she is still drinking normally, pooping normally, and it's just a day of turning up his nose at the bowl...do me a favor and try my gourmet recipe.

OK, OK, it's wrong on so many levels.

But look more closely , and try to see past the 'disgusted with my humans' look on his face, let alone the paper hat....

Yup, there it is. That icky mass that looks like it's protruding from his left eye.

That's "cherry eye". There are a few things to know if you want to understand (on a basic level) what cherry eye is.

1) Dogs have a "third eyelid". It gives dogs' eyeballs added protection by actually being able to close upward and over the dog's eyeball. I've actually seen this Third Eyelid open a split second after the main eyelid opens up when our dogs would wake up from a particularly lazy nap. They look almost like a gecko (well, if a gecko was, fuzzy, tubby and about 6000 times bigger).

2) This Third Eyelid also has a tear gland that helps lubricate the eye.

3) This Third Eyelid can often "pop out", particularly on somewhat bug-eyed dogs (e.g. French Bulldogs, Pugs, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and, of course, Bulldogs).

When the Third Eyelid pops out it is called an "Everted Third Eyelid" but it kind of looks like a cherry, ergo the name. It gets swollen and often red because it is not circulating blood properly. Aside from looking pretty gross, it undoubtedly is uncomfortable for the dog, and makes it prone to infection and other eye disorders.

Vets used to just cut it off - but this would remove the pretty important gland that produces lubricant for the eye. So now a lot of them pop it back in and kind of "tack" it in place, trying to avoid covering up that tear duct that creates the film for the eye. The downside of this approach is that it often pops out again - and the fewer times you have to put your dog under anesthesia, the better.

We had a great, bulldog-specializing vet who excelled at the 'tack' surgery, so we opted for that approach, twice. Our dog still ended up with dry eye at around age six that we have to treat every day, but not as quickly as if our vet had not handled his two cherry eyes so well at age two.

The first time our dog's cherry eye popped out, it was because a kid bopped him in the eye with a ball (but, fairly, it probably was prone enough to it that it would have happened at some point). The second time (on the other eye), it just popped out. I can say neither ever relapsed, which again is probably testament to our vet's skill.

Our other bulldog never got cherry eye. While I think it's possible to minimize the likelihood of the condition, it is actually not particularly severe and can be treated effectively.

A couple of sites (here and here), write about this and show more photos. You'll continue to see the debate about 'cut' or 'tuck' - I just write about our experience. But, in all cases, remember the following:

- treat any case you have to put your bulldog 'under' very seriously - and, ideally, the fewer the better

- find an awesome, bulldog-experienced vet from the day you get one (or even before) (more on how to find one later)

- in the case of eyes, locate a good opthamalogist (who likewise has lots of experience with bulldogs)

Then, one day, he was over it.

We put it in front of him, trying to reignite some interest....some spark.

Hmmm...nope.

Done. No more love for the monkey. He was disconsolate.

Weeks passed. Then, with a glimmer of hope, I saw and purchased the most gargantuan monkey toy I had ever seen.

And, yes, monkey love returned. It was almost primitive the way he mauled that toy - like he had hunted the wooly mammoth and won.

(sigh), my friends, size does matter.

one of Bpawsbullies adorable pups

And who wouldn’t want a little 6 pound ball of wrinkles to roll down the hallway to greet you, snuggle into your lap and melt his/her wrinkles all over you? And isn’t it even cuter when the waddle turns into more of a stocky gallop, and they nip at your toes and jump into your arms, showing you how much they missed you that day?

Well, now imagine that 6 lbs multiplied by a factor of ten. So, a 60 pound tank of explosive love stampeding down the hallway to greet you after a long day...taking you out at the shins...knocking over your groceries...buckling you at the knees.

From this...

...to this

It’s hard to imagine that the cute little ball of fuzzy wrinkles you bring home in an open shoebox will be a solid 60 pounds of muscle in the near future...but it will be.

This is, of course, true with many dogs, not just bulldogs - but you may underestimate the strength, density and just pure trainwreck of a dog that bulldog puppies grow up to be...and, believe it or not, some people actually find their wet, smushed faces to be scary.

So it isn’t fun to try to explain to little children, the mailman or your grandma how you once thought it was cute to have them run down the hallway and tackle you when you came home. Thus, a word of advice...do your knees and your neighbors a favor and train them early and often not to throw their weight around.

Bullie breeders are heroes of snuggling, squirming litters like this

The Bulldog Club of Northern California has a great document called their breeder's "Code of Ethics" that, I think, really highlights the way great breeders think and behave - and, if you read the document with this in mind, you can backwards extrapolate good questions to ask breeders you interact with during the research phase to see if they hold those same standards to themselves. Of course, even more important than what they say is how they conduct themselves every day - so, use one part good human judgement, one part checklist, and three parts references, references, references.

One very basic thing to point out: not all good breeders have good websites. Why do I point this out? Because if you do happen to be a first time bulldog parent-to-be, and you are reading this post, it is likely you were trying to do some research...and you started online...and it's likely you would assume that breeders who pop up frequently during your online search, or are at the top of Google's page ranks, or have pretty websites with lots of references to "Champion" means they are the best breeders around. Well, this isn't necessarily true. This *may* be true, so I don't want you to penalize a breeder if they do happen to rank high in natural search results...but I recommend you weigh other variables much, much more heavily.

So - some practical advice:

1. Get to know bulldoggers and their dogs - in person. Find your local, Bulldog Club of America or other global, AKC or Breed Council-sanctioned club. A lot of the divisions have web sites that list out local events. Go to those or, if those aren't listed, call the officers and ask about functions where you can learn more about the breed. You may not think you're a 'dog club' kind of guy or gal. But I can assure you that: a) they are not a cult so don't be scared, b) they are some of the most informed people around about the breed, c) their interests in the breed are sincere, and d) they are incredibly generous with information.

There is no amount of web-surfing that will give you the same type of insight and personal interaction with both breeders *and* different bulldogs than these types of club events (see some photos I got from recent shows here and you'll see what I mean!). And don't just go to one before you decide about the breed or a breeder - go to a few - you will start being able to discern differences between tails, personalities, gaits, and colorings. You will meet breeders who, frankly, don't have the time to manage a website because they are completely engulfed in caring for their dogs. Or breeders who don't breed quarterly or even yearly - they just wait for that special combination of amazing dogs that inspire them to breed - and you may just be lucky enough to be at the right time at the right place to have one of their offspring.

And you will find, as I have, that these folks are some of the most kind and mentoring people you'll come to meet - because good breeders (and dog club members) don't tend to be the ones who are only obsessed with making money off of a popular trend or winning some sort of title. The best breeders are the ones who care about the health and life of each puppy they help produce. So don't be surprised if a breeder is either acting like they're teaching you or interviewing you during your first few conversations, because that is what they do: make sure you know what you're getting into, and make sure you are the right person for their future puppy.

2. Meet the parents. Try to meet both parents of the upcoming litter. Sometimes, dogs sperm is shipped across state lines or even country borders so this may not be an easy feat (can you imagine the shipping label on those containers? yuck)...but if they are both local, do try to meet both. And if they are inseminated from a distance, try to find out why your breeder selected the source - do they know the other dog? Why did they think it would be a good match? Was it just based on lineage or awards? Or because that dog had the ideal temperant, physicality and health they were looking to pair with?

If you can meet both parents, you can often see not only what their offspring will look like, but, more importantly, the temperaments, as well. Do you want energetic and athletic? Or mellow and lazy? You'll start seeing some of these traits in the parents - and, hopefully, before the 'mom' is so big and weighed down with a litter that she is basically like every other expectant mom you've known at the 'ready to pop' stage - uncomfortable and over it.

3. Talk to the 'extended family'...of both the dogs and the breeder. No, I don't mean the breeder's third cousin, Larry. I mean the list of devoted families who have obtained puppies from your potential breeder in the past. These owners become part of an extended network of people whose lives the breeder has touched.

You can learn a lot not only about the potential of future puppies, but also about the breeder by meeting members of this network. See, part of the reason breeders are selective about the folks they will sell a puppy to is because their job typically doesn't stop with the sale. They know (and prefer) that the new owners touch base with them frequently to ask for advice. So you should definitely be able to get some good insight to the breeder, their past litters, and how they interacted with the new owners after the puppies were taken home by way of a couple of these references. And if the breeder can't provide such references - you should wonder why not.

labor of loveThis isn't to say that you may not fall in love with a relatively new breeder and/or his/her dog - and this new breeder may not have built up a network of puppies with homes yet. But new breeders tend to have very good mentors who have lots of experience, so feel free to ask them about their resources and their 'family tree' of sorts - because, behind every good breeder is...another good breeder.

Phew! This posting is already a bit too long, so I'll reserve more for a 'part III'...but you can see I'm passionate about the people who are passionate about carefully and lovingly perpetuating this breed. And for a breed that is as unique as this one, you do need to find a breeder you can have an ongoing relationship with.

One last piece of advice for now: start your research early. To get through steps 1-3 above, factor in about 6 months minimum. If serendipity hits and you find the ideal breeder and your future family member before then, great - but give yourself time, and you'll find that "luck" is really the result of lots of good planning and effort.

This one is kind of obvious (duh, dog food) but it's cute nonetheless

I think of this as a good and a bad thing. A good thing because I love seeing big, beautiful bulldog mugs plastered on billboards and buses. It brings a smile to my day while I am otherwise grumbling and grousing about being stuck in traffic.

Who woulda thunk? Wood filler? Huh...I have no idea what I'd use this for, but I love the ad!

I admit I only bought this BBQ sauce because of the label.

This is for the WAG Hotel - a chic pet hotel - sooo San Francisco

All these bulldogs on ads is a bad thing when you think of all the people who see those adorable, "only a mother could love" faces and think "I'm going to go run out and buy one of those!" without really understanding what that entails. That makes me worried.

And I admit that while I have impulsively bought products hawked by bulldog images, I have also found some of the imagery involving bulldogs do be downright cruel, inhumane, and disturbing.

Yes, it's true, people. Bulldogs have been subjected to commercialism and dragged into glorifying the dark side of 'pop culture' and social ills.

What images do I refer to?

(Shudder) See below:

And, no, this isn't just a U.S. phenomenon...the abuse has gone global. See this Russian ad (for I have no idea what - and just in case this is a black-market advertisement that I am just too ignorant to translate, please see our blog disclaimer).

I apologize for any who have taken offense (as I have) to this ad

What the heck is she doing?!? Poor bulldog.

I suppose the only silver lining I should see in this is that, when my husband caught a look at this Russian advertisement with the hot blonde in tight jeans, he said "Hey, look at that bulldog!".

At least if he can be accused of having a 'one track mind', it's on the right track.

Thanks to Evan Mungford

Does it make you think: "that'll never happen"?

Or does it make you think of how sometimes, just one time, you'd love to prove the cynics wrong and show them such a hysterical, logic-defying sight as a flying pig to make them believe in hope, laughter and the wondrous surprises in life?

Well, how about this:

I love this photo. It's De's glorious bulldog, Bubba. Her photostream of Bubba is a favorite of mine - because this athletic bully proves on a regular basis that it does not matter what people assume, it does not matter what people expect - because when you are given:

a) a lot of love and care

b) the opportunity to be yourself

c) exposure to pure joy

everything is possible...and bulldogs CAN fly.

All bulldog owners should be equipped with water for their dogs at all times. This is generally true for all dogs, but bulldogs, in particular, are sensitive to overheating. So aside from avoiding outdoor activity during peak sunshine/humidity times of day, we don't go anywhere without tons of water - for drinking or even squirting some on their necks or their bellies to cool them off on warm days. One of the best things we did for our bulldogs was train them from the start to drink from any ol' water bottle with a squirt top.

Why is this great?

a) You can pretty much find water bottles with squirt tops anywhere. And you can even save the plastic squirt top to put on top of standard water bottles,  just in case.

b) Have you tried those collapsible bowls? I'm not a structural engineer, but they defy logic and function for me.

c) When something with the same basic function is branded and expensive like these things:

it's far more likely to end up as a chew toy, left on the top of the car as we drive off from the dog park, or break. That's just Murphy's Law. Or Dog Law.

You may have heard that you shouldn't keep re-using plastic water bottles by refilling them because they eventually start seeping chemicals into the water...you should replace them somewhat frequently (we use new bottles to refill once every week or two). We recycle the used ones when they're retired, or we put them in this cool thing that makes the water bottle relive a second life (albeit briefly) as a toy. Dogs just love that crunching noise.

Bottle Buddies

What's the bad thing about them getting used to drinking from their own personal water fountain all the time? Well, they did get snooty about drinking from those nice water bowls that stores put out for the benefit of the pooches...they refuse to drink when another dog's slobber is in the water bowl! They just look up and wait for their personal assistant (me) to basically bottle feed them. Prima donnas.