Bulldogs World

Hi Katie,

Sorry that my reasoning for trying to limit Stella's sodium has been ellusive. I've been unsure if mentioning my reason would be against forum rules and I've also been worried about how people might react, since you all just "met" me and don't know anything about me. - Stella is pregnant. I've been researching water puppies and puppy absorbtion and in doing so I came up with all sorts of reasons why these two things might occur. There are several theories but no one really knows and my vet is actually doing a study on water puppies and personally I'd rather not end up as one of their canidates... I hope we don't  have any water puppies, I hate the idea of a puppy being born alive and not having any way to save it's life (I know you can save those not severely affected but most of the time, they are severely affected and can't be saved and it would just kill me to watch a puppy die. One of the many things people suspect could cause puppies to retain water is anemia and so therefor I want her diet to be high in Iron, another possible reason is toxins somehow aren't filtered correctly in the dam and are passed on to the puppies (thus my reasoning for at first wanting Stella to have additional natural antioxidants in her diet) and a 3rd possibility is intrauterine reaction to sodium and many Bulldog breeders put their dogs on low or sodium-free diets to hopefully avoid this. Now there are several other ideas and opinons on the causes of Water Puppy syndrome but those are the ones that I was concentrating on since those are the ones I could try and control. So I knew that because Stella was pregnant I should be feeding her more protien than what NB has, and I knew I wanted her on something high in Iron (my reasoning for the liver) and high in antioxidents (blue berries) and then low in sodium (raw in general but pork and beef were what I read were lowest). So that's why I originally took interest in the raw diets.

Now, before anyone jumps to conclusions about my breeding Stella, I would like to make it clear that I have gone about this responsibly. No, I don't show Bulldogs, yet, but I did intend to show Stella in the begining and certain things happened (from my husband going to Iraq to my leg getting amputated) that kept me from doing it. I did not intend to breed Stella when I bought her. I am not trying to become rich by breeding Bulldogs. Some might consider me a back-yard breeder... but really, anyone, including a show breeder could be considered that by someone. It's all a matter of perspective. Someone once told me that an irresponsible breeder or backyard breeder was someone who made any sort of income off of dogs... And to me, that's just not true because in that case, any show breeder who sells ANY of their dogs, would be an irresponsible breeder. And I don't think that's true either. But, I don't buy the idea that show breeders are better than all other's either. There are show breeders out there who still don't treat their dogs like familes and see them as tool's of the trade... So there are irresponsible breeders in every walk of life and I hate when people consider those who aren't yet showing, backyard irresponsible breeders.

With that said, I don't expect you to randomly take my word that I've bred Stella responsibly and with good intentions so I'm more than happy to give you examples to put your mind at ease. First, I love Stella to death, she lives in my home and sleeps on a very plush orthopedic bed and is pampered. She goes camping with us, (and I have pictures if anyone cares to see them,lol), she's been to doggy obedience classes at our local Petsmart, and you should have noticed by my posts that I am VERY concerned with her health and nutrition. And no, that didn't just start because she's pregnant. I've always been concerned but when I asked around and asked my mentor (who wasn't a breeding mentor at first, but became one -she was originally supposed to help me get into showing) what type of dogfood was best (she's been showing an breeding bulldogs for a long time so I trusted her judgement, and I still respect her opinion) I was told that New Balance was best and that Bulldogs should be on a low protien diet due to bone overgrowth issues. - So I looked online, read a little and decided to take her advice. - But now, I've read a little more and took an interest in raw because I could control what was going into her and I wanted to make sure she was getting the best and I've since decided against NB for her specific dietary needs.

I decided a few months back that I might breed Stella. I really wanted to have a chance at showing and Stella's is a really great quality, nicely conformed Bulldog and I look at her every day and think "Wow, you would have done great in shows" - I mean even her walk is so fluid... She's just a good looking dog with great movement. But now she's set in her spoiled ways and it's like pulling teeth to get her to do anything I want her to do if she doesn't want to do it,lol. I know you all know what I mean, surely you do. It's a pretty common Bulldog trait. She's very good at planting her butt or laying down and refusing to move. And at 42 lbs pre-pregnancy, she's tough to move. - But anyway, I started considering breeding Stella several months ago. I found a really nice stud with great lineage and some pretty fantastic show wins and they really compliment each other well. So I know it's not guaranteed but I really hope to get a show prospect out of the litter. Anyway, I spoke with the dog's owner and told her I wasn't really sure I was going to breed Stella but when the time came I decided to do it. I'd researched a ton and I still research every day and I've got a good mentor (she just doesn't raw feed so I've got no one to talk to about that) and I've got a good Stud so I'm hopeful that things will turn out well.

My mentor has warned me that there is little money to be made from breeding Bulldogs and if you do it it's only worth it if you are breeding to improve the breed and to keep a show puppy or puppies for yourself. She's right too... because I don't even want to think about how much I've spent on the initial tests, progesterone tests, swabs, AI's, stud fee, and all of the follow up appointments. Not to mention the incubator, whelping box/pen (for after their too big for the incubator, whelping supplies (incase I have to tube feed them), C-section and follow up appointments. - Plus, I'm a natural worryer so Stella's already been to the vet once because she had a discharge that I thought was pyometra and turned out to be vaginitis and then a 1 am emergency visit to the vet when she gulped up her food (around 11pm) and apparently a TON of air too and I was terrified she was going to get bloat and die... turns out it was just gas and that it passed on it's own. - And even then, the risk has to be weighed against the benefits... and I knew the risks before breeding her but for some reason they weren't real for me until after she was bred and then all of the sudden I started worrying about how she could die from the anesthesia, from a ruptured uterus or from countless other things and I would never forgive myself for putting her in the situation for that to happen. - So trust me, I am aware of the risks and as much as I am excited to soon have a bunch of tiny bulldogs romping around, I am also terrified that I could lose my girl and it's hard to see how the risk is worth the reward. - This is my first litter of Bulldog pups though and I'm sure everyone is scared the first time around (or maybe I just read too much and other's are not as aware of what could go wrong,) I know that once Stella has her pups my journey will have just begun because then I have to put the puppies with her/on her every 2 hours round the clock for 2 weeks straight, then every 3 hours and then every 4... It's a daunting tast and I'm sure it will be very difficult but I am up for it.

Anyway, I'm well mentored, and well read on this process. I have nothing but good intentions and I plan to screen homes. I've got a great Bulldog-experienced vet and I'm not out to make a quick buck and I fully intend on showing at least one puppy from the litter and gender will not matter. So I hope after everyone reads this I won't be judged too harshly. I  have no intentions of becoming a puppy mill and as much as this pregnancy has worried me, I may never breed Stella or any dog ever again. I guess you could consider me a "Private breeder" I read the definition of the various "breeder terms" and this definition probably suits me best.

Katie, I am very sorry for having wrote so much, probably more than you wanted or needed to know. I just wanted to make sure that no one jumped to the conclusion that I am some backyard breeder who doesn't care about the health or welfare of the mother or pups. I probably care and worry more than the average breeder. I don't want anything bad to happen to either of them...

- - -

I hope that this post isn't breaking any forum rules. I titled it Sodium so not to in any way hint that it could be about a pregnancy or litter. I could have simply started why I was trying to feed her low or sodium-free food but I am sure someone would have jumped all over me about breeding and I wanted to make sure I explained my actions before anyone made their own conclusions about my intentions or about my level of responsibility. 

I hope i've not somehow offended or upset anyone.

-Laura and Stella

I appreciate all of the advice and support. I may not have known much about raw feeding when I first got here but even without having to pick up a book I feel so much more knowledgable than I did before. - Not enough to go it alone though so I'll definitely read that book (and probably others) before I start feeding raw from my grocery store.

Thanks so much!

Laura

Thanks for replying. It's good to hear from someone who's tried it. - Did both of your dogs experience constipation on it? I hope Stella doesn't but if you have 2 and both experienced constipation then maybe it's the food. What kind did you buy? I bought 3 different boxes thinking I'd give Stella a variety. I'm going to start her on chicken since that is what the ladies told me before would be best to start her on as far as raw goes. It should ease her little belly into the kibble-prepared raw diet.. Then once she's accustomed to it I'll alternate between the beef and lamb every other day or something. I have fish oil pills here, I never thought of hiding them. I was just cutting them open and spraying it over her food (which for the first couple times she snubbed her food altogether. After a while she got hungry and gave up on the strike,lol. I've only tried it 4 or 5 times though, I kind of wondered if she needed that in addition to the prepared raw.

Thanks, I appreciate your input :)

Good to know other's have started with premade before jumping into raw. Thanks for sharing your experience :)

My lab has definitely lost about 10 lbs in the week I've been feeding her Natures Variety so I've started adding in some chicken and giving both dogs a little more than the box says to.  My Bulldog doesn't look as pregnant as I think she should so I'm worried she's been losing weight and I also worry that maybe it's affected the puppies. So I have been giving her extra plus some of the ZiwiPeek stuff too. I've heard dogs can lose excess weight when on it but my lab lost more than that and I think my bulldog did too. She was never heavy anyway.

btw, your dog is really pretty. Looks very similar to mine :)