Tis the season to be .....

...... Plain bloody stupid if you are behind the latest RSPCA campaign

The Pedigree dog, without which no dog would exist, but once again we see the RSPCA spending thousands of pounds on newspaper adverts and petition campaigns - I bet when you put your lose change in the collecting tin the other day you thought your money was going to make sure that all the animals in the shelters would get a nice Christmas - you'd be mistaken to think that any of that money actually goes to the animals because most shelters are financially independant of the RSPCA and operate almost like a franchise. Money donated goes towards paying salaries (fair enough if it's going to the inspectors), keeping the head office at Horsham running and financing campaigns such as this.

Quote: The way that dogs are bred today, in order to win shows, is having a huge impact on their health and welfare. This is why we’ve launched our Born to Suffer campaign which calls for pedigree dogs to be bred primarily for health, welfare and temperament rather than the way they look.

Outdated propaganda, almost every single bulldog breeder I know will put health and temperament above everything else. Of course I can't speak for other breeds but certainly the health and temperament of the bulldogs that end up in rescue have certainly improved in the last 10 years

Quote: But it’s not just show dogs that may be suffering. Not all pedigree dogs will appear in shows, but many are bred by breeders who want to produce show-winning animals, and who sell their surplus dogs as pets.


Sorry, but purchasing from a show breeder is the best way of ensuring your puppy is bred properly and with care by someone who actually gives a s**t and isn't in it purely for the money. The argument is simple - OK, you may not want to show your bulldog, but you still want a nice healthy bulldog that actually looks like a bulldog and a breeder that aims to show what they breed will not only have some understanding of the breed standard but will also be making that extra effort to produce good quality, healthy dogs.

Quote: To win shows, dogs must meet a 'breed standard' which is set for each individual breed and describes the way a dog should look. Breeding for looks in this way can lead to dogs being bred with exaggerated physical features. According to scientific studies some of the UK’s favourite breeds of dogs have been bred to such extremes that they can no longer breathe or walk normally. For example, dogs with short, flat faces often have narrow nostrils and abnormally developed windpipes. They can often suffer severe breathing difficulties and may have difficulty enjoying a walk or playing. Dogs with folded or wrinkled skin are prone to itchy and painful skin complaints, and dogs with bulging or sunken eyes are prone to injury, pain or discomfort.



Yes they can but there would be more if there was absolutely no control over what or who was being bred. In today's world if you make dog breeding easier by removing the only controls there are then you are playing right into the hands of the people that breed for the sole reason of making money without a care for the welfare of their dogs or their offspring.

I'm sure this is going to rumble round like thunder caught in a valley, but over the last couple of years the Kennel Club have alienated alot of breed clubs and breed councils by going through a large number of breed standards with a fine tooth combe and changing the wording of things simply to appease the media. The RSPCA probably only ever see the badly bred pedigree dogs because most pedigree dog owners who need help will go to their breed rescues and to people that understand and care about the breed, it's only really those that need to offload quickly, who never really cared about the welfare of their dog or simply abandon their pet will find their way into RSPCA shelters and in light of that they really don't have the experience or the knowledge to understand the dog stood in front of them.

Of course this all started with "that" programme and as filming of the second installment is well underway I have offered an interview which according to the programme maker has been accepted because the BBC have insisted that there is a balanced argument regarding the issues it raises. I'm not convinced it will happen as I too have strong opinions that may not be welcome but we will see.

OMG - Another one of "those" moments



Blue eyes in bulldogs is a fault - not an excuse to add pounds to the price












With the likes of Jemima Harrison on the war path again with her Pedigree Dog's Exposed campaign, I saw a message this morning that really did make me go OMG. Read through this advert....

VERY RARE BLUE EYED STUNNING MALE BULLDOG PUPPY FROM A LITTER OF 5, The Odds Of A Blue Eyed British Bulldog Are A Zillion To One ( Look It Up On Google ) These Dogs Are £10,000 Plus In The USA Not In UK ( Very Unique ) He Has A Redish Brown Body With White Head & Black Around His Right Eye With A Perfect Tail. He Has An Amazing Pedigree And Is Very Strong & Chunky, He's A Healthy Puppy With A Great Temperament Being An Excellent Example Of The Breed. The Bloodline Is Truly Outstanding, THE SIRE HAS NO LESS THAN 12 CHAMPIONS IN HIS 5 GEN PEDIGREE ALONE, Bullies Such As CHAMPION CALIBRA KRYPTONITE, CHAMPION CALIBRA GOLDEN JUBILEE, CHAMPION ROWENDALE RUM TRUFFLE, WORLD CHAMPION ‘MYSTYLE GOLDEN WONDER & Many More. CHAMPION ‘MERRIVEEN MAKE MY DAY’. The Dam Also Has Top Bloodlines Being Grand Daughter To MULTI INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION OCOBO FREDDY MYSTYLE, SHE ALSO HAS MANY CHAMPIONS IN HER 5 GEN PEDIGREE ALSO INCLUDING A FEW WORLD CLASS CHAMPIONS, To Many To Name. He Was Born On The 16th September And Is Ready To Go ON The 10th November. He Will Come With KC Pedigree Papers , 5 gen Pedigree Tree, 4 Weeks Free Insurance, Puppy Pack, 1st Injection, Micro Chipped, Health Checked, And Wormed To Date. He Is Only Available To A Good Loving Home. He Is £3000. Viewing Welcome. Viewing Is Also Available Via Youtube As You Can Have A Better Look This Way. NO TIME WASTERS PLEASE.


The chances are that some poor sod has already fallen for this and it angers me that whilst the likes of Ms Harrison are hell bent on attacking those that at least try and do it properly, adverts such as this are popping up all over the place from people who really don't have a bloody clue. I feel sorry for the breeders who's dogs have been listed in this advert, although to be honest reading through some of those dogs I can probably guess where the blue eye has come from.
A blue eye is simply lack of pigmentation in the eye, it can indicate deafness but rarely does, it mainly appears on white dogs, although it's also common in fawn dogs where the white colour gene has diluted what would have been a red coated dog. I've seen it on Brindle dogs too but it is certainly not a rare condition that requires a £10,000 price tag, it's a fault and a fault that should not be bred from due to the deafness risk.
If Ms Harrison gets her way all breeding in the future will be as indiscriminate as this and then all of our pedigree breeds will be "at risk". Pups with blue eyes should be sold with restrictions for a lesser amount to pet homes. They should not be an opportunity for someone to scam you out of thousands of pounds more!

God Bless America

As the Bulldog Nationals finds itself well underway and the fact that our Chairman Vicky is once again enjoying her week in the States reminds me that it's been 13 years since my one and only trip to the American Nationals. 1998 - Reggie the first wasn't even a year old and I was the only UK Bulldogger on the internet, in those days the only choices you had for chat groups were American ones and I had joined the Bulldog-FX group where in time I was invited to go out there. I remember sitting on the plane and the chap next to me asking me where I was going to stay "with a lady I met on the internet" was the reply - can you imagine saying that these days LOL. It was an absolute fabulous week and I really hope that I get the chance to go again some day as I made some wonderful friends over there. But as the week progresses, the New York Times has jumped on the breed bashing bandwagon with their article "Can the Bulldog be Saved", a quick look on Miss Puddleducks blog shows she's relishing the fact that her anti bulldog lobby has crossed the pond, it will be interesting to see where this one ends up as I can't see the yanks rolling over and playing dead quite so easily as us Brits did.

The End

Before we begin this blog, you may want to remind yourself how it all began back in March
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-you-sitting-comfortably.html
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-i-did-at-weekend-by-edward-aged-2.html
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/04/time-ticks-by.html
Saturday 5th November 2011 - the day none of us thought would happen, and the day all of us have been working towards. Edward has gone to his new home. We've been looking back over his time here this morning and apart from the fact that the 19.1kg dog that arrived left here weighing in at 26.1kg is probably the one thing that makes us all want to punch the air and shout - we did it!!!!
Last night, I shut Edwards kennel door for the very last time, this morning I let him out knowing he would never be shut in a kennel ever again, he, of course, had absolutely no idea how the morning was going to unfold

As usual he was demanding to be let out this morning so he could go through his usual routine of deciding which toy to play with today

Next stop the Bathroom

Don't forget my feet

Look who came to say goodbye - my fairy godmother Kate - where would Edward be without this wonderful lady

Goodbye Annie - I lubs you

Goodbye Edward

So many dogs have left here but I don't think any of them have left the mark that Ed left, today is the first day of the rest of his life and boy what a great life that is going to be. We've all just been stood around with a "what shall we do now" expression remembering the highs and the lows of the cheesy wotsit who arrived as a bag of bones, the worries that he wasn't putting on the weight, the fear that his fur would never grow back, the princess that demanded to be let out before the chickens of a morning. The idiot that stuck his face in the nest of flying ants and gave us all the shock of our lives as his face swelled up before our eyes, the charmer that would never let you forget to do his feet and the sweet gentle dog that had come out of goodness knows what and is on his way up to leafy Surrey, where his arm chair awaits - that's after he's cocked his leg up it of course. Have a great life Ed, you've left a paw print on all of us and we look forward to hearing of your antics with your fantastic new mummy who will do an absolutely amazing job of completing the long long journey that has been your recovery - you are one special bulldog and don't you ever forget it.

Edward March 2011

Edward November 2011

Maybe people aren't so bad

I've always joked that I'd much rather be surrounded by dogs than people, but yesterday we witnessed the fact that people actually aren't so bad.
The story began on Wednesday when I was approached by a lady who's 5 month old Bulldog Rex had been seized by Animal Health for being illegally imported. She'd bought him from an advert on Pets4Homes and had no idea that what she had purchased was illegal until the vet that checked him over noticed the blood tests were missing in his pet passport. What followed was horrendous for all involved when she arrived home to find her dog being seized as being imported illegally and moved to a quarantine kennel in London, made worse by the fact that he would have to stay there until January 2012 and if the family couldn't pay the £1000 bill he'd be put to sleep. I spoke to the kennels (who wish to remain anonymous) directly and they confirmed the story as true and so the campaign began to raise the money to pay the bill and get Rex off of death row.
The following day I spoke the Animal Health Officer in charge of Rex's case, she confirmed that this happens on a regular basis and that there's been at least 20 cases in London alone this year - and that's just the ones that got caught! But she also confirmed that if we could raise the money he would definitely be released to his family in January and seemed quite pleased that we had got involved to help the family in question - it was at that point she let on that as part of a documentary for the Discovery channel she was being followed around by a TV crew, and that the crew had filmed Rex's removal and that they wanted to follow up the story by filming his reunion in January with his family and report the fact that thanks to Bulldog Rescue, 100s of complete strangers had put their hands in their pockets and raised the full amount in just 24 hours! Yes, we did it, the bill is paid and Rex goes home after Christmas and the happy occasion will be filmed and hopefully aired next year.
But there's a more serious side to this tale, if 20 people have been caught, how many go undetected? You know I'm not a fan of ePupz, Pets4Homes and the pet sections of GumTree, Loot etc etc and we're pretty good now at spotting the scams that insist that they are people of God and it's not their fault that the litter of cute bulldog pups are stuck in Scotland when they've had to rush to Nigeria. I asked the AHO yesterday what would be the one piece of advice to give to a prospective buyer and she confirmed "See the pups with their mum" but is that enough? I know of people that cross reference the advert with the Kennel Club lists, all litters that are registered via the KC can be traced, follow your gut - if something doesn't feel right then don't do it, make sure you buy from a KC registered breeder, preferably an "Assured" breeder and if the dog has been imported ask questions - lots of questions and make sure you sign for the dog because there may come a time when you need to prove it wasn't you that smuggled him into the country.
I'll keep you posted on Rex's progress, but what a lovely way to end a very long week

What do you know about Canine Meningitis?

Until yesterday I didn't know much about canine meningitis, but one of the dogs at the kennel was put to sleep last night after displaying the symptoms and rapidly went down hill in the space of just 24 hours! Dear sweet little man was only 6 and was picked up from his previous home where he was living in the garden, thank goodness he wasn't still there because his only real cause for concern yesterday morning was that he refused to get out of bed and his temperature had gone through the roof. None of us really thought it was terribly urgent, he wasn't vomiting and he was happy to see us, he just didn't want to get up, but we called the vet and later that afternoon he was taken to his appointment. We'd been battling an ear infection so we'd assumed the infection had spread and a course of anti biotics was all we'd need, but when I went to get him, despite being excited at the prospect of going for a walk he couldn't stand up, the look that just said "hang on a minute, my legs don't work" was probably when I realised this was actually a little more urgent, I carried him to the van and the nurse helped me carry him in on the stretcher, but when we put him down we realised that he'd pee'd himself and his fur was falling out in absolute handfuls. Realising this was actually more serious I offered to stay with him whilst the vets finished up their other appointments, I cleaned him up the best I could but he really couldn't move, he still wagged his little tail at me though and seemed fine in himself. A while later we're in the xray room, xrays on his chest and abdomen both normal, bloods - reasonably normal, a slightly elevated white blood count was nothing unusual as we knew there was an ear infection, urine syringed up from the stretcher was off the scale but he was starting to become aggressive - very very unlike him. His temperature was still very high (over 40 degrees - normal temp is 38) but efforts to insert a drip failed as his veins were just shutting down as soon as the needle went in. With a temp that high you'd expect a high blood pressure and very prominent veins.

Now he couldn't walk at all, his legs just crumpled underneath him and he was now in obvious pain, we were watching him deteriorate before our eyes but had no idea what was wrong with him. Bless him, he was so brave but 2 hours later he was becoming agitated and quite aggressive and it became clear that the most likely cause was in fact meningitis. Without being able to get the drip in there was very little we could do to help him so "the meeting" was held - 2 vets, myself and a nurse all agreed if we couldn't make him comfortable his condition would continue to worsen and so at 8 o'clock last night he was peacefully laid to rest.

So what is meningitis? PetWave.com describes it as: "a non specific disease" that refers to the pathological condition of inflammation of the tissues surrounding and protecting the brain and spinal cord. The causative agent can be anything that triggers an inflammatory process in a particular dog, including bacteria, virus, fungus, chemical toxins and/or other agents. Meningitis is a very serious condition, and if a dog exhibits signs associated with this disorder it should be taken to a veterinarian immediately.

And lists the symptoms as
High fever (elevated body temperature)
Muscle stiffness
Musclee spasms in the back (often painful)
Rigidity of the muscles of the neck and forelimbs (often painful)
Extreme sensitivity to touch (hyperesthesia); may jump or yelp when touched
Loss of appetite (anorexia; inappetence)
Lethargy
Nausea
Vomiting
Stiff, awkward stilted gait
Inability to bend legs
Head tilt
High fever
Depression
Vision impairment/ blindness
Progressive paralysis
Seizures
Confusion/disorientation
Agitation
Loss of coordination (ataxia)
Aggression

With the exception of Vomiting he went through pretty much every single one of these symptoms in a 12 hour period. The article goes on to say

Meningitis can be fatal. Advanced cases of meningitis can cause extreme depression, blindness, progressive paralysis, seizures, confusion, agitation and/or aggression. Severe cases can also cause ataxia, which basically means lack of muscular coordination. Affected dogs may be unable to coordinate their movements. They might move in uncontrollable circles, stand up then stumble when trying to walk, or stand and walk with their front legs spread abnormally far apart. The clinical signs of meningitis can mimic those of other disorders. In order to successfully diagnose meningitis in dogs, a series of tests and examinations will need to be performed by a skilled and perceptive veterinarian.

Dogs at Increased Risk include dogs of any age, breed or gender can be equally affected. Newborn puppies are especially at risk. Affected animals are almost always systemically ill. They develop a high fever, a stiff awkward gait, painful back spasms, rigidity of the neck and forelimbs and extreme sensitivity to touch. They become lethargic, anorexic and nauseous. Advanced meningitis causes extreme depression, blindness, progressive paralysis, seizures, confusion, agitation, ataxia and/or aggression. It can be life-threatening

We talk alot about the condition in children but no one really talks about it in dogs and until yesterday had no idea what to look out for. I hope that if just one person can learn from this tragic and untimely death it won't have been in vain - run free sweet man, you were a big teddy bear who didn't deserve to leave that way, but thank goodness you were where someone spotted you didn't feel well and you weren't still out in that garden with no one to notice until it was too late.

The bulldog really is a wonderful thing

Which is of course why we've all got one (or two or three or .....) but they are mischievous and resourceful little blighters too! I went to shut the chickens in last night and as usual shut the mesh door, slid the door across to the nest box and opened the little peep door to check all were where they should be only to find as I shone the torch in that the chickens had turned into a bulldog!!! Our 10 year old Mabel had some how climbed the ramp, squeezed through the sliding door and had settled down for the night in the next box. We spent the next frantic half hour soaking wet trying to find three very bewildered, sleepy,wet hens who had scattered around the edges of the garden finding the most dense and bramble filled bushes they could find. It's quite funny now but you should have seen my face when I saw a bulldog face looking back at me instead of three chicks perched and settled down for the night! Thankfully they all seem non the worse for wear and Hansel gave me her second egg this morning so hopefully she's not too phased by the experience.
If I hadn't had been so frantic I would have got a photo and she didn't seem to understand why I was so cross with her either. Thankfully it was dark and the hens were all sleepy enough to be handled OK.
The new web site is now totally up and running and all the missing pages are up to date, I'd really like to know what you think of the new lay out? Is it easier to navigate? More complicated? Let me know

Is your head a plastic nodding dog ...

... you'll only get that if you've heard of the band The Prime Movers, but The Royal Veterinary College are conducting a survey on Head Nodding in Bulldogs. Bulldog Rescue are very excited that some real research is finally going to be done on this very misunderstood condition and have offered to help in any way we can. Please help them gather some accurate data by completing the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/headbobbinginbulldog

HEAD NODDING:

Head nodding is not deliberate but the dog is conscious and aware that it is happening, the best way to describe this is just like a nodding dog in car rear window. This is not epilepsy and I cannot stress this enough as too many bulldogs are diagnosed epileptic when it's nothing more than head nodding. No one really knows what causes it and it is very breed specific, but it is pretty widely accepted that it is stress, excitement or pain induced and could be linked to blood sugar levels. My personal theory is that due to the high pain threshold the bulldog has, it's an outward sign that something is not quite right, although it is also very common in dogs that have played hard and then gone to sleep to wake up head nodding. I've also found that once a dog has had a head nodding episode many of them will be prone to them in the future so anything slightly stressful, exciting or painful can trigger one. This crops up a lot in dogs that have recently been rehomed, the combination of new surroundings and the increased level of attention is the most probable cause.

Try to find a link between the nodding and a problem, some of the more common triggers include:

• growing pains / hormonal changes
• aching joints
• general pain
• moving families or moving house
• change in routine
• teething
• overdoing it

It is also common in pregnant bulldogs or in new mums and giving something sweet, ie: dextrose, glucose, icing sugar, honey etc is enough to halt the episode although often distraction will also. It can also occur in young males that are having their testosterone surge at around 9-10 months and may not occur again throughout his lifetime. You will find that most dogs which have episodes of head nodding will be more prone to them as they get older, especially if the dog suffers from arthritis or some other on going problem, for these dogs keep some glucose sweets handy, although we had an old girl who I swear could fake a head nod just for the sweet she got to stop it.

Page 65/66 The Bulldog Bible by Tania Holmes

Puddleducks

I've kept very quiet of late regarding the rantings of Ms Harrison, but she's off again on her recent blog and I think it's about time someone stood up to her total drivel

She starts this particular entry with a photo of a Bulldog along side the photo of what looks like a boxer/stafford cross - For pity's sake - if I wanted a Boxer/Stafford cross I'd buy a blooming Boxer/stafford cross, in reality I want a bulldog and I still find it absolutely amazing that apart from the fact that the photo used is so totally unflattering it could be any bulldog in the world, these people still insist that the bulldog has changed so much that he's now on deaths door.

There's two things I'd like to point out here

Firstly: Take a look at the following two photos

If I told you there was over 100 years between these images would you still think the breed had changed beyond recognition as Ms Harrison would have us believe?

And secondly as the temperature outside today hits over 25 degrees (yes I know it's the 1st October but someone forgot to tell the weather) I have a kennel full of bulldogs who far from being shut away in a darkened air conditions room are all out sunning themselves and making the most of this unprecedented heat wave without a care between them. No they haven't been walked today, but no dog should be walked in this for the same reason you won't find me trecking for miles in extreme temperatures. The dogs we have here right now are at no more risk of overheating than any other dog of any other breed.

However, this whole cross breed malarkey has got to stop, our Face Book page was recently hijacked buy a bunch of cross breeders and apart from the fact that the people are not very nice I'm still very much a firm believer in the fact that the only reason why most of these people cross their bulldogs is simply for money - face it, put a bulldog male to a stafford bitch and you've got something you can sell as "a healthy alternative" to the unsuspecting public who truly believe they're getting a bulldog, with a far less chance of having to spend out on a c-section AND no kennel club rules which will limit how often the bitch can be bred from. Two years down the line we're getting the calls from really upset people who own what they thought was a bulldog that is now trying to bite them at every opportunity it gets. The bulldog was a nasty character and I for one don't really want to be on the receiving end of a so called "Olde Tyme" because some money grabbing thug wanted to make a quick buck and has absolutely no intention of standing by his creations. How many times has a new cross breed popped up? None of which have ever, or will ever go the distance and still be around as a breed in 150 years time!

Bringing in the mad ravings of a certain Ms Milne (who I see has gone all double barrelled on us), I will give give Ms Harrison credit for sticking up for the dog show - take away the only thing between indiscriminate breeding and the breed standard and my job will become a living hell, trying to work out what's a bulldog and what's verging on a Pit Bull. It seems to me that when someone's views are so strong and so misguided that they can't see anyone elses opinion as an option they certainly should not be put in charge of a TV show - maybe you'd like to interview me? Or visit the rescue kennel? I'm not ashamed to say that there is probably no other place in the country that sees such a wide variety of this breed, we probably see every single problem that could possibly be thrown at them and yet almost every single dog here enjoys a long daily walk through the woods and the majority of vet treatment is spent putting right the neglect of the human that owned it before we got it. I'm not denying there's problems, but breed anything to anything and there's going to be a risk of problems - that's the law of genetics. Maybe you should also actually speak to someone on the breed council too - there seems to be a lot of speculation being banded about as to what the breed council are actually doing - but as someone that attends almost every breed council meeting and supplies statistics to their health committee it is very frustrating when the good work is being ignored because it makes more sense to pretend that no one cares.

So lets concluded in the same way as Ms Harrison:

Quote "by suggesting that the answer to the KC bulldog was an outcross to a less conformationally-extreme breed. But of course this has already been done by those ahead of the game, eg: the Leavitt Bulldog (above). So how about the KC de-registering the Bulldog and embracing this healthier phenotype instead?
Yeah, I thought not... " Unquote
a) I don't want a Stafford look-a-like, the UK is over-run with unwanted staffords b) Why not acknowledge the good work being done by the Breed Council and stop quoting outdated propaganda that no longer applies to most bulldogs and c) As the wife of someone in a wheelchair, we got a bulldog to suit our life style oh and d) stop encouraging unscrupulous breeding by people with no care or control over their actions - can you do that? Yeah, I thought not ......

Ha Ha - that'll teach me

Start talking about putting the heat lamps on and we have a mini heatwave! It's the end of September and the temperature is rising by the day. No doubt they'll be banging on about global warming before long - but face it what was the disappearance of the ice age if it wasn't Global Warming??? A change in temperature is nothing new is it - never satisfied - that just about sums us British up in a nut shell.
The new web site has been in operation for over a week now, I think the majority of glitches are now ironed out and I can start adding the missing pages, I'd really like to know what you think of the new format so please feel free to leave a comment below. I appreciate that not everyone is happy with each area having their own waiting list, but I would like to hear your thoughts on the overall site.
The Bulldog Breed Council Health Committee are running two polls right now that they'd like your help with, one is for breeders and the occurrence of water pups and the other is for pet owners, if you feel you can help out please click on one (or both) of the links below

• PET OWNERS SURVEY


• WATER PUPPY SURVEY

The spot light is never far from this breed so the more facts we can gather to throw back at the breed bashers the better in my opinion.

That's the Summer Done

The Autumn Equinox has passed and the nights will now start to draw in. Despite the brilliant sunshine that's shining outside today I know it's only a matter of time before Christmas is upon us and the chaos it brings with it, especially here at the kennel. I love Autumn, the colours and the cold wind on your face make it even more snug indoors on the sofa with the bulldogs, soon the heating will be switched on and the sure sign that Winter is here is switched on with it. Here's hoping that not too many bulldogs spend the Winter tied up outside in the snow and that we can find as many of them as possible before the ice sets in again.
This Summer has been quite an enjoyable one, we've had some lovely dogs through the kennel and the rescue service has coped pretty well the demand we find ourselves in when the kids go back to school at the end of the long holiday, although it is sad when suddenly there's an influx of dogs who's only crime is that the kids are not around to walk him any more. The Picnic has been and gone with a record breaking £4,000 raised which taking into account our vet bill appears to have doubled will be very welcome indeed. Thank you to everyone that came along again this year, I know I say it every year but I think this one was the biggest and bestest yet!
You'll notice if you are a regular to our web site that's it's gone "all posh" as one of our face book buddies put it, every area now has it's own waiting list, this is much easier for us and to be honest much fairer on the many many people that are waiting to adopt a bulldog, but it's causing a bit of confusion as it's slightly more difficult to apply for a dog and impossible if the dog isn't in your area. I'm afraid that due to much abuse of the old system we've been left with very little choice but to transfer it to a "sign in" system and if I have to give one simple bit of advice here its "write your password down!!" I don't have access to it so if you forget it you'll have to change it on line, I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is. Apart from a few teething problems trying work out how it all works it's seems to be running quite smoothly, but remember if you applied on our old system we do need to get your contact info into the new one so just drop me an email and I'll let you know how to get transferred, it'll take only a few minutes and once you've done it you'll be able to apply again for any of the dogs in your area that you like the look of.
Regulars to our face book page may have witness the furore that kicked off recently when we were infiltrated by some of the "alternative" bulldog crowd. I think if nothing else they managed to show themselves for what they really are and it was a shame that some of our members felt they had to leave because of the pure vileness that some of them were spouting. All is fixed now, we have increased the number of administrators to 3 as they knew how to block me so I couldn't remove them from the members list. I'm pretty sure they're all gone and a change to the settings means they can't get back on as easily as they did before, which is a shame because I never wanted that group to be tightly policed as it was meant to be a friendly place that anyone could join, but sadly, once again, a few idiots have meant we've had to tighten the security which is a shame for those who genuinely want to join and now have to wait approval from an admin before they can join in the conversation.
So having just seen Geeza off to his new home (yes I know - how did we manage that!? - look out Oxford is all I can add to that) I'm going for a well deserved cuppa and a bit of a sit down.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I was just looking at the last blog entry - yes I know it was way back in July - and it's sad but we lost Gretal (the white chicken in the video) to one of the local Buzzards, in the early hours of a Thursday morning, poor Gretal was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and although I suppose I don't really blame the buzzard, I am trying to understand that it's nature and her babies have to eat, I'm not ashamed to say there's a small part of me that wishes it was someone else's chicken. Needless to say poor Hansel was beside herself but doesn't seem to agree that Gretal 2 looks exactly the same, there's also a third bird who Katie has called Cruella

So much has happened, Annie and her boyfriend Matt (or should I say fiance, bearing in mind he proposed to her on day 4) did her 4 day walk across the Downs for Bulldog Rescue and raised over £700!!! And of course the annual Bulldog Picnic which took place on Saturday, raising a staggering (and record breaking) £4,000

Edward made a guest appearance and boy what a difference a few months make, we are now on the road to a new home and we are all hoping (except Annie) that he will be leaving the kennel very soon as he was an absolute super star and surprisingly increadibly famous!

What a manic few weeks the picnic is though, the week before I can't do any of the routine rescue work, so all the rehoming, new listings, applications and banking goes by the wayside whilst I spend the week making sure everything is where it should be and all the lose ends are tied up. Then of course the week after is all the catching up and tail chasing that's inevitable when the day to day stuff is a week behind. The hardest part of the day itself is all the lugging about, but once it's all set up it's pretty much handed over to everyone else to run and enjoy and at this point I really do just sit back and enjoy the show, it is such an amazing event that just gets bigger and bigger every year, and it astounds me the number of really healthy pet bulldogs that cope brilliantly with the crowds, the weather and the shear number of other bulldogs. Ever year we have a local vet on call and qualified canine first aiders on site - we have never needed the vet, I can only recall three dogs in 14 picnics that needs cooling or treating for stress, such a shame the likes of Jemima Puddleduck couldn't be there to give her something positive to write about the breed for a change. In fact the unhealthy one is me! As a CFS sufferer it really knocks me for six and today (Wednesday) the entire picnic has really hit me like a brick! CFS is one of those things that is still debated amongst the medical profession as to if it's real, for those that suffer this, ME or PVFS as it is sometimes called, will tell you it is very real and there are many out there that suffer much worse that I do. I'm not convinced that Rescue isn't the reason I've got it in the first place, as although I do recall suffering bouts of extreme exhaustion from as far back as my college days, the relentless effort required to run the charity as well as the business, home and family caused what I guess was "burn out", but I won't give in to it and have learnt the art of "pacing" over the years and the art of ignoring telephones or having a laydown and refusing to talk to anyone if I reach the point where it's necessary. It doesn't always go down very well, especially with the person who really needs to talk to me to see if her on line application she did this morning has come through OK, but hey ho!

So as we begin to get life back on track in the week the kids starts to go back to school, we begin preparations for the deluge of Bulldogs that will soon be requiring their new homes .... so keep an eye on the web site, if you have been unlucky so far with your applications then keep trying - sooner or later the right dog will be there and it will become apparent why you weren't successful on the ones you applied for so far when that perfect little squishy face lands on your doorstep.

DRUM ROLL REQUIRED?

I really don't know where the time goes and all my good intentions regarding keeping the blog up to date seem to last a while and then fizzles out. The complaints still make me smile:

"look love, I appreciate that you are very busy but PLEASE sort your blog out, I am getting withdrawl symptoms and i'm sure i'm not the only one lol! xx "

Is quite typical of the messages I get when I let things falls so far behind. And so much has happened since the last update too, I had a birthday (not telling you my age but it's alot more than you probably think) and Dizzy got me some wonderful Bantams which I've called Hansel and Gretal - well I say Bantams, Hansel looks like she might actually be a chicken but they are both so tame and sing such a lovely song all the time. They have free roam of the garden - Stan thinks they are fantastic, Hilda however is work in progress shall we say

Of course the high light of the past few months was the visit to Buckingham Palace. We were nominated by the delightful Brian Cobbold in recognition of our 10 years running Bulldog Rescue. Diz behaved like we were being sent to the tower, but did admit afterwards that he enjoyed his trip

I can't say too much about the day as beleive it or not the story has been sold to the London Bulldog Society for a donation to Bulldog Rescue so you'll have to wait and see the next edition of the "Broadsheet", but a day in a dress complete with hat and heels certainly made a change to my normal life. We met some very interesting people and I can certainly say that the Palace and it's grounds are just fabulous.

Here in rescue we are starting to gear up for the Annual Picnic, so keep an eye on the web site for further details. The date is 3rd September and we'll soon publish all the info you'll need in order to attend.

If you can't make it, then please feel free to send us a donation here

OMG .... !!!! That's more neighbours with us on their hit list

Yep, yesterday was the second annual Bulldog Scooter Ride out - and if my neighbours didn't already loathe us - we gave them another 184 reason to see us as the "neighbours from hell" when the scooters decended on our little lane. We really were not expecting quite so many and the "parking" situation just decended into chaos. I am so sorry to all the residents, there had to be double the number of scooters than we had last year but we raised just under £475 in cash and two kennel loads of dog food, washing powder and nappy sacks. This year I got to lead the parade from Bognor to Midhurst in the van - oh boy that was stressful!!! Trying to keep at the right speed, waiting for stragglers to catch up, wondering where on earth the lead scooter that was meant to stop the traffice at the junctions had got to, but it was worth it in the end. I just want to give a huge massive thank you to Tina Hall who organises this and to every single scooterist that came to meet the bulldogs currently in Bulldog Rescue, they were all so tired afterwards, which was just perfect because so were we. Also a big thank you to the Royal Oak pub for allowing us all to decend on them afterwards and to Russell Hastings from the Jam who did a fantastic accoustic set. Despite the two downpours, everyone seemed to have a really great time.

POLL

BULLDOG RESCUE ON LINE POLL - CLICK HERE
Is compulsory microchipping a good idea?

Ten years ago today ....

... I rehomed my very first bulldog. Her name was Bella and we drove all the way to Great Yarmouth to pick her up from a lovely old lady who was moving into an old peoples home and needed to rehome her beautiful bulldog. No one had prepared me for the heart break that was taking someones well loved pet away from them, and I remember putting her in the back of our car and telling Dizzy to just drive. We had a tiny waiting list of no more that a handful of people and in our attempts to be organised we had set the journey up so we called in on her new home on the way back. Bella lived to a grand old age and eventually retired with the family we had placed her with to the Isle of Wight where she saw out her days.

Early April 2001, Olive Hunt rang to ask of we wanted to take over the running of Bulldog Rescue as they were moving to Tenerife. My initial answer was no and I joke that all I was meant to do was look after the phones for a fortnight whilst Fred and Olive went out to sort things out with their villa. During that two weeks I lost my Nancy (Shaloney English Rose) to a heart attack in a hydrotherapy pool, I remember sitting on the pool side talking to the lady about how I'd been asked to take on the rescue, she was heavily involved in a working dog rescue and warned me of the emotional stress it causes - nothing prepared me for what happened next though as I realised that Nancy was lower in her sling than normal, the rest is a blur of people rushing around trying to revive her and the bottom fell out of my world at that point. All our show dreams were in that dog, she was the sister of Shaloney Boy About Town who did well in the ring and a 22 month old bitch from our first litter having hydrotherapy for a shoulder injury after a stair gate fell on her when she was playing with the infamous Reggie Dawg.

In amongst all the grief and the realisation that my second litter wasn't going to happen quite as soon as I thought it would somehow I agreed to run Bulldog Rescue and life would never be the same again.

Looking back over the past 10 years there's been lots of highs and many lows. My children were young (only 11 and 12), we had three kennels which were my own, no paperwork, no waiting list and no access to the bank account, for those first few months we ran bulldog rescue out of our own pockets. I remember sat on the door step with my 11 year old son explaining what "quality of life" was after we'd had to put a dog to sleep. Nelly was found in a box in a garden in Liverpool by the new tenants of the house. No one knows how long she'd been there but her joints were seized, she was severely starved and was suffering internal bleeding - I'll never forget that moment for as long as I live.

Our first ever foster came in with dog number 6 - a beautiful brindle girl call Chips, she was Tom Sainsbury's first ever bulldog. The first heartbreak came with dog number 17 - Abbey who had moved on a home to home rehoming earlier in the day. Inexperience placed her with the wrong family who decided within only one hour they didn't want her after all. The trouble was she was in Bradford and I was in Sussex. The original owner wouldn't take her back so I managed to convince the new owner to meet me at Watford Gap services on the M1. At 9pm that night a car pulled into the car park and I knew something was wrong. I had my daughter with me who was only 12 at the time and in the back of the guys car was a dead dog, he claimed she simply stopped breathing. I cried all the way home with her on the back seat. She is the reason for the pebble memorial in the garden because it was my vet who gave me the proverbial slap around the face when I said I wanted to bury her in my garden - "she may be the first but she most definitely won't be the last" he said to me and so I reluctantly handed her body over for cremation and put the first pebble out along with her collar in her memory as I kissed her goodbye the tradition of the lipstick kiss began, the thought of her having no one that cared about her at the end was almost impossible to cope with.

My first ever Put to Sleep was a dog called Alfie in the August of 2001 (number 36) By now we had a handful of volunteers and a chap in Portsmouth was fostering him. Terry did a lot of car booting for us and had taken Alfie to a car boot where he proceeded to cause chaos which eventually ended with Alfie biting Terry quite badly on the arm. Thankfully I was only half an hour away and was able to get to the site quite quickly and get Alfie - that was an experience I hoped wouldn't be repeated too often - sadly I repeat that ending at least 5 times a year.

My first starvation case Emma (63) who belonged to a neighbour of an elderly couple of ladies in Kent, thanks to them we got her out just in time after several RSPCA visits had failed to help her. She went on to lead a very healthy and happy life in Seaford

Just looking down the list of dogs as I'm writing this is bringing back so many wonderful memories - Sherman (87) - the old chap who retired to live by the sea and who's children sent me a lovely picture they'd drawn of him on the sand with them. Ketchup (101) who was picked up by Vicky's partner at the time from a local boarding kennel where she'd been abandoned and saw a now familiar rendezvous at Watford Gap services. Pooch (122) who's owner thought it would be a good idea to withhold heart medication and not tell us she had a heart condition - 4 days later she collapsed - just as her new mummy was coming through the gate to see her. That all worked out fine though and the lady still adopted her.

By the following April I had overseen 114 rehomes. Little did I realise that there was at least another 9 years to go including Treacle (143) picked up by Jeanette and Trevor as a neglect case and who spent the rest of her life in a fantastic home - even playing the part of "Bullseye" in the school play. And Martha (161) who we bought from a junky in Birmingham for fifty quid. To feed a habit he took all the male "free to good homes" from the paper, mated them to Martha, forced her to free whelp (pulling the pups out with his hand if necessary) on the kitchen floor, selling on the male and the pups as quickly as possible. Her last litter had thankfully all died and I forget now how we got to hear about her but we did and she arrived here with mastitis and internal infections that should have killed her. She went on to live in a lovely village near Heathrow airport and every year at Christmas we'd get a fantastic card from her showing us just how well she was living now.

Cassie (169) who only had one eye who was here the same time as Butch (187) who had the oppose eye missing - shame we couldn't have taped their heads together and made a two headed dog LOL (joking obviously). Hatty and Dolly (214 and 215) or Hinge and Bracket as they became, the old ladies who's owners emigrated to Spain and who's memory will stay with us for a very long time.

Then there was Tessa, the first bulldog who I've ever heard scream in pain. Number 232 rehomed in May 2003 on a home to home and a prime example of how people lie about their dogs. Her ear infection was so severe she couldn't move without screaming and that night we went to see her and brought her back here in the middle of the night with a promise to her new mummy that I would make her better and bring her back. Thanks to my fantastic vet that's exactly what we did and the moment I walked back up that path with her was one of the most wonderful days of my life as their autistic son was so happy to see Tessa back from her "holiday". I can't think of many people that would have seen that rehome through to the end.

Max (291) put to sleep during surgery after a tumour was found in his bladder and here's a name you might recognised from April 2004 - number 332 was a dog called Molly and adopted by a certain Sue and Gav Phillips (the first of many)! Spud (382) who's serious bowel problem costs us a fortune in operations but who's new family loved so much they never once even though about giving up on him. In January 2005 was when we first met Peter and Beverly after they adopted Robbie (405) and Adrienne Llewellyn who adopted Phoebe (449). Helen Etherington with Bart (546) Glen and Amanda who came to adopt Dolly and took Colonel home with them at the same time (575 and 575) Adrian Ridley with Jade (643). The list is endless

But there's many dogs that have stayed with me, Douglas who died in his kennel following an epileptic seizure has been seen wandering the yard of a morning, and the many many bulldogs that have become personal pets including the infamous Winnie Pooh who's severe spinal issues led the vets to believe he wouldn't live any more than 6 months and who lived with us for 7 years. Buddy - the hydrocephalus pup who stayed with us for 3 months until he died, Billy and Bertie - the wonderful pups that arrived with severe demodex and who both sadly lost their battle, Maggie who after appearing on the Paul O'grady show in the Homeless dogs section ended up staying with me following a 6 hour operation that nearly took her. She died very peacefully in her sleep one Summer morning four years later in her favourite spot on the end of the sofa and of course now we have Reggie mark II, the pneumonia case who every time we discuss his rehoming decides to be really sick again.

So as we celebrate 10 years since that very first job, I'm filling out paperwork for adoption number 1200 - Cooper, the wee pup who arrived here with giardia and who's owner no longer wanted because the kids were scared of him. He was 11 weeks old!!! and following five days isolation went to be fostered by Dawn - who yesterday asked if she could keep him.

Here right now we've got Eddy, our £600 bargain currently being treated for demodex and starvation and Winnie Pooh's double - Spike with hemi vertebrae that no one has told him about, like Winnie he's convinced he's normal and the rest of the world are disabled.

So there we go, full circle and I'm sure I've missed loads of dogs out but I'd love to hear your stories on the dogs you have adopted from Bulldog Rescue - come on guys - fill in the gaps and give your bulldog a great big hug because they're not all so lucky.

Time ticks by

I can't beleive that Edward has been here two weeks already, but the improvement in him is amazing. He's still very thin but no where near as pink and after his second dip yesterday it looks like we are winning with the demodex quicker than I hoped. Another skin scrape later this week will see how many more he has to go, but this dog has the most amazing personality and it brings a lump to my throat when I watch him running round the garden because he thinks THIS is great, he has no idea that things are going to get so much better for him. As we begin April, I celebrate my 10th anniversary with Bulldog Rescue. Things have changed so much since I first started back in 2001. Back then I had 3 kennel pens which could be empty for weeks at a time, now we've got 8 kennels, a kennel maid who comes in every day (love you Annie) and dogs waiting to come in, I've seen alot of changes over the years, breathing has certainly improved but eyes continue to be a problem. Skin problems pop up from time to time but as people learn the benefits of a good diet these too seem to be getting better. The bad press the Bulldog gets though continues to worsen and as we saw the number of bulldogs bred peak a couple of years back, the overflow of those breedings is why we are seeing such an increase. As I year end the accounts I'll soon be able to see just how many more bulldogs are coming through the system but as other rescue centers, that only a few years ago had never seen a bulldog, suddendly find themselves with them on a more regular basis I fear our figures are only the tip of the ice berg.

What I did at the Weekend, by Edward aged 2 and three quarters

One minute I'm sat in a garden wondering what on earth I did to end up there and the next I'm in a car - and then another car - then a van picks me up and the next thing I know, I'm fast asleep under a nice warm red glow. My skin feels itchy but this cushion is so soft I can't help but have a lay in the next morning when all of a sudden I realise there's lots of other dogs around me and they are all barking furiously, I sense a door open and all the dogs become really excited but for some reason I'm not let out. I hear a voice say "don't pick that pooh up, I need to test it" - UH? Where the bloody hell have I landed. THEN this woman comes in to my room and starts scratching my arm with a sharp thingy - then she leaves? Next thing I know I'm back in that van, I don't mind telling you I was scared - surely I was going to get at least one more sleep under that nice sunshine thing that hangs from the ceiling? Another lady starts prodding my belly, looking in my ears and THEN she sticks a needle in my neck. Apparently it's an anti be-or-atic or some such thing but the other lady with the plats whispers in my ear that it's to make my skin better. So if I've had an anti be-or-atic to make my skin better why on earth am I stood here now having all my fur shaved off, can they not see that if I have to go back to that garden I need my fur to stay warm??

So after all that excitement what on earth else can happen? Visitors - that's what. Oh I have had so many lovely visitors including the very nice lady that first saw my advert on the interwebby thing AND she brought me presents!!!!

Today I had a bath, well I think it was a bath - it smelled blooming horrible and then I went for a nice walk through the woods - I did get some funny looks though - I don't think dogs are meant to be bald. I'm having such a lovely time, I hope I can stay here a bit longer, but I really really hope my fur grows back, I feel so naked!!!!

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?

THURSDAY 24th MARCH

Today is the first day of the rest of Edward's life. And boy what a sweetheart he is. Thankfully he's tested negative for both parvo and giardia but sadly positive for demodex which to be honest didn't come as a suprise. He sat in his bed this morning whilst I scraped skin from his leg and licked my face the entire time. He's weighed in at just over 19kg and has the stinkiest, stickiest nose wrinkle I've seen in a long long time.
So, once armed with the test results it was off to the vet to get some anti biotics and some Aludex for the demodex
He thought the trip was far too tiring (despite the fact that he'd slept through the night without a peep) and decided to have a little rest

But once back home he was able to finally mix with the other residents which he enjoyed very much indeed.

We now need to start his treatment which will involve shaving his fur off so check back soon for some funny pics of a bald bulldog

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ORIGINAL POST
Then we'll begin.......

This is a blog you'll need to check back to often as it's the story of "The Stunning Buster". Maybe he was stunning once, but sadly not any more. The worst part is, he's for sale on the internet for a staggering £750.00
Yesterday the campaign began to get him out, one of the bulldog forums contacted me and asked if they could get him, could we take him. Within only 2 hours enough money had been raised to purchase him, by this morning we had almost £1000 in the kitty to cover his purchase (which was £600 in the end) and hopefully much of his treatment. Forgive me if I'm being cagy and if the owner read this - yes we gave you money because we didn't trust what you were going to do with him.


On collection the poor wee mite looked even worse and I'm currently waiting with baited breath to meet him and see if we can work out exactly what's going on with that skin, apparently he smells like a cheesy wotsit, bless him.

His long journey down from Bradford comes to an end in just a few hours so check back here tomorrow for an update.


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It's now just gone 8.30pm and Buster has finally arrived at the kennel, and what a mess he is. His name has now been changed to Edward - new start, new life, new name and he is completely unaware as to what a mess he is in.
A massive thank you goes to all the people that helped get him and transport him today, it's certainly been a very long day for him and he's now fast asleep under his heat lamp recovering from all the excitment. I'll examine him properly tomorrow and report back.

The good the bad and the ugly

How many people, when purchasing a dog they've found on line, would even check the missing page - let alone compare every single inch of it's markings? Well Daniel and Lauren are the "good" to this tale because that's exactly what they did when they found Winston on Pets4Homes yesterday. They recognised him as a dog that had been stolen from Derbyshire back in September 2009. They agreed to go through with the purchase and along I went with £700 of my own money acting as Lauren's mother. Obviously the "bad" are those that had him, making out they'd bought him from someone who'd had him from a puppy they even said they could get us his "papers" if we wanted them. We've said yes but I doubt they will ever materialise. Oh and we were offered the chance to stud him to their pitbull if we wanted too and go halves on the pups!!! Today his nanny and aunt came to collect him as his Daddy is in the army and currently posted in Wales (does compassionate leave reach as far as getting your stolen dog back?) and despite my fear that he wouldn't recognised them he knew exactly who they were and jumped in the car as if to say come on lets go home. Winston is now on his way back to Derbyshire and a very happy little dog he is too. Oh and the "ugly" - that'll be me undercover with no make up on LOL

All the information has been passed on so it can be given to the Police and this nice happy ending is a very nice way to celebrate 10 years in rescue.

The Freak Show starts again

Crufts starts today, sadly it's looking highly unlikely that I'm going to make it but if you are reading this before 4pm on Thursday 10th March I've decided to give my 2 complimentary tickets to whoever bids the highest donation to Bulldog Rescue - so if you want them, tell me how much you are prepared to donate via bulldogrescue@btinternet.com

With Crufts comes the usual rounds of Pedigree dog bashing, something that has really riled me is an email I received from the RSPCA this morning - please correct me if I'm wrong, but surely the job of the RSPCA is to help animals that are mistreated or need rehoming? Here's an extract from the email:

Dog shows like Crufts, which starts today, use breed standards to describe how a ‘perfect’ example of each breed of dog should look as the main judging criteria.

We believe these standards encourage the breeding of disabled dogs with exaggerated features. They also encourage breeding from closely related animals, which can result in puppies that have a higher chance of suffering from inherited diseases.

Is this really what they are on this planet for? Bearing in mind that this could open the flood gates for many more pedigree dogs to suddendly find themselves homeless, I bet they are still more than happy to keep any pedigree that makes its way into one of their shelters and sell it for several hundred quid rather than ask the breed rescue to help.

I'm sorry but I really don't think this is within the RSPCA's remit, there's several journalists out there that I'd expect nothing less from but the RSPCA? Surely their job is to rescue and rehome abused and abandoned dogs? Not to put themselves on a pedistall and start creating panic amongst pedigree dog owners.

What do you think?

On a lighter note, our Mabel is 10 years old today, it's a bitter sweet birthday for us as we tend to lose our bulldogs at 10, but fingers crossed the madam and her nappy continue for many more years to come.