•  Always ensure there is fresh water available to your Bulldog.

• Check with your breeder what your puppy is being fed and I  recommend that you do not change his/her diet until at least one year of age when all the skeletal growth is nearly complete!!

• If/when you change his/her diet, please introduce the changes slowly to avoid diarrhoea and/or vomiting. If at any point puppy does get a bit diarrhoea, just because pups chew all sorts, stress a little, withhold a meal then give them the next one with a good teaspoon of Natural Acidophilus Yoghurt added.

• Usually I say there are no hard and fast rules to feeding your puppy but I recommend using Pro Plan, Royal Canin or Nutrience (Puppy Large Breed) to ensure your puppy gets the crucial amounts of calcium, vitamins and minerals required in the very important first year. I strongly recommend you stay on a good quality large breed puppy formula, do not change to the medium breed it does not complement a bulldogs growth. There is no need for a calcium supplement, nor any other supplements.

• After age one, all my dogs are fed a ‘variety' diet Mighty Mix, with a little dry ‘commercial’ pet food, just be careful in regard to food colouring additives, too much red can encourage tear staining, and even staining round the feet. A good quality dog roll, I use Butch, please make sure you cut this down into very small pieces, bulldogs DO choke and too many have died choking on dog roll. Chicken mince, chicken necks chopped up are a welcome treat. I stand and supervise every single meal from puppy to geriatric, accidents can happen and they do happen but if you are there on the spot you can help!! I use tux dog biscuits and also give them a large UNCOOKED beef leg bone every couple of weeks. NEVER feed ANY cooked bones as they can splinter!!!

VACCINATIONS

• Your puppy should have had his/her first vaccination, weigh in and basic health check at 6 weeks. When you pick puppy up round 8 wks old you should also receive his/her Pet Passport with their record of vaccinations and worming. This will tell you when they are due to visit the vet again.

WORMING

• Your puppy will probably have been wormed and will require worming again every two weeks until 3 months old. Thereafter, worming should be done every 3 months.

MICROCHIPPING

• Your puppy will need to be microchipped by law. This is normally done at the last vaccination. When you register your puppy with your local council, you will be asked your microchip number which your veterinarian will supply you with at the appointment.

NZKC

• If you have purchased from an NZKC registered breeder then your puppy should be a New Zealand Kennel Club registered pedigree Bulldog. It may take two or three weeks after you get your pup for the paper work to be processed, but you will receive in the post your Bulldog puppys NZKC pedigree which is often referred to as his/her papers, these will have your puppys full pedigree name and family history on them.

• A breeder may decide to endorse the paperwork in regards to future breeding or exhibiting, this will be discussed with you in full.

EXERCISE

• At the moment the only exercise your puppy needs is what it gets from play. Lead walking is not necessary until the puppy is around 6 months. Lead training is a good idea long before then though.

• Exercise should not be excessive to the point that the puppy is exhausted. Short times of free running and short fun walks are fine until then. Your main concern at this age is feeding and sleeping, don't let puppy play after a meal. Jumping from high surfaces such as the couch or bed should be avoided as bulldog puppies are quite heavy and repetitive jarring can create stress fractures that can lead to full fractures or bone deformity. It can be worthwhile to place a rubber mat in places such as the back doorstep as this can be quite a distance for a puppy to jump down and if the puppy is in and out of the house several times a day it can create problems.

• Contrary to popular belief, bulldogs DO enjoy exercise and it is good for them. Of course, this is very restricted in that first year of growth, pounding the pavements for half an hour is going to do some serious damage to their soft joints, introduce it slowly and build it up quietly as they get older. Another factor to consider is the weather, do not consider exercising your bulldog in the heat!

• Many do not need a great deal and certainly over exertion can be harmful but once they are a little older a walk every day or so will be appreciated by most bulldogs, some require less and some require more. He/she will let you know when he/she has had enough and needs a rest – his/her breathing will become loud and heavy. Let him/her rest until he/she is ready to resume and offer a drink. Bulldogs are in fact an active, playful breed when allowed to be and have far more energy than is commonly believed. Get to know him/her and set limits accordingly.

• A good tip is to take a drink along on walks – a small spray bottle can be used for when your bulldog becomes hot or needs a drink.

• Swimming is another good exercise, again introduce it slowly and build it up, always with a lead on them so you have control. Bulldogs do not take naturally to swimming, you have to teach them as they are so top heavy often they just tire and sink! NEVER leave your bulldog in or near water unattended, they tire very fast and just like children they can get into trouble pretty quickly, if you have a harness and rope put it on them and then you can pull them in.

GROOMING

• Bulldogs are a clean breed and do not need to be bathed often, in fact if you can get away with it - don't! Too much bathing can strip all the natural oils out of their coats. When washing the bulldog, the most important area to wash thoroughly is their face because of the abundance of wrinkles. I use a normal dog shampoo on the body but only use a soap free baby wash on the face as a normal dog shampoo can irritate their eyes. The face, wrinkles and feet should be thoroughly dried after the bath.

• As the pups mature and the wrinkles deepen, some of them will need their faces done on a daily basis. During the summer you may have to clean the wrinkles daily, but in winter you should just check they are clean and dry.

• Keep a watch on eyes, any green or yellow coloured discharge should be investigated further it could be a sign of infection or more serious.

• Cherry eye is a condition in the bulldog that we do have to be aware of, it is the tear gland popping up from under the third eyelid and sits in the corner of the eye beside the nose like a red cherry. This will need veterinary advice, sooner rather than later. They can be rolled back in to place, but more often than not keep reappearing, in which case veterinary actions will be required in the form of either stitching it down or removing it.

• Ears should be checked regularly and if dirty, cleaned with an appropriate ear cleaner.

• Keep toenails trim, especially the dew claw, if this gets too long they can catch and tear, very painful.

• A good firm brush every few days tends to keep the coat in order, a softer bristle brushed or a rubber hound glove is enough for a baby, round about 7 - 9 months you may notice a coat change from the puppy 'fluff' to a coarser adult coat. The things I use on an adults coat are all purchased from an Equine Supply Shop, "Saddlery Warehouse" being the best priced supplier, a Zoom Groom rubber bristled brush, a charcoal block and a circular Curry Comb, looks like a hacksaw blade curled in a circle with a handle.

• At grooming time I stand all my dogs on a table at my height, I have a hook to tie their leads on and then I can give them all a good going over without hurting my back! Start early and encourage your pup to stand still and let you handle its ears, look in its mouth, lift each foot, talking quietly and telling it how good it is being. Learning all this also makes for a much more pleasant veterinary experience when it has to go for check ups.

• This is a good chance for you to go over your bulldog and just make sure everything is okay.

• Bulldogs can be very prone to flea bite allergies and I recommend using Frontline or Advantage for flea treatment.

• Hotspots are a weepy raw sore that can come up anywhere on your bulldogs body, if you notice one get to the vet and they will give you some cream and cleanser to dry it out and heal it up.