I love my hubby

[mamahen]

A few weeks ago my sis in law texted a pic of a puppy they found. They went about finding the owner (hoping there was none) and waited. The owner was found, and decided that sis could keep said puppy. That's the easy part! She says pup is a bull terrier. Then says pit bull, then says bulldog. He looks exactly like an American Bulldog!

They bring the puppy to a family reunion. We had already told her the breed from the photo she sent. She argued a bit. Her hubby argued a bit. (This is the first dog they've ever owned, she is NOT a animal person). I then showed her pics of the same breed, that my nephew also has. She agreed it looked the same, but argued that's not what hers was.

The pup is approx. 5-7 months, as sweet and calm as a pup can be! This pup got along with everyone, but would lay on verbal command and calm himself within sec. He got along with a jack russell (that kept getting in his face), was interested in the chickens (but EASILY redirected), running children meant nothing to him, cats were not a distraction either. He never barked or growled and anyone or anything.

Hubby wishes we could have found him - he has decided that he really would like this breed to be our next family member. He loves our nephews dog, who is an excellent breed representative. We've puppy sat him repeatedly and didn't want to send him home. And this pup just sent him over the edge.

Soooo, now after rambling - I know there are American Bulldog owners on the board, come forward and tell me all of the wonderful, and not so wonderful things about this breed! I know they are a bully breed (that's ok!) and therefore misaligned most of the time!

[Katskitten]

My hubby says steal sis's dog.

[BoldViolet]

I've adored the American bulldogs I've ever met.

[gone-a-milkin]

The biggest issue I have seen with them: they do not do well in the heat, at all.
They require air conditioned spaces during high temps.
No leaving them in the car while you shop because they just swelter.

Temperment-wise: I have always found them charming, if a bit lazy.
That is not such a bad thing.

They certainly do garner attention.

Oh, and they do snore.

[TxHorseMom]

We had an American Bulldog for about a year. She was the best dog ever! With the exception of 2 things. One, she got out and attacked our goat. Goat was a pet and had to be put down. (She literally ripped off the lower jaw of the goat. He couldn't be saved.) Also, as said before they MUST be in air conditioned house/garage/whatever in the summer. Our daughter was watching her while hubby and I were out of the country last summer. Lily started having diarrhea so she put her outside (with food and water) and went to work. When she came home, Lily was dead. I am pretty sure the heat killed her.

She was great with children, our other dogs, and was very protective of the house and property. I miss her still.

[Maura]

On the minus side, they are remarkably strong for their size. This translates nicely into a draft animal, not so good on a leash. Use a long line and work the puppy on respecting the end of the line (he hits the end, you go in the other directions so he has to change course and follow you). It's really easy, but easier if you teach him as a puppy rather than waiting until your arms are out of their sockets.

Also, no, they aren't starving and do not need all those treats.

[JasoninMN]

American bulldogs are my favorite breed of dog. I will tell you there is tremendous variation in the breed in size and temperament. There are Johnson bulldogs which are generally large and bully and their are performance bred bulldogs that are generally smaller, more athletic and not very bully. I prefer the performance bred AB's myself. My best advise would be to really research what type you would like to have and be careful of where you get it.

[mamahen]

Here are a few pics of of doggy nephew, Tank. He's more performance bred. Doesn't have those huge Johnson-bred muscles, but still a solid fella (80lb):

[JasoninMN]

He is a handsome fellow. I would have took him in a heart beat.

[Haven]

Adorable.

I get to work with one on occasion and he is so handsome; this boy has the largest, roundest head I've ever seen - like a basketball.

[Kwings]

I love American Bull Dogs! A girl I work with has 3 with her 2 kids and they are wonderful family dogs. These are the only American bulldogs I've met personally but hers are not very socialized so they aren't OK with other dogs (tried to eat angel when we ran into them in the park) But that's normal with ANY breed if you don't put effort into socializing them first!

They sure are some Big dogs! Her boy is giant! When there aren't strange dogs around hers are big marshmallows and give lots of kisses and let the kids wallow all over them.

That's about all i know about the breed.

[TedH71]

I had to go through a lot of ABs to get the ones that could and would catch. There are a lot of them that can do weight pulling and property guarding but can't catch hogs...either their jaws are too undershot or they're so big they're slow. Right now, I don't have one but will in the future. Argentine Dogos are your best bet for a catch dog because they were bred to be in shape and capable of running all day without collapsing. Lots of ABs do have temperament problems..be aware of that plus bad hips. They're cash cows now. Prices have sort of started dropping. Used to be they were $1,500-2k per pup. Now you can get a half way decent one for $500. Lots of ABs ARE dog aggressive...esp males. It's said they may have some pit bull somewhere in the background.

[oregon woodsmok]

Be careful what you buy. A "really sweet" American Bulldog made a pretty good attempt to try to kill me. Fortunately the owner had it on a leash and managed to get it stopped (just barely).

She'd taken it out of her car to show me how nice natured it was because she was trying to talk me into renting her a house and letting her have the dog and it went for me.

I consider them to be very equivalent to Pit-bulls. Some are great dogs and some are seriously dangerous.

[KrisD]

I personally have Altmans Bulldogs it is a cross between and English bulldog and an American Bulldog. I have had straight English as well as straight American and I prefer the Altmans. They are super sweet and loyal. They love people and they have alwasy been great around our animals and our son. Ours do fine in the heat as long as it is not direct sun and they have water. Ours love to swim. Altmans tend to have less hip displasia and stronger hearts due to wider gene pools.

ours Moses [IMG][/IMG]

Moses on top Sister Catalina on bottom right
[IMG][/IMG]

they LOVE cuddling together!

[mamahen]

Every breed of dog has good representatives and not so good ones. I had a cocker spaniel that was soo good with people, animals, babies - she was how cockers were supposed to be years ago!

A good friend has one she bought 3 years ago. She is nervous, a yipper, snapper, hider.

[mesa123]

Sent you a pm.

[eggzackly]

Originally Posted by mamahen

I know they are a bully breed (that's ok!) and therefore misaligned most of the time!