If you have a female British Bulldog and you are planning to use her for breeding, there are some important details that you need to be aware of. As it is, breeding is a very large step for the dog and the dog owner and requires a lot of care and knowledge. Although giving birth is considered part of nature, there are always circumstances where the natural process may go wrong. This is especially true with the bulldogs, which often have to give birth by caesarian sections. In fact, 90% of pregnancies in bulldogs results in caesarian births.
Many British Bulldog owners decide not to have their dog bred for this very reason. Another reason is that many bulldogs have a difficult time becoming pregnant and repeated attempts can result in them developing a disease known as pyometra. Yet another problem that happens occasionally with the bulldog is "water puppies", which is where the puppies are filled with fluid. In addition to water puppies, you are also risking the chance of dead puppies or sideways puppies. This type of delivery requires even more care from the veterinarian to try to keep the puppies alive. It is important that you set up a C-section date with your vet ahead of time. If your bulldog goes into labor on her own, get her to the vet immediately as problems may arise such as failure to dilate or possible torsion of the uterus. Many breeders have tried keeping the mother on a salt free diet to prevent water puppies.
The British Bulldog may be a somewhat small dog, but are very wide and compact with a large and massive head. For show purposes, the broader the head, the better. It is these characteristics of size in the British Bulldog that make normal delivery of puppies almost impossible. Other conditions of the bulldog that makes caesarian section delivery a near necessity are the narrow pelvic area the female possesses, overheating, or just plain failure of the labor to progress on its own. Even when they go through caesarian delivery, many have difficulty with the anesthesia required for the surgery. These are reasons why only experienced breeders should even consider breeding their dog.
Many British Bulldog owners are choosing to have their pet spayed or neutered to avoid an unwanted pregnancy and to help to add to their lives. The average lifespan of this dog is only 8 to 10 years in any case. Some may live longer, but others don't even live this long. A difficult pregnancy can lessen their lifespan even more. Often a female can seem to be going through a pregnancy quite normally and then at the very end, suffer a major setback or complication. If they don't receive veterinary assistance immediately, the puppies as well as the mother could die. There are, of course, many caesarian sections that result in healthy live births, but these are handled by professionals from the beginning of the pregnancy right up until the delivery and further.
It is unfortunate that the very thing about the British Bulldog that gives them their instantly recognizable appearance - their large head - is the thing that makes giving birth so difficult. In fact, they have been bred to have large heads and shoulders to maintain the appearance that has made them so popular.
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