Your free checklist
The Bulldog Buyer's Checklist
What to check before you pay anyone for a bulldog, me included. Print it, or keep it open on your phone when you talk to a breeder.
Step 1
Is a bulldog right for you?
Be honest about this first. A great puppy in the wrong home is still a bad outcome.
- Someone is home most of the day, at least for the first twelve weeks.
- You have five minutes a day for wrinkles, the tail pocket and the ears.
- Everyone in the house wants this dog.
- You'll use common sense on the hottest days: shade, water and air conditioning.
- You want a loving house dog, not a guard dog or a running partner.
- Not sure? Read Is a bulldog right for you?
Step 2
Check the breeder first
The program carries the most weight, and almost nobody looks at it first. Think of a restaurant: if the dining room is spotless, the kitchen probably is too.
- How long have they been breeding, and what have their past litters grown into?
- Can you visit, or at least see the dogs on a live video call?
- Do they show real days on video, or only posed photos?
- Will they talk openly about their dogs' weak points?
- Did they breed the parents themselves, or buy them in from other programs?
- Will you still have their number when the dog is two years old?
Step 3
Then the parents
Your puppy is a blend of its mother and father. They are the closest preview you will ever get of the dog you're taking home.
- Meet both parents, or see them on video. Not a photo of the parents. The parents.
- Watch them move and breathe. Papers aren't proof. A dog moving on camera is much harder to fake.
- Ask how tall both parents are at the shoulder.
- Ask how they are with kids and with other dogs.
- Ask about the grandparents, and what the last litter from this pairing turned into.
- Ask about tail pockets and cherry eye in the line. Both run in families.
Step 4
The puppy comes last
Every eight-week-old puppy is cute. That's exactly why you decide on the program and the parents first, and pick the puppy last.
- Pick for health, structure and temperament. Color comes last.
- Choose the personality that fits your home: calm or playful, male or female.
- Ask what health testing this particular dog has, not what the program does in general.
- Ask how the puppies are raised: handled every day, around people and kids, kept clean.
Step 5
Size: height, not weight
Weight moves around with food, muscle and age. Height doesn't. As I grade it, a micro is 11 inches and under at the shoulder and a mini is 11 to 13 inches.
- Ask for the height of both parents.
- Be careful with wide-angle close-ups. A big dog can look tiny with the right camera angle.
- Ask for video of the parents walking next to something you can judge size by.
- Nobody can honestly promise you an exact adult size. A good line just makes it far more likely.
Step 6
Price: what you're actually paying for
You usually get what you pay for. A bulldog bred for health, temperament and structure, from a line with years of history, is never going to be cheap.
- Price depends on the dog: mini or micro, male or female, the parents, pet or breeding quality.
- A cheap bulldog costs you twice: at the vet, and in the years you should have had with a healthy dog.
- A great-looking puppy at a bargain price is the biggest red flag there is.
- Ask for the real figure for the actual dog, and what's behind him.
Step 7
Make sure it's really them
Scammers copy real breeders' photos, videos and even their dogs' names, then take deposits for puppies that don't exist.
- Find the breeder's number yourself. Don't trust a number somebody sends you.
- Talk on the phone before you send any money.
- Walk away from anyone rushing you to pay.
- Check the account against the breeder's own official list. Mine is here, and my only number is (305) 393-2225.
Step 8
The first weeks at home
Two things can kill a bulldog in a day, and most new owners have never heard of either.
- Bloat: throwing up with nothing coming out, a hard swollen belly, pacing. That's an emergency.
- Hot days: a well-bred bulldog handles heat, but no hard running at noon, and never force anything into the mouth of an overheated dog.
- Keep him clean, and check the poop. Giardia and coccidia are the usual reason a puppy goes off.
- The full guide: Bulldog care, what I tell every owner
Ready to look at puppies?
Hold me to every point on this list. Ask me anything on it, any time.
