Pregnant dog

Hi OP, I think you've had a really good outcome from your post. He sounds decent enough from the update and likely didn't think it through/thought he was doing something helpful in time to cover the finances of a new baby or similar. Unfortunately, lots of people breed dogs thinking it's quick and easy money.

Please don't listen to the Mumsnet pricks who are telling you this is a bad dog to have around kids. Those who know dogs and cane corsos know these are wonderful dogs with great personalities. A dogue de Bordeaux is a lovely calm and relaxed dog despite their teeny lifespan. I agree a lot of people will be breeding these to replace the XL and they will be huuuuuge. I'd actually really like to see one as I bet they'd be the sweetest and chunkiest.

I had a Rottweiler when DD was born and they had an amazing relationship. I wouldn't let her miss out on that for the world.

Please make sure you get all the support provided and available to you during the rest of your pregnancy and after birth but wishing you the very best

Yes I went by the list google brought up.

Last I looked, Olde English Bulldogges aren't anywhere near to an XL Bully in type as they are, or certainly used to be, far too short in the leg (they were originally meant to be a slightly longer, taller, less extreme version of the Bulldog)... However theres a lot of dogs out there carrying these relatively newly invented names/types that look nothing LIKE what the original creator intended...

This will always happen when more than one person tries to 'invent' a new breed, as these days the hard culling and kennelling large numbers of dogs that is required to create a new breed is impossible for one person to do.

So multiple people get involved and you end up with all sorts of random mutts given the name of your intended new breed. (See also Northern Inuit/Utonagan/Tamaskan for another example of such fiascos).

Olde English bulldogge is not the same as a bulldog. It’s a xbreed/xl bully type with a different name

Glad to read your update @leighks123

The www.gov.uk site and defra's info are the only truly reliable resources here.

The confusion is, as repeatedly explained - because the law bans a type rather than a pedigree breed, that type is determined by appearance and measurements, and the opinion of a Dog Legislation Officer (And possibly a judge!)

If it looks like DEFRA's definition of an XL Bully, it is one.

Which means dogs that people believe to be Cane Corso, or any of the relatively recently reinvented big bulldog/ban-dog/alaunt types... may in fact be affected as they may meet the physical criteria to be considered an 'XL Bully Type' dog.

When the ban was initially brought in, one of the major issues in encouraging people to register and exempt their dogs, was that SO many people believed their dog NOT to be an XL Bully. They'd bought a puppy or a dog from a chap in the pub/free ads/off Facebook and that bloke SAID that the dog was.... a Cane Corso, an American Bulldog, an Olde English Bulldogge ... etc. So they weren't coming forward because they believed it didn't apply to their dog.

Hence lots of mention of other breeds possibly being affected by the ban.

Google ... doesn't actually 'say' anything. Google is serving you popular web results - the content of which may be written by someone who knows what they're talking about, or potentially, by a child, an AI program, a trained monkey... who knows!

She is so cute! We have a very rare breed of dog and I always wish we had not had them neutered as numbers are dropping but I think I would find it hard to re-home the puppies and I would end up with 101 of them.

It was the spelling of English Bulldog that had me laughing! I am sure that student thinks this is how we all talk and write over here!

Anyway, OP, I am delighted he is seeing sense. I would put him on a warning, though, that this kind of stupidity better be out of character (says the woman who sneaked an extra dog into the home a week and half ago!).

You do underestimate the amount of time and money it will cost to raise youngsters. We took in a pregnant feral cat a little while ago, poor thing was so thin she was just fur stretched over bones. She had her kittens within 24 hours of getting here, so could not be moved to a shelter (who were jam packed anyway) so we decided to look after her ourselves. The shelter said to give her kitten food on demand and pack the calories onto her.

This tiny, tiny mog went through £60 of kitten food in two weeks! She was also drinking a LOT of kitten milk so the bill for two weeks alone was closer to £80. Then we needed to feed her three kittens! It really added up, so to feed a litter of large breed dogs and there nursing mother was going to be a hefty bill.

Also, none of them left! I promised DH I would find them homes, but everyone I asked who I knew would give them a good home already had a cat and the shelters were full to bursting - it simply wasn't fair to anyone to dump this little family on them. It is really hard to find good homes.

What I didn't realise is the the Cats Protection League can give you vouchers to get your cat neutered and microchipped for just £10 each. DH was kicking off about the cost of vet bills if we kept them all and thankfully, this removed his last objection. As they were rescues, the CPL was happy to give us the vouchers as it saved the shelter a lot of money and meant they could help other animals. Cats can wait a long time to get adopted. :(

@leighks123 Well done for standing firm. You put yourelf, your children AND the dog first despite having a tough time whilst being manipulated. That makes you a very strong woman indeed, so make sure you never forget that if you ever get into a dark place again.

Hopefully he now realises what he had to lose and starts treating you and your home with more respect and consideration than he has done so far.

Thank you. It wasn't something we did for profit so that made it easier to throw time and money at it. I wasn't counting the cost and looking to recoup losses.

The breeder of our bitch asked us to consider having a litter. She retired her bitch but wanted to carry on breeding and showing. She paid for a lot of it (health tests, stud fees, xrays and scans and also gave us puppy milk and a whelping pen) in exchange for pick of the litter. And she was on stand by to help with whelping if we needed her.

Even with her help it was a costly, emotional and time consuming venture. I don't regret it, we are in touch with all the puppy homes and they've brought so much joy to their new families but it's not something we'll be doing again.

Our bitch is booked in to get spayed next week now she has recovered from nursing. All the puppies were rehomed with breeding restrictions in place except the one who went to the breeder who I trust.

@Frequency awww look at the scrawny little thing! So many breeders would have just done away with her, I'm so glad she's staying with you.

Excellent news - for you, your children and the poor dog too

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

We've just raised a litter of puppies. We absolutely did have to do "anything" with them. We did a lot even though the mother dog was excellent.

There was the daily weighing (twice daily for the first two weeks), and the worming, the socialising and despite it being a planned litter and mum being excellent, one poor pup suffered failure to thrive, so she had to be hand fed every 2 to 4 hours, 24 hours a day for 2 weeks.

Not to mention the vet fees, the extra cost of food, puppy milk, worming serum, flea treatment, the cost of chipping and vaccinating x 5 puppies.

It was a fulltime job up until they left home. We still have the one who failed to thrive. I doubt she will ever be big enough or strong enough for me to be happy for her to leave our care so that's 20 years worth of time and money, right there.

Obligatory puppy pic of Tiny waiting for her lunch attached.

The Pioneer Press is an American High School newspaper and the page you linked to was an opinion piece by a student who clearly didn't do any fact checking!

Oh thats funny - top result was a load of old pants!
Apologies all

I don’t see what that’s got to do with it. DH and I were married within 3 months of getting together and had our first DS 12 months later. We’ve been together 26 years now!

The headline writes itself..

hopefully it will all work out

Are you planning to stay with him? After the way he tried to manipulate you?

Glad you stood your ground & that he's not tried to force the issue 👏

Well done for advocating for both yourself and the dog. You are much stronger than you think. Hope all goes well with new baby

Well done for holding firm. You've done the right thing and let's hope your partner learned his lesson.

That's good news op.