Grooming Your Prized Bulldog
Grooming may seem like a laboring endeaver when rearing bulldogs but it is more about being ritualistic than it is laborous. It should only take 5-10 minutes, if you can add this to your routine four times a week you will have a bulldog that is ready for the ring.
I want you to create a checklist for your bulldog, if you have any recommendations regarding our list please email me as we are always willing to talk "Bulldogs."
1. Check for an increase of shedding, check over fur for signs of irritation or absesses. missing fur of any kind.
2. Inspect their ears, there should not be an odor. If you are smelling a yeasty bread like or sour odor coming from the ear canal a visit to the vet is imperitive. An ear infection may lead to hearing loss (DO NOT MESS ABOUT, DO NOT TRY COCONUT OR MINERAL OIL YOU WILL WORSEN IT SUBSTANTIALLY!!!!). Clean the ears out regularily with warm sterile water ( saline for contacts is appropriate) with cotton balls and q tips. I am not telling you to lodge that q tip down the ear canal!!!! Please gently dip it in sterile water and clean out the crevices of the folds, and use the cotton ball to clean as far as you can visibly see. If the ear canal is dry take one drop (ONE DROP PEOPLE, AND ONLY ONCE A WEEK!) and with your clean fingertip massage the inner ear. You can also take one drop and massage into the nose if you are finding their precious little nose is dry.
3. WRINKLES!!! Now wrinkles go hand in hand with having a bulldog. Create your kit, you have an idea from above the items you will require.
Supplies Needed
*Cotton balls
*Flanalette for drying wrinkles or extremely soft absorbent washcloths
*Gentle unscented huggies baby wipes
*Desitin Extra Strength Diaper Cream (Yes for human babies)
*Cornstarch ( I will endorse dollar store or any other brand)
(1.) Now gently I want you to clean out their wrinkle folds with your unscented huggies baby wipes
(2.) Dry wrinkle folds adequately to ensure there is zero moisture (Zerrrrrrrooooo)
(3.) Take a cotton ball and dip it in cornstarch, gently apply to the thoroughly dried wrinkles. You will know they are dry if the cornstarch does not bind together. I do not want a paste or chunks of cornstarch from inadequate drying of the wrinkles. If at first you dont succeed try a hundred times until you manage it with ease.
(4.) If they are having an irritation within their folds from improper cleaning then please do the cleaning recommended until step two, forgo the cornstarch and apply desitin diaper cream gently within the folds until the problem is under control. Then revert back to the regular care for wrinkles.
4. Tear Stains-If you have a bald "white" faced bulldog, tear stains are a legitimate concern to you. And you know what? I have the answer for you. Here is a recipe for my tried and true tear stain remover.
Tear Stain Remover
Mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide with milk of magnesia and enough cornstarch to make a paste. Apply this mixture two times per day until it is gone. (Approximately 7 days). Then after the stain is gone just wash with warm water and dry to keep it looking nice.
Tail Care
Bulldogs are one of the few breeds whose tail is naturally short and either straight or screwed and thus is not to be cut or docked as with some other breeds. A straight tail is a more desirable tail if it is facing downwards, not upwards. We dock our Olde English Bulldogges tails if we deem them to have a tail that may be concerning, an inverted corkscrew can be extremely problematic. We will leave a perfect corkscrew intact as defined by the IOEBA rules and regulations regarding the breed. This is a preventative measure on our part. We also have some tips for preventative cleaning and treating a early tail infection to prevent you from costly antibiotic ointments and pills, this is useful information ecspecially if you did not adopt one of our bulldogs.
*These recommendations are almost identical to wrinkle maintenace.
Supplies Needed
-Huggies Unscented baby wipes
-Desitin Extra Strength Diaper Cream
-Flanalette or soft absorbent washcloths
-Gold Bond Medicated Powder
-Canesten Yeast Infection Cream (Shoppers Drug Mart carries a generic brand with 2 percent instead of 1 percent)
-Colloidal Silver
1. When cleaning the tail area use the baby wipes to clean any debris, dry skin etc. out of the area.
2. Gently dry the area very very thoroughly (THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!) Ecspecially for an inverted corkscrew tail.
3. Apply the gold bond medicated powder to the underside of the corkscrew and up into the folds where you have just cleaned and dried.
If you smelling a foul odor, are noticing that your dog has discomfort and is scooting to try and itch then follow these instructions.
(1.) Clean as stated above until step 2, then forgo the gold bond medicated powder. I like to make my own mixture of Desisitin and Canesten. Make sure your hands are thoroughly clean or use rubber gloves to apply.
(2.) Apply the cream up into the folds and anywhere you are noticing an irritation around the tail area.
(3.) Purchase Colloidal Silver, treat your dog according to package instructions. Colloidal Silver kills one celled organisms dead in their tracks. The historical use of mineral silver by humans is long and indisputable. For thousands of years it has been used for the same reasons people are using it now. From mankind's earliest history, silver has been used for making food and drink vessels as well as eating utensils. And its entirely holisitic so how much better can it get!!
Manicures and Pedicures
It is important to get your puppy used to having its nails clipped from day one. I will even just pretend to clip nails daily to have them get used to having their paws handled. There are a few different types of nail clippers available and some prefer to even use a grinding tool to avoid having the sharper edges caused by clipping. This tool is quite similar to a dremmel.
*There are three fairly common types of nail clippers*
*Guillotine- Stays the sharpest the longest of traditional clippers, best for smaller breeds.
*The Scissor- The scissor nail clippers resemble actual scissors. This tool stays sharp for a longer time, they are easy to use and cut through various types of nails.
*The Plier- Some claim this to be the easiest method to use. It maintains its name as it also resembles pliers. It comes in various sizes suitable for all breeds.
Find which clippers you prefer, I would highly recommend that if you are not experienced at clipping nails that you observe either an experienced handler or a groomer many times before attempting yourself. It is easy to do, but it is also easy to quickly have an uncontrolled bleed. I always have styptic powder on hand, I have never had to use it but in case one of my bulldogs recoils and I accidentally cause a bleed I can dip the nail in the styptic powder to cauterize the nail.
Always look at the underside of the nail, you will be able to see where the quick ends. Do not ever cut into the quick this can cause the undesirable bleed I have been speaking about. Only trim the excess nail.
Bathing your Bulldog
You do not want to overbathe your Bulldog, it can strip the skin of the natural oils. You need to find a pet safe shampoo that is PH balanced. I do not recommend Oatmeal Baths contrary to popular beliefs. I tend to shy away from any sort of grains and starches with my bulldogs as Bulldogs tend to have more issues with yeast build ups with their skin. I often use a very gentle tea tree oil shampoo for my Bulldogs. It smells lovely and helps keep bacteria at bay. Ensure you dry the entire dog well, focusing on wrinkles, tail folds etc. Then follow the above rituals for specific care. Please do not make your own tea tree shampoo. It is important it is mild and PH balanced.