Your Trusted Expert in Breeding and Maintaining Healthy Bulldogs

What to Ask the Breeder if You are Considering Bringing a Bulldog into Your Home:

Breed Health Certifications:

Responsible breeders go to great effort and expense to ensure that the puppies they produce are as healthy as possible. They know that the puppies they produce reflect back on them; their kennel’s reputation among their peers means more than the fast buck they can get selling puppies produced by cutting corners. Responsible breeders first and foremost love their breed and their goal is to improve the health of the breed through responsible decisions on who and how they breed. A large part of this effort is done by conducting health testing on potential breeding dogs and bitches and then using that information, along with considerations of conformation, temperament, genetic relatedness, and other factors in choosing the best matches for breeding. The following is a list of health testing that can or should be done in bulldogs prior to making a breeding decision:

• Cardiac OFA evaluation: This exam must be performed on dogs at least 12 months of age by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist. Using doppler ultrasound, the cardiologist thoroughly evaluates the anatomy and function of the heart. Two basic tiers of heart disease clearance are evaluated: congenital and adult-onset diseases. Congenital disorders are present at birth and are detectable anytime the dog is examined. Once a dog has been cleared for congenital disorgers, that clearance is good forever. Adult-onset disorders might not be obvious when examining younger dogs. As such, clearance for adult-onset conditions is only good for one year from the time of the exam. The Bulldog Club of America (BCA) strongly recommends all breeding dogs have cardiac clearances. Cardiac OFA examinations are performed at Kokopelli Veterinary Center a few times every year. Please contact our front desk to make an appointment for your dog.
• Patella OFA: Medial patellar luxation is a condition more common in small breed dogs, but the bulldog is a notable exception to that that rule. The patella is the knee cap. Luxation means that it pops out of place. Medial means it pops out to the inside of the leg. The condition may be diagnosed by any veterinarian (no specialty certification required). The vet will examine the gait of the dog and palpate both hind legs, extending and bending the stifle (knee) joint, feeling for laxity in the joint. If any luxation is palpated, the severity is graded from 1 to 4. Grades 1 and 2 are less serious and may not show evident clinical signs until the dog is older and usually involves a skipping gait where the hind leg(s) are held up and touch the ground every few steps. Grades 3 and 4 are more serious and usually present with clinical signs at a younger age, which may include a crouching, bow-legged stance. Pain may be associated with the luxation, but not always. This condition is usually heritable and so breeding affected animals is discouraged. The Bulldog Club of America (BCA) strongly recommends all breeding dogs have patella clearances. Patella OFAs are offered by Kokopelli Veterinary Center and only require an appointment at the client’s convenience. Dogs should be at least 12 months before being evaluated for OFA certification. Please call our front desk to make an appointment.
• Trachea OFA: Bulldogs are the predominant breed with hypoplastic (underdeveloped) trachea. Diagnosis is done by taking a radiograph (x-ray) of the head and throat in a lateral (sideways) view while the dog is awake and inspiring (inhaling). The radiograph is evaluated subjectively by a board-certified veterinary radiologist and given a score of normal, equivocal, or hypoplastic. Hypoplastic dogs should not be bred and equivocal dogs should be bred with care and caution in choosing a mate with a normal trachea. The Bulldog Club of America (BCA) strongly recommends all breeding dogs have trachea clearances. Trachea OFA examinations are performed at Kokopelli Veterinary Center anytime at the owner’s convenience. Dogs must be 12 months of age to have the examination. Please contact our front desk to schedule an appointment.
• BOAS OFA: The BOAS OFA exam consists of a Respiratory Function Grading Scheme (RFGS) performed by a qualified veterinarian who has been certified by the OFA. The RFGS is includes a physical examination, paying special attention to the size of the nares (nostrils). The vet then listense to the dog breath with just her ears and then with a stethoscope. The dog is then exercised moderately (brisk walk) for 3 minutes and the listening with and without the stethoscope is repeated. A grade is assigned to the dog based on the presence and intensity of abnormal respiratory sounds made by the compressed/narrow airways and the elongated soft palate. Grades range from 0 (normal) to 3 (markedly abnormal). Grade 3 dogs should not be bred. Grades 1 and sometimes 2 might receive breeding recommendations depending on other factors including other health parameters, temperament, conformation, and general value to a breeding program. Care should be taken in choosing a mate for dogs with Grade 1 or 2. Breathing scores can change with age and so it is recommended that breeding dogs be tested annually. The Bulldog Club of America (BCA) has sponsored the creation of this registry and recommends all breeding dogs have BOAS clearances. Veterinarians at Kokopelli Veterinary Center are certified to perform the BOAS OFA. Dogs must be 12 months old to receive an OFA certification. Please call our front desk to schedule an appointment.
• Hip and elbow dysplasia are orthopedic conditions that can be debilitating for dogs by making every step they take painful and difficult. The conditions are caused because the bones of the hip or elbow joints are not formed and seated appropriately. Eventually they wear away at the cartilage and bone will rub on bone, which is painful. Signs that a dog will eventually become dysplastic can be detected early in life through radiographs (x-rays). Two testing options exist for hip dysplasia: Hip dysplasia OFA and PennHIP, both of which are available by appointment at Kokopelli Veterinary Center. Elbow dysplasia OFA testing is also by radiographs and also available by appointment at Kokopelli. Since the predilection for these conditions is genetic, breeding affected dogs together increases the risk that the resultant puppies will have bad hips or elbows, often necessitating expensive and difficult surgical corrections at some point in their lives. It is recommended that dogs with poor conformation not be bred and dogs with moderate changes be bred to dogs with excellent joints. OFA testing for hips and elbows can be done in dogs that are 24 months of age. PennHip can be performed in dogs as young as 16 weeks. Sedation is strongly recommended for all OFA testing and required for PennHIP. Please call our front desk to schedule an appointment.
• Companion Animal Eye Registry (CAER): Eye diseases are often progressive and some are not detectable until a dog ages. It is recommended that breeding dogs have annual CAER examinations, which must be performed by a board-certfied ophthalmologist. Eye disease OFA clinics are held a few times a year at Kokopelli Veterinary Center. Please call our front desk to schedule your dogs for our next clinic.
• Congenital Deafness OFA: Bulldogs are one of many breeds in which congenital deafness is a concern. Deafness is usually associated with the white color trait and, in bulldogs, with the piebald gene. Heritable deafness almost always manifests in puppies; deafness that is acquired as an adult is rarely, if ever, genetic, but instead due to infections, injury, toxicity, or age-related dysfunction. While congenital deafness is known to be genetic, the specific genetic mode for inheritance has not been determined and a genetic test is not yet available. Deafness, both unilateral and bilateral, can be determined at 35 weeks of age using the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test and is recommended for bulldogs that are predominantly white and/or known to have deafness in their line. Affected dogs, even unilaterally deaf dogs, should not be bred and the breeding that produced the affected puppies should not be repeated. BAER testing can be performed by a board-certified veterinary neurologist, audiologist, or a veterinarian experienced with the technique.
• Spine OFA: The evaluation of the spine is currently a pilot study and so the data gathered from the exams is collected to accumulate knowledge about the prevalence of certain heritable spinal conditions in bulldogs but is not currently used to issue a score or breeding recommendations. Spinal conditions of concern include: hemivertebra, butterfly vertebra, block vertebra, transitional vertebra, and spina bifida. The evaluation is done by taking two radiographic views of the spine, often under sedation. Veterinarians at Kokopelli Veterinary Center are able to perform these evaluations to help bulldog breeders learn more about these heritable traits in their breed.
• Hyperuricosuria (HUU): This is a genetic condition where high levels of uric acid are found in the urine and predispose the dog for bladder and kidney stones. The condition is hereditary and can be tested for using a simple cheek swab submitted to one of several veterinary genetics laboratories. It is included in many of these laboratories comprehensive genetic testing packages. HUU is an autosomal recessive trait. This means that a dog must have two alleles of the affected gene, one from each parent, to exhibit the disease. If a dog has only one copy of the affected gene, they are considered a “carrier” but will not have any signs of the disease. Affected dogs should generally not be bred, or only ever bred to a mate shown to be clear of the abnormal alleles. Such a pairing will result in all puppies being carriers, but not affected. Breeding an affected dog to a carrier will result in half of the puppies affected with HUU. Carrier dogs are fine to breed, so long as they are also bred to a dog that tests as clear. Breeding two carriers to each other will result in 25% of the litter affected with HUU. All prospective bulldog breeders should have genetic testing for HUU performed. The veterinarians at Kokopelli Veterinary Center can help with genetic testing and counselling. Please call our front desk to schedule an appointment.
• Canine multifocal retinopathy (CMR1): This is a genetic condition which manifests sometime between 3 and 4 months of age with multiple areas of retinal detachment. These progress into larger lesions and eventually result in blindness in older dogs. It is an autosomal recessive trait, and so follows the rules and recommendations outlined above where basically a breeder should only breed a carrier dog to a clear dog. Genetic tests can be performed on cheek swab or blood samples. Veterinarians at Kokopelli Veterinary Center can help with sample submissions and test result interpretations.
• Cystinuria: Another genetic condition found in bulldogs causes the kidneys to ineffectively absorb and filter the amino acid cystine, resulting in it accumulating in the urine and forming into crystals and stones. This condition is also genetic, but with an interesting twist. There are a few types of heritable cystinuria found in different breeds of dogs. Bulldogs are affected by cystinuria type 3. This variant is autosomal recessive, just like HUU, but is also androgen-dependent. Androgens are the testosterone type hormones, and therefore only intact male bulldogs with two abnormal alleles are affected by type 3 cystinuria. Females and neutered males will not be affected, no matter what genes they carry. There is a genetic test offered through a handful of veterinary genetics laboratories. The gene tested is a linked gene (not the actual culprit). If this is confusing, we can help you sort it out. Just give our front desk a call and make an appointment to see us.
• Hereditary calcium oxalate urolithiasis: The tendency to form calcium oxalate urinary stones is hereditary in bulldogs. These stones form in the bladder or kidney and cause irritation that may manifest as straining to urinate, frequent urination, urgency with urination, blood in the urine, or life-threatening urinary obstructions. Affected dogs can develop stones as puppies or adults with an average age of 3 years at diagnosis. Treatment often involves surgical removal followed by dietary changes to reduce the likelihood of stone formation. Recurrence, however, is common. A genetic test is available through the University of Minnesota Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. Veterinarians at Kokopelli Veterinary Center can help you submit a sample for analysis and help you interpret the results.