American Bulldog Information

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American Bulldogs are a stout, burly breed, but they are also extremely agile and swift. They have a wide chest and a tapered, muscular neck that may or may not have a slight dewlap. The breed features a strong-boned, compact body with straight limbs and burly hindquarters. They have broad, square heads with a pronounced furrow, muscular cheeks, and a box-shaped muzzle. Their stop is prominent, defined, and deep. Their well-developed teeth meet in a tight undershot or a scissors bite. American Bulldogs have a variety of acceptable ear types including pendant, half-pricked, and rose. Their eye color varies. The American Bulldog has black, loose-fitting lips and a black nose. Their tails are low-set and taper to a point. A variety of colors exist for the American Bulldog’s short, harsh, close-fitting coat. Many variations of white, brindle, brown, red, and tan are acceptable for show.

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Character

American Bulldogs are dutiful, courageous, and protective, but they should not be aggressive. Despite their reputation, American Bulldogs make wonderful family pets. While they are capable of being competitive with other dogs, they should not initiate a challenge unreasonably. The breed is not hostile, though they have a genetic disposition towards heroic acts, bravery, and fighting. When properly raised and sufficiently trained, American Bulldogs make excellent companions. They are naturally good with children and they cater to the wants and needs of their owner(s). The American Bulldog has an alert, intelligent, and confident disposition, and they have strong protective instincts. Sometimes leery with strangers or aggressive towards other dogs, it’s important for an American Bulldog to be obedience trained and well-socialized at a young age.

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Size

20 – 28 inches
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Weight

60 – 120 pounds
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General Health

American Bulldogs are prone to hip dysplasia. They are a comparatively long-lived breed, and can often live for up to 16 years. They average 11 puppies per litter.


When purchasing an American Bulldog, make sure the breeder have their dogs PennHip, CERF (eyes) and BAER screened for deafness. This breed is prone to deafness, and like most dog breeds, eye problems as well.

When purchasing an American Bulldog, make sure the breeder have their dogs PennHip, CERF (eyes) and BAER screened for deafness. This breed is prone to deafness as well as eye and skin problems. They sometimes get rashes and sores between their toes due to allergies. Often a chicken and beef free diet can help limit skin irritations.

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History

Many of the earliest bulldogs came to England and America with their masters. The English Bulldog was bred down to a smaller size and given a softer a personality, but the American variety was still fierce and large by comparison. Just before and during WWII, the American version was becoming extinct. This development disappointed a man by the name of John D. Johnson, so he gathered the best species he could find. He then proceeded to breed them. Many claim that John D. Johnson is solely responsible for preventing the American Bulldog from becoming extinct. American Bulldogs have many natural talents including tracking, guarding, and weight-pulling. They also make excellent farm, working, hunting, and watchdogs.


John.D. Johnson eventually found another gentleman that was also concerned with the prevention of the extinction of this breed, Allen Scott. They jointly went south to purchase the Ol' Southern Whites,(Scott’s preference), the performance type, tall and leggy, while Johnson preferred the stouter type of American Bulldog, working breed with the curved legs, shorter and very muscled. Eventually this difference separated the two men, both believing in their personal choice.

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Maintenance

The American Bulldog’s short, harsh coat is easy to groom and take care of. Brushing with a firm bristle brush will help the shedding process. This breed should be bathed only as necessary. They are average shedders.

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Ideal Environment

American Bulldogs need a fair amount of exercise. They do best in households with at least an average-sized yard, but they can tolerate an apartment or house without one if they are sufficiently exercised. Because of their inactivity indoors, long walks and other forms of exercise are needed to ensure their mental and physical happiness.

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Dog Training!

If you're having problems training your dog or getting control, you should read our review of DogProblems.com. Adam will do whatever it takes to help you whip your dog into shape. I've used them to help with my Great Dane as well as help friends train their dogs. It's the first place I go to help answer users Questions. Many training issues are too extensive to answer in this forum, which is why I refer a lot of the load to his site. Update: I've been using and recommending DogProblems for three years now. I, as well as my users, value the techniques we've learned. I get weekly emails from users who have become better owners from the information they received.

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American Bulldog Q&A

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Can the american bulldog be in a cold climate?

Their skin and hair isn’t that thick. They aren’t meant to be cold weather dogs, but if you keep them inside they should do fine. The cold won’t matter when they go outside to play since they will be getting a lot of exercise and producing heat. They would probably only get to cold during the downtime. I’m not sure how cold it is where you live, but I have friends here in the Midwest and their American Bulldogs love the snow and do fine in the cold.

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i have a 7 wk old puppy and he loves to bite. how can i get him to stop. has lots of toys and i exercise and play with him alot. help?

what I did with Zoey, was push a toy in her mouth every time we came home, and praise her for having a toy. She caught on. She is almost 5 and still greets us with a toy in her mouth, we still praise her. She used to hit us with her teeth, in her happiness.

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I have a American Bulldog that is 5 weeks old, I have not gone to pick him up yet cause he is still to young. I wanted to know what is the Average weight for puppys ranging from 1 week - 10 weeks?

Our female had her lst litter and the last puppy is going to its new home today. Grunt (puppy) weighs 18 lbs. at 9 weeks. Female in litter weighs in at 15.6 at 9 weeks.

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Does AB have a bad reputation?

American bulldogs are associated with a bad reputation because of how similar they are with Pitbulls. I own my first American Bulldog right now and must say, he is the sweetest dog that I have ever had. Great with children, protective of his family and very loyal as well. I have also owned Pitbulls in the past and they are the same exact way. If you ask me, any dog can have a bad reputation based on how the owner has trained them.

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we have a 10 week old female, working on training her, does any one have suggestions for training treats for there extreme sensative stomaches??

I use the milkbone PUPPY treats for my ab. He loves them and does great with them.

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What do you consider a good food for this breed, we have ours on Blue Buffalo and she is having a hard time adjusting to this food, she has been on it for a few weeks now. She was on Nutro from the breeder and I was told to switch it to Blue Buffalo from another breeder, I want to make sure she gets the best that I can provide

I feed my American Bulldog food straight from the Vet...called Prescription ID...his stomach was to sensitive for anything else... Treats for reward..try hotdogs...little pieces...he loves it and his stomach can handle it...

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Can you please tell me what is a good kibble I can put my ab on. He's been eating raw and it's getting way to expensive .

We use Blue Buffalo, lamb and rice. It rates very high on the scale for dog food. The chicken and rice is great too. It is all natural 30lb bag cost about $42.00 at petsmart. It last our 3 to 4 weeks. You can go on there website for all nutrition values and were it available.

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wat is the average weight of an 11 to 12 week old american bulldog puppy and height

I have a 15 week old and she is 27lbs, she was about 23 at 12 weeks . We have not checked how tall she is. Everyday she seems different, one day she is tall and the next wide. she is growing nicely. I love her muscle definition. We exercise her a lot. she walk about 2 to 3 miles a day. she loves to run and climb. we are going to look into agility.

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I have a 20 wk old fm, we feed her daily, but it does not show in her weight, is there anything wrong??

I have a 4 1/2 month old female she is 42 lbs. I was worried she wasn't that big also, but the more I look she is just fine. She is filling out nicely and is happy. She eats plenty and gets tons of exercise she is all muscle we walk her 3 miles per day and she needs it. I agree if you are concerned check around and check with your vet.l

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How much dry kibble, Blue Buffalo lamb and rice, should I be feeding a 5 month old AB?

I raise Am bulls and Coonhounds and I was told by my vet that if your dog doesn't more or less hunt{run 5-10 miles } or like herd sheep {always active} that that high proteinstuff is no good for your dog if they can't burn it off its too much protein in their diet ,leads to health probs,I only feed high protein in hunting season the summer timeI feed a 16% pro,If he isn't active all the time doesn't need 20- 25% proteins and I would to get him off it. But to answer your question your pups growing right now hes gonna wanna eat more now then when hes an adult and theres nothing wrong with that, fill his bowl and let him eat. The more he eats the faster he's gonna grow if you cut him back right now all your gonna do is stun his growth

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