They don’t really! A bully mix is less expensive than a more pure bulldog…this is why we love the bully mix! They are inexpensive yet offer many of the wonderful traits of the bull breed. If you are considering buying a bulldog and if the first question that skips across your mind is regarding the price then maybe this is not the breed that you should be looking at. In fact, when considering buying any pet you can visit the local SPCA or animal shelter but the business of choosing a new dog should never be a factor of cost. Buying a dog is not like finding a deal on a laptop computer or a set of winter tires; no, any dog that is to be cared for and loved for two decades should be a dog that strikes a chord deep within us! In order to breed a high quality bulldogs it is not cheap and certainly a bully mix is not something you want to pick up at some roadside puppy mill! There is a great deal of time, effort and expense involved in raising a proper and healthy Bulldog litter.
Without going into detail, it can cost up to $3000 to breed, deliver and raise a single litter, which is mainly for resources and takes little consideration for the time invested in raising the new litter. As with any dog you have to deal with a reputable breeder as there are many folks hoping to make a quick dollar by setting up some cages in the backyard and forging a few pure bred papers on the printer; if you are serious about the adoption of a bully mix then first visit the local animal shelter. A natural bulldog litter size is 4 puppies. Part of the cost of raising the dogs for selling is the expense involved in getting the females ready for breeding which requires pre-breeding testing, ovulation testing, which entail a minimum of approximately three visits to the vet. The female will usually be artificially inseminated which mean at least another 3 trips to the vet, not to mention the expenses for the semen/stud service which is in the area of $500 if it is a reputable and certified service. Then the breeder must wait 30 days for an ultrasound or x-rays or a combination of the two because it is important to be sure the female is really pregnant! You’d be surprised!
Breeding bulldogs also involves special diets for the mother and a constant monitoring for the next 5 weeks of pregnancy, plus getting the nursery set up with with heating pads, bottles, blankets, medical supplies, milk replacer, puppy scales, and other accessories for a proper incubation and nesting as the list of required products to buy in order to give proper early care goes on and on.
Then, as in most birthing situations comes the C-section which, depending on the veterinary services offered in your area can cost upwards of $500 assuming the mama went into labor during regular office hours and all went well, which is often not the case! Females can typically produce only 2 or 3 litters during a lifetime. Bull dogs and mixes are a special breed which require the help of caring and patient humans to bring a litter to 8 weeks of age. In spite of their strong initial appearance the Bulldog, as a newborn puppy, is rather fragile and the newborn puppies require constant monitoring. Bulldogs actually don’t make the best mothers because they may lay on a puppy by accident and not even realize they are harming the little thing which is why surveillance is important during the birth and why a knowledge of the canine disposition is essential. The wee puppies, when properly cared for, will be checked by the vet at least 4 times during their first two months.
These visits to the local vet include the wormings and puppy shots that are mandatory. This is a breed that requires maximum effort on the part of the breeder to make sure that all the puppies turn out to be healthy and this whole procedure is extremely costly. If you are looking to buy a bulldog you will find that most breeders range their pet bullys around the price of up to$1800 mark. Be wary of the “great deals” and “cheap puppies” that you see for sale in newspapers as such poorly bred puppies, if they come from nonprofessional puppy mills may cost you a lot more in the end – not just in terms of money, but also the heartache of owning a dog that has health problems. As with anything we will often get what we pay for and a living creature like a dog it only makes sense to pay for a quality upbringing!