American Bulldog Information: Fascination Facts About the American Bulldog By Luke Blaise At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

American Bulldogs are one of the few dog breeds that can claim that they were truly developed here in America. This breed is large in size and is very strong and muscular with a strong jaw. There are two types of this bulldog, the Johnson Type, and the Scott Type. While the differences between these two types is mostly gone now, in the past they had some distinct differences.

The American Bulldog is derived from the English Bulldog. This bulldog was brought over by immigrants from Scotland and England. Farmers and ranchers loved to use this dog for everyday tasks like herding and fetching. One of the main uses of this dog was to chase feral pigs.

Feral pigs in the south were large in numbers because they had no natural predators. Farmers used these dogs to chase these pigs away from crops and gardens, and also to hunt them for food. For an unknown reason by the early 1940’s this dog was almost extinct.

In the late 1940’s however, they starting making a comeback. The two people mainly responsible for how this breed appears today are John Johnson and Allen Scott. These two men worked together in the southern United States buying bulldogs and breeding them, with the aim of building a better bulldog.

Eventually the two split ways, but each kept breeding bulldogs on their own and therefore we ended up with two different types of American Bulldogs. The Johnson Type is a large dog with a shorter muzzle. The Scott Type is smaller with a longer muzzle, but today most bulldogs are a mix between these two.

Today these dogs are used for a wide variety of activities. Some dogs are used for protection services while others are used for weight pulling competition. These dogs can also compete in agility competitions as well. While some dogs are still used to chase feral pigs, mostly these dogs are just used as family dogs today.

These dogs normally live 10-14 years and are generally very healthy. American bulldogs dog have some genetic problems but those are mainly confined to certain lines. Some health problems more common in these dogs include enlarged hearts, kidney problems, thyroid problems, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, entropion and ectropion (eye problems), and bone cancer.

This dog has a short coat that is smooth and very easy to care for with moderate shedding. They come in several colors with blue or merle being the most desired. They can weigh up to 125 pounds, so you definitely want to have a lot of room for these dogs in your yard.

Unless very well trained it is not a recommended dog for new dog owners or for those people with small children or cats. These dogs can be very aggressive, so that is why proper training and socialization is necessary at a young age.

As you can see the American Bulldog is not for everyone. If you have a large backyard and time to properly train them you can have a very loyal and friendly dog.

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