The American Bulldog is a muscular dog that stands as tall as 27 inches at the withers, and can weigh up to 125 pounds. There are three variants of the breed, the Bully (Johnston-type), Standard (Scott -type), and a third variant which is a hybrid of the two. Johnson and Scott were two early developers of the breed.
These incredibly strong dogs have a stocky build, with a large head, a short muzzle, and powerful jaws. The coat is short and is predominantly white with patches of black, red, brown, fawn or brindle.
The American Bulldog descends from the Old English Bulldog, which unlike the English Bulldog of today, was long-legged and fleet of foot. Migrants from England brought these dogs with them to the US, where they were mostly used as all-purpose farm dogs.
However, the breed declined in popularity and had almost become extinct by the end of World War II. Two breeders, John D. Johnson and Alan Scott, took up the challenge of restoring the breed. Although they originally breed dogs of similar physique, they later diverged, Scott breeding leaner, more athletic dogs for hunting, Johnson favoring heavier dogs suited to guard dog work. This is the origin of the current variants.
The American Bulldog is recognized by several registries around the world, including the United Kennel Club (UKC). It is not recognised by the AKC.
The American Bulldog is an agile, fearless and confident dog. But despite its fearsome looks, it is not naturally aggressive. In fact, these dogs make excellent family pets, devoted, affectionate, and exceptionally good with children. They also get on well with other dogs, and even cats they’ve been raised with.
Training, socialization and strong leadership are an absolute must with this breed. Fortunately, with a positive, reward-based approach they are relatively easy to train even if they can be a might stubborn at times. One area that can be a problem though, is house training. You will have to be quite patient with this.
American Bulldogs have lots of energy and are the polar opposite of their laid back English cousins. They need a lot of exercise, including a long daily walk, plus regular games and other activities.
Finding unique names for an American Bulldog is never easy. But with an online dog names resource, like puppy-names-hq.com, you’ll have lots of choice. This site has 1000s of excellent names, including an huge selection of boy dog names.
Grooming is a very easy task as the dog sheds very little. A good brushing a couple of times per week and your dog’s good will always look its best.
A robust healthy breed, the American Bulldog is known to live as long as 16 years, or even longer. They do have some health concerns though, including hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, entropion, cherry eye and bone cancer.
Although the American Bulldog is better suited to a house with a garden, they will do okay in an apartment provided they are extensively exercised every day.
