Bulldogs and Children

If you have, or are planning on adding children to your family, please consider whether you have the time and energy to deal with the following:

Puppies require a lot of attention and training for several months until they have acquired good habits and have been fully house trained.
Puppies bark, bite, chew and scratch until they have learned proper social behaviour and puppy teeth are razor sharp.
Dogs of any age should never be left unsupervised with small children. Children can unintentionally startle or hurt the dog, causing dogs to bark or bite in retaliation or out of fear.
Never allow children to step or sit on a dog’s back as this can cause permanent damage to the dog’s spine.
Never allow children to stick anything into a dog’s ears, this can permanently damage the dog’s hearing.
Time will need to be invested in training both small children and puppies/dogs to interact calmly and safely together.
Monitor your dog for signs of stress that can alert you to when children need to give the dog space. Some signs can include, showing the whites of the eyes, ears laid back, yawning, licking lips, tail between legs, snarling, lip curling, growling.
Have a ‘safe space’ (i.e. a bed, crate, playpen) for the dog where the children are not allowed/not able to interact when them. This will allow the dog to remove themselves from any situation that they find too stressful.
Dogs can get jealous about attention given to new family members, whether it is another pet or a child. Training strategies and additional attention will need to be given to the dog to ensure they view any new additions to the family as a positive thing.
Be aware that some dogs can be ‘resource protective’, meaning they will feel threatened if anyone tries to touch their toys, food, bed etc. Dogs can be trained out of this but will need to be monitored when children are near.
Fully grown bulldogs are strong and solid, when excited, jumping or running around, they can easily knock over small children.