Feeding and Exercise Aunt Bea's French AKC (Frenchies) Bulldog Puppies Also Recipes for the health of your puppies

	Feeding and Exercise

French Bulldog Puppy Food, Feeding and Exercise

Nutrition and exercise, as in humans, is a very important part of a French bulldog puppy’s overall health and ultimately lifetime health.

From the time of weaning, I use excellent foods and treats for my French bulldog puppies and adult dogs. I have chosen Hund N Flocken Solid Gold Lamb and Rice Puppy and Adult Food, as it is protein rich and filled with vitamins and anti-oxidants (NO wheat, soybeans, corn, poultry fat, by-products, sugar, salt, added animal fat or preservatives). I use only the dry food, and supplement with other items, occasionally.

The following is the description for the puppy lamb and rice formula:

The following is the description for the adult lamb and rice formula:

Ingredients

It has been my experience that the bulldog breeds tend to have allergies that manifest in skin conditions, and by eliminating common allergens many of these skin conditions can be avoided.

I feed my puppies twice a day, one half cup of puppy food. I give them a maximum of two treats a day, and use organic products also free of many of the allergens that are eliminated in the Hund n Flocken foods.

I begin to give them adult dog food at approximately 6 months of age, and at one year of age, I begin feeding the dogs one time a day, in the morning.

French bulldogs and French bulldog puppies are some of the best beggars for food in the world. They look up at you, tilted head, smiling faces with that look of “how could you eat that without sharing it with me?” My answer to that question is, if you are eating something healthy, and it does not contain any of the things that are toxic for dogs such as raisins, grapes, chocolate, macadamia nuts and it is not fried or does not have preservatives, you can share.

I am a vegetarian and have been for a couple of decades, so meat is not prepared in my home, however, at times when I go out to eat a friend may have some steak, veal chop, pork chop or lamb left over and if they are willing to contribute to a doggy bag for the French bulldogs, I gladly accept.

When I make fish on the grill, I often purchase extra for the French bulldogs so that they can have a bit of it with their meal.

When I add these items to their food as a treat (and this is really a treat and not the norm), I wait until morning and add it to their dry dog food.

I feed my dogs separate from one another in crates in their kennel room. This avoids ones who eat slowly from having their food eaten by another French bulldog, and others who eat fast from wandering around to eat from another French bulldog’s bowl. My dogs do not fight over food, but I take this precaution to maintain weight control. Realize also, that if there is treat food in the bowl, the dog will eat that first, so the one wandering around will ultimately eat all the treats and leave only kibble for the unsuspecting French bulldog who is the slow eater.

I do not leave free food around the kennel or the area where the dogs can get to the food. I have a feeding time and if they dogs are hungry they eat, if they do not eat they will wait until the next feeding. French bulldogs can be very manipulative and will have you working for them in terms of feeding and serving, if is it not made clear early on that they need to eat what is served when it is served.

In terms of nursing French bulldog mothers, I leave food free in the whelping crate as they need much nutrition to feed the puppies and I find they eat when they can, in between all of the needs of the puppies. For nursing mothers, I supplement their food with goat yogurt, goat kefir or goat milk. I will from time to time roast a chicken, make a lamb meatloaf or grill some salmon to add to their diet while nursing.

French Bulldogs and Exercise

Anyone who tells you that a French bulldog puppy or dog is low energy and does not require much exercise is telling you quite the fib. There is a saying that a good dog is a tired dog, and that too applies to a French bulldog puppy or dog.

I walk my French bulldogs and puppies who have had all of their vaccinations (at least 3 months of age) for approximately 45 minutes to one hour each day in the early part of the morning when it is cool. For the puppies, it takes them a bit to get up to speed so I have a French bulldog baby stroller for those who need a lift along the way.

The walk is brisk and orderly, stopping occasionally for a relief break, a drink of water or a sniff. The French bulldogs realize this is the routine, and fall into place looking forward each day for their walk.

It is a routine, dogs love routine, and it gives them a chance to get in some needed exercise, hunt for lizards, explore the neighborhood, meet friends and pick up calling cards. I was once told that when dogs pee on trees, they are leaving their card for the next one to pick up, so when I say pick up calling cards, they are picking up the scent of a good friend or long time acquaintance on the walk.

On occasion I take the French bulldogs to the dog park or dog beach, but I tend to like to take all of them, so these retreats are reserved for when none of them are in heat or nursing. Female French bulldogs in heat are a real “no” for a dog park as it is dangerous for the female French bulldog who can be accidentally impregnated by an undesirable mate. Having a female French bulldog in heat can also cause fights amongst males who are vying to be the one to mate.

I am careful at dog parks, however, as it is a breeding ground for contagious and infectious things. One of my French bulldogs contracted a case of ringworm at a local dog park and it took a few months to clear it up, luckily it was not during a breed cycle, or the puppies could have been at risk.

Another issue is that when female French bulldogs are nursing, they need to use frontline instead of advantage and the propensity to get fleas increases during these time, and an infestation of fleas on puppies and in the home is not a desirable asset when having a litter.

The dog park is very good, however, for socialization of French bulldog puppies, so they must be braved to some extent for this experience. I have multiple dogs, and therefore, the socialization process starts at home, buy this is within the “home pack” and it is essential for dogs to accept dogs out of the home pack into an extended pack as well as to be able to adjust to meeting and greeting other dogs in a friendly way anywhere this might happen.

French bulldogs are by nature very sociable, but it is always good to be certain by socializing them to people and other dogs and cats early on to instill good habits and manners.

French Bulldogs are Lovers Not Fighters

French bulldogs are lovers not fighters. My girls want to make friends with every dog and the bigger the dog the bigger the challenge to make friends. They are not intimidated by size and I refer to them as big dogs in small bodies. Their form of play is very rough, so they can make it with larger dogs. When I go to the dog park, I tend to take the French bulldogs to the big dog side as their method of play is sometimes too rough for lighter smaller dogs. The French bulldog generally weighs over 20 pounds while the average small Yorkie or other small toy breed tops out at 15. French bulldogs are not petite by any standard, as are many of the other small breeds.

I had an unfortunate experience whereby a home was rented to individuals who had two grown Rottweiler dogs who got out of the backyard. On two occasions, the dogs chased us and I was able to once go into a neighbor’s home in time, and another time put my dogs in the back of a parked pick up truck. On the third occasion, however, I only had enough time to save one dog, leaving Juliette on the ground. In the instant before I could pick her up, one of the Rottweiler dogs grabbed her around the neck, from the front, in a death hold, swinging his head back and forth trying to break her neck as a wild dog would do to its prey. I fought the Rottweiler off and the dog then took Juliette by the right paw, leg and shoulder. Before all was said and done, she needed 37 stitches, I needed psychotherapy, a hospital visit, a wrist brace, a cane, an MRI and six months to recover fully. I tell this story to show how passive French bulldogs are. During the entire episode, Juliette, in the mouth of the Rottweiler did not do anything but look to me for help, she did not growl, she did not fight back, she stayed still, and in the end this was the best thing she could do to avoid further damage to herself. Josephine who was with me as well, was smart enough to stay behind me as I moved around and did not engage either. This was the best thing for her, as the other Rottweiler was standing its ground, and had she gotten involved, that may have cause the other one to get involved and cause injury to her, me and possibly more injury to Juliette.

French bulldogs are very smart dogs.

In closing, I would like to add that what you put into your dog is what you will get out of your dog, in terms of food, exercise, love, patience, understanding, compassion and most of all time.

Recipes for French Bulldogs

The most important ingredient in all of the French bulldog recipes is to have at least one French bulldog or the more French bulldogs, the merrier, in the kitchen while preparing the gourmet French bulldog meals.

When my dams are nursing puppies for the first five weeks after the French bulldog puppies are born, I like to feed the mothers some high protein meals, homemade, to enhance their nursing experience and keep them strong.

In the past when I have not supplemented with high protein meals, I have found that the French bulldog dams lose much of their fur, and lose weight. In preparing wholesome high protein meals for the French bulldogs, I believe there is less wear and tear on the dams.

French Bulldog Lamb and Brown Rice Meatloaf

3-4 lbs of ground lamb preferably from an organic free range leg of lamb. I generally pick a leg of lamb in the Greenwise meat section of Publix and have the butcher remove the fat and ground the lamb.

One 2 lb can of organic crushed red tomatoes

One cup dry organic brown or basmati rice

Two celery stalks

Two large carrots

One apple

One sweet onion

Sweet peas

Saute onions, carrots, apple, peas and celery in olive oil until soft. Add the 2 lb can of crushed tomatoes, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Cook the one cup dry basmati or organic brown rice in four equal sized cups of water, bring to a boil, and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Mix the rice and the vegetable mixture in a large mixing bowl.

When cool, add the lamb and thoroughly mix together.

Take two glass baking pans, and mold two oval meat loafs from the mixed ingredients.

Cook at 350 degrees for one hour.

Let cool and put in a Tupperware or other tightly sealable container in the refrigerator.

Add one half cup twice a day to puppy food, for the nursing dams French bulldog.

French Bulldog Roasted Chicken/Turkey or Rotisserie Chicken

The shortcut is to go to Publix, Sweetbay, Walmart, Sam’s or your local health food store and purchase a Rotisserie chicken, my French bulldogs prefer the Lemon Pepper at Publix, the Natural at Sam’s/Walmart and the Original at Sweetbay. All of these are the lightest in seasoning.

Remove all meat from the bones, store in a Tupperware for quick access for the hungry French bulldogs, and add a handful to each feeding with puppy food.

If you prepare your own fowl for the French bulldogs, after washing rub the bird with olive oil and put in the oven cooking as per the prescribed amount for the poundage of the fowl.

Let it cool, remove the meat and put into a Tupperware for easy access

French Bulldog Buffalo/Millet Meat Balls with Rice Pasta

One cup dry millet

One pound buffalo meat, organic free range

Two eggs

One small onion

Two large carrots

Two large apples

Cook millet, one cup to three cups water, bring to boil

In a saucepan, sauté onion carrot and apples in olive oil

Mix millet, two eggs (beaten) and one pound buffalo meat

Roll out meat balls

Bake in over in glass pan with water on the bottom to ¼ height of meatballs for 35 minutes

Boil one bag of rice pasta and serve meatballs with pasta with chicken broth, red sauce or other broth

Grilled Salmon and Wild Rice

Cook one cup of wild rice in four cups of water, bring to boil and simmer 45 minutes.

Grill one 3-4 lb salmon flank, after rubbing with olive oil.

Break salmon into pieces, be sure to eliminate bones, and mix in with the wild rice

French bulldogs enjoy these meals as well as variations of them.

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For my French bulldogs I tend to stay away from wheat, soy, beef and corn in the preparation of meals.

I substitute ground turkey, ground veal or ground chicken in place of any of the ground meat recipes above for the French bulldog.

The grains that I have found to be desirable to the French bulldog palate are brown rice, basmati rice, steel cut oats, millet, millet/oat mixture, quinoa and wild rice.

If moisture is needed in the food, I add goat or sheep milk, goat or sheep kefir or goat or sheep yogurt.

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