30┆ First Steps to Senior Strolls — Exercising Your Bulldog

In this episode, I take a practical look at bulldog exercise and explain how the right approach changes as your dog grows from puppy to adult to senior.

I break down what good exercise actually looks like at each stage of life, why socialisation matters more than mileage in the early months, and how to build a routine that works for the breed rather than against it.

We consider:

• How to introduce collar, lead and walking to a young puppy without drama or bad habits
• What adult bulldogs need day to day and how to gauge whether you're getting the balance right
• How to adapt as your dog ages and what to watch for along the way

Whether you've just brought a puppy home or you've had bulldogs for years, this episode gives you a straightforward, breed-specific framework to work from.

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W: bulldogownersclub.com 

Transcript

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How much exercise does a bulldog actually need and what happens if you get it wrong? In this episode, I'm covering everything from puppies in the five minute roll to road walking versus fields, flexi leaves, hot weather, aging dogs, and why walking in the same route every day is doing your bulldog no favours. It's all in this week's episode. Welcome to the Bulldog Idents Podcast, where I host a passionate conversation about pedigree dogs. I'm Star and here we cover the myths and misinformation to talk honestly about life with Bulldogs. It's another car chat. I come back from a dog walk yesterday and realised that I've never talked about exercise. So I thought it was worth having a little conversation in regards to bulldogs and exercise. And I think I've already done a um podcast episode on walkwear, and that I'm not a massive fan of harnesses. No shame, but I cannot stand them. To me, it's a very obvious visual cue that maybe some training hasn't happened as it should happen. So I'm I'm not a fan of harnesses full stop, especially some of them that restrict the actual movement of the dog, so you're actually negatively impeding the dog's natural movement as well. So not only do they look ugly, they're actually counterproductive. But that said, we're not talking about walkwear today, we're gonna talk about exercise. And so I thought it was worth having a conversation and talking through like the evolution of exercise for bulldogs because it is different to other breeds. When I've got the Labrador, the advice generally there is don't over-exercise your dog because they're happily just do it. So you've got to be quite conscious of not over-exercising the dog, and there's certain activities such as ball throwing, that is a lazy way for the dog owner to exercise the dog because it means you don't have to walk anywhere, you can just keep throwing a ball. But when done in excess, and all of this is only if it's done in excess, or repetitively, there's no variation, it can cause ball obsession, which is never a particularly good thing. Anything that's got obsession tucked to it is never a good thing, but also it can be quite damaging on joints because the way that they're running, then they automatically stop to try and pick up the ball and then return with the ball again. What at first seems like something that's fun and the dog enjoys can end up being um a quirk or a behaviour that ends up being a bit of a bit of a nightmare to deal with. So I think I've already covered as well, bulldogs aren't particularly ball obsessed. I mean, you might get the odd one that likes the ball, but they're they're not obsessive about it. Really, if you do play with balls with your bulldogs, you want to use the brands that that that are breathed through a ball. So when they've got the ball in their mouth, they can airflow is still accessible and easy basically rather than being obstructed by a solid ball that's in the way. I think there's a brand called Chuck It that do these breathable balls, but I'm sure there's others out there anyway. It's just the design of them. They're like just basically let airflow through them, but they're still around tennis ball shape. Generally, if you pick up a puppy from a reputable breeder, you're going to be given a puppy pack. Now, this can come in all shapes and forms with all different variations of, and I try and give a puppy pack that's most relevant to the breed and for the dog going forward. Some people give away crates and buy all these new toys and lead bags and poo bags and all that kind of stuff, but to me that's just standard stuff that a dog owner needs, and they can go and buy that. I try and buy the quirky things that you didn't realise that you might need in the future. So, for instance, all my puppies go with nail clippers, I always give them a tick removal tool, always give them an American style ketchup bottle. Yeah, just some little quirky things that will be useful going forward. They definitely would have had a collar on. Um, I will make sure that they're yeah, they're comfortable basically wearing a collar, so then the new owns only need to worry about attaching a lead to it and and getting the puppy walk in, which we'll cover in a minute. Puppy packs come in all shapes and forms, and generally what comes is you'll get a massive document. So you should get your puppy contract, which is the conditions of you purchasing that dog and the expectations from both parties, and that should always happen. Even if you got given a dog for free, you should still have some document that documents the conditions of receiving that dog. But then typically, what you'll also get is like a puppy pack, and it's almost like a manual to come with the puppy of all the care that it's gonna need from a how it's been reared, but also the care that it's gonna need from you going forward as it grows and develops. Now, as with any owner's manual, most people don't read them. I am a sucker, I'm a bit weirdo. I do love reading a manual. I read a manual and everything because it really bothers me that I'm not using what I've purchased properly, so I will read a manual. I'm one of those, but I know I'm I'm one of the few. Um, and what I find is you're given this massive document, it's got every single question answered in there. Yet a puppy owner will still phone you up and ask you questions because obviously it's just like information overwhelm of receiving the puppy, dealing with the now, forgetting that you've got the document to flick through it. So I totally changed how I communicate with my puppy owners and I tried to educate them, and which is one of the reasons why the podcast exists, try to educate them before they even get the puppy, but also the emails that they get out after they receive the puppy as well, and hence why I do my fortnightly community calls because then people just jump on and ask the question, and then it gets shared by everybody as well, doesn't it? So I try and make the streams of education and communication as open and flexible as possible, and try to give them the answer before they've asked the question if that makes sense. But I'm aware that most dog breeders don't do that because it's time consuming and they don't necessarily have the skill set or the technology. They fall back to old school, which they know is a safeguard of just put it all in a document and give it to new owners. But as I say, it doesn't get read as well as it should do. So again, these are questions you should be asking when you go and purchase a puppy. Will the puppy be lead and collar trained? Okay, not end of the world if it's not lead trained, but it should be collar trained, in my opinion, regardless of what breed of dog it is. They should be comfortable wearing a collar. Because then when you take on your part, half of it's already done and the transition is just basically easier for you. Now, when it comes to exercise, there's this general rule of thumb for all breeds that you would do five minutes exercise per calendar month of age. But as we know, until they've had their vaccinations, they shouldn't be going out on big long walks. So they're gonna be at least three months old. So by the time they are ready to go out, they could do a 15-minute walk. Now they're little, they're probably not gonna walk that far. And so I will talk about other ways to get your puppy out and about that doesn't involve loads of exercise in probably a separate podcast about socialization. But the whole point is that you should be taking your puppy out and about, but it doesn't necessarily have to be exercise, but equally, they should be comfortable with a collar and lead on. So when you do need to exercise them, it isn't hard work or drama. So, as I say, you don't have to do the 15-minute roll, even though that's what floats about. You've got to remember puppy's joints are quite loose and flexible, and you don't want to do too much exercise, and you will change the physicality of a bulldog puppy by over-exercising them. So typically a show breeder would have them out and about up and walking, but you wouldn't do a proper walk probably until they're five, if not six months, and they're ready to be shown. Well, they can be shown for four months now, but typically for six months old is when you can actually win some credentials and you know they have their own standing. So it's more about just getting them out and about and used to the atmosphere and the environment rather than hard exercise, if that makes sense. So I'm all for you don't have to walk the dog there. You can put them in the car, drive them there if it's the park, for instance, have a little stroll around the park, put them in the car, drive home. Don't need to walk there as part of the activity. And at a certain age, it is about engagement. So you need to remember that mental stimulation is as important as physical stimulation. It's very much recognised that the yesteryear of walking a dog two hours a day to try and wear it out, just you just feel the fire. You're just basically training an athlete. So why would that be any less? So nowadays it's very much the importance about enrichment toys, using their brain, like snuffle mats and activities in the garden rather than just thinking I need to exercise this dog. So just think about the mental stimulation as part of exercise as well as the physical stimulation. But with a puppy, the way the best way to start off is you just put the collar on the puppy, is on if it's never had a collar on before, just put it on for a short amount of time and make sure that something positive is happening while the puppy's collar on. So if the breeder is kibble fed, you can like scatter feed, which is where you sort of chuck the food on the floor and the dog has to rummage around and find it. So you could use part of their food, put the collar on, have a little play, do a little bit of scatter feeding, and then take the collar off. And then obviously just build up the time that they've got the collar on for. Then eventually you'll get to the point where you put the collar on, they're not bothered. So then you think, right, let's clip on the lead. Now, this can be done in the house, so if it's miserable outside, it doesn't matter. And you'll just clip the lead on the dog and you don't try and take it anywhere, put it anywhere. You just let them lead the way. If they want to walk around, you just walk around with them with the lead on. You're not trying to instruct them to do anything. Again, you do that for a week or so, they'll be fine. Then eventually, it might be worth putting them out in the garden and then just trying to coax them around with the lead and collar on. Brilliant. You could do all of this before they're ready to go out. Then the next stage, depending on where you s where you live, what your setup is, but it'd be good if you are in the front garden, especially if you've got traffic passing and that kind of thing, stand in your front garden with the dog on the collar and lead, not necessarily walking anywhere. Then you might want to get more adventurous and think, right, we're going to go down walk down the driveway. We might walk down the road a little bit to the first lamppost, street light, turn around and come back. So you're just slowly building up the distance so it's just no trauma, basically. It's just all easy, all really laid back. Don't force them into doing anything. Don't drag them along the floor if they don't want to go. Just make it all really relaxed and fun. Then eventually you'll get you'll get to the point where they just you put it on, off they go, and off they trot. And that's what you want. That they're just confident and happy just to trot out and about. So I see many owners have bulldogs that don't want to walk, which I've just never experienced. I wish that was the case of mine, but mine are all like, yeah, let's go. Like we've we've got we've got places to go, people to see, and as soon as they know cholera leads coming, they're all keen for a walk. But also be worth I know there's like internal triggers in the house. So for instance, maybe to stop your dog becoming like doorbell reactive, that you have someone, and especially it doesn't help because especially ring doorbells and that kind of thing, they just go off on the TV now. But you might just want to ring the doorbell, have someone ring the doorbell, and then just totally ignore it so they don't associate that every time the bell goes off, I get to run to the door because somebody's there. And likewise, like and likewise with collar and lead. So maybe you should just put a collar on, maybe you put the collar and lead on, they don't go anywhere, maybe you you just go to the garden, just shake it up because this is why many owners have to learn to spell. They know the patterns of I'm going for a walk. So it's quite important that life doesn't come predictable because then they can become very set in their ways, and then that's difficult to manage as they get older. I wouldn't have the routine of they always eat their breakfast at eight o'clock in the morning. I would shake it up and move it about because as soon as that doesn't happen to them, they find that quite difficult to deal with because they'd be like, well, but to be fair, I don't have a routine and my labrador still comes up to me and uh sure nudge me when it gets to six o'clock in the evening, just say it's dinner time, but I think that's more our appetite speaking, more than anything. But the my bulldogs are really good, like they don't bother me, they just know eventually we're gonna get food, eventually we'll go for a walk. It happens when it happens. If possible, I would have a routine but try and not make it predictable. Have a pattern of your day, but not necessarily a hard and fast routine. So all the things get done, but you just never know what order they're in. So, particularly if you're on holiday and they you have someone else look after them or they go into kennels, it just helps and cope with that better. Yeah, lead and collar is definitely a trigger for them, so just manage that with the end in mind. And then it comes to the exercise itself. I would just be doing short, short walks and slowly building up. I know people want to take the dogs on the school run. So you do realize automatically doing that, you're sort of breaking some rules of uh pattern recognition, but also forcing a distance that they might not yet be ready to walk. So just bear that in mind and maybe don't take them on all the walks all the time, or maybe they go in the morning ones sometimes, and then when you pick the kids up in the afternoon, they go sometimes like rotate it about basically, because equally, you not being there can trigger some anxiety, and if you're not there, you just don't want them to be bothered about it. And obviously, all of this I'm saying is like worst-case scenario, but it does happen. I find bulldogs low anxiety, but there are definitely bulldogs out there that have separation anxiety, so we just want to set them up to thrive, don't we? Just don't want them to fail. And so, in regards to exercise itself, so I do like walk wear-wise, I do like a Martingale collar, which has got like the little flexible chain in it, which I think is just good for an auditory training pointer, and also from a physicality that they feel the collar getting tighter and looser. Just a really nice thick one, like four or five centimetres wide. Actually, thinking about it, I know why a lot of people walk their bulldogs on harnesses because they're saying the collar comes over their head because their neck width can be just as wide as their head. So with most breeds, they've got skinny little necks, so then can't just pull a collar off because they're just getting caught in the head. Bulldogs aren't always like that, so just get a well-fitting collar, which is why I like a marty gale, because then it fits when it's closed up and tight, but then it's it's loose, so there's no unnecessary pressure on the neck when they're not pulling or going anywhere or doing anything. But having a well-fitting collar and you want a thick, broad collar, you don't want one that digs into their neck. So, as I said, about four or five centimetres generally does the job. You've got all these uh what do they call them? Tactical, I think they call it like tactical walk wear now, like all these old combat wear. Uh and I quite like those as well. They're really robust, nylon, got a handle on them so you can grab the on the collar, you can grab them quick. Some of the um actual catches to connect the collar to the lead are a bit OTT to be honest. So I don't necessarily like that part of them. I just want a normal um hook knap lock attached to them. But I quite like that stuff because it is pretty robust and it's just a nice thickness and a nice weight for a bulldog, and you can start off like little puppy sizes. But I do like a martingale as well. But in regards to exercise, how far is far? What bison's around about five months? I like road walking my bulldogs because I keeps the nails short, keeps the muscle tone good, it's a busy environment, so it just gets them used to difference going-ons basically without being freaked out by it all. The Labrador by choice would prefer a hired field or a field or a park where she can go crazy and you can chuck a ball. I think the bulldogs, once they've run round the park once, they're just not overly bothered. And I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but some dogs find bulldogs quite difficult to read and to communicate with because they don't have a waggy tail that they can understand. They're not used to their faces because they're missing the muzzle, and because they do talk a lot, like they don't, they're like quite grunty. Some people be like, Oh, your dog, is your dog growling? You're like, No, they're just talking, like bulldogs just huff and puff and sigh and do all the things where most dogs don't. So I find because of those reasons, bulldogs can get attacked. So I don't trust other dogs, and you shouldn't trust other dogs when you're out and about in public places, and it's your job to protect your dog. So don't let a dog come running up to them that you don't know how they're gonna react. And so, because most other dog owners are slight morons that don't really understand general dog walking etiquette and dog language or reading dog communication skills, that it ends up that your dog can come worse off. And they will blame your dog because it's a bulldog and it looks all scary and fierce and it's chunky and all this rubbish, but normally it is not the bulldogs, it's just the reaction they've caused by being slightly different. So, always protect your dog when you're out and about in public spaces. So, for that reason, I much prefer a hired field than being basically in a public field where you just don't know, you can't control the area basically. So, my Labrador should run around uh a field all day long where the bulldogs, once they've done it once, they're kind of like, yeah, I'm over this. What's the point? So it's down to you. Like I'm all for road walking, but it is nice for them to let their hair down and go a bit crazy every now and again. So just balance it out and mix it up, basically. I quite like a flexible, extendable lead. I don't mind that on a bulldog. I've some breeds wouldn't walk on that. A Labrador would be absolutely ridiculous, like that'd be ripped out of your hand and gone down the road. But I find bulldogs, especially road walking, it gives them a nice bit of flexibility of sniffing the verge, the pavement, you know, having a look round without being like off lead and dangerous because most bulldogs, unless you're gonna make some conscious decisions and teach recall, but bulldogs are stubborn, so it's not gonna be easy. Um giving them a bit of flexibility with a decent, high quality, flexible lead. So I would only use the tape version. I don't like the cords, so the tape version, and I would only have uh I I can't I'm just thinking now in the lengths whether they're coming three or five metres. I'll probably use a five metre one, but again, it needs to be there the robustness of them is by weight. So make sure that you buy the correctly sized one for the dog, and of course, until uncomfortable with a puppy walking normally on a collar and lead, I definitely wouldn't be introducing a flexi, so maybe not until they are you know 12 months old, really. A year old would I consider that until I'm comfortable with yeah, their behaviour around and about in public, basically. Hopefully, you should know by now you need to just be aware of the weather a bit when it comes to exercising. Dogs full stop, let no bulldogs, but we know, don't we? Bulldogs are brachycephalic, they're short faced, so they have less muzzle, so cooling down can be a bit more complex for them, especially if they're not, you know, the best of breathers, they could potentially have bowass, so the throat area is concerned, they might not be able to get air into their body as well as other breeds, so you just need to factor this all in. It doesn't matter if it's too hot and you don't take your dog for a walk, don't force your dog out. Nowadays, everyone's pretty on it in regards to social media and knowing when it's too hot, and you'll see all these charts now, and like don't leave your dog in a hot car. Put the back of your hand on the floor, and does it like feel overly hot? Then don't walk the dog. So obviously, they cool down through their pores as well. But if the floor is hot, then they can't cool down. You've got to be conscious of the dog actually burning their pores. If that's the case, you need to make sure when it gets the summer, you walk super early in the morning. And I actually prefer an early morning walk than a late evening walk because it hasn't yet warmed up. So if you do like a late evening, and I'm talking late, like sometimes you've got to walk your dog out at like nine, ten o'clock at night for it to be the right temperature, and that's in the UK saying something, isn't it? So anyone that's international, you're more than aware that have the nice climates that you need to be aware of temperatures, and it's not just heat, but also humidity. So once the humidity gets high, then there's more vapour in the air, there's more water in the air. So cooling down also then becomes more difficult, like overheating becomes easier, basically. So you can do a super early walk or a late, late evening walk. So for me, my preference would always be walk super early in the morning, if at all, if you have to. It doesn't matter if your dog doesn't go for exercise for a week, that they'd be fine if we get the odd um heat wave that we get in England. And equally, think about post exercise. If you do take them out, how are you gonna cool the dog down? So have you got aircon at home? Have you got cool mats? Make sure there's fresh water down. Just thinking about how the dog's gonna suitably cool down once home. I love an aircon. Unit personally. I can cope being out and about hot if I know I'm going to come back and my house is an icebox. But to me, it's more than worth the money. I know some people in the UK just want to try and whack a fan on. And to be fair, some of the fans know you can get these missed attachments and that kind of thing. But I just think for the money, just go and buy an aircon unit. It's really not worth the consent. But not just the exercise itself, it's how the dog's going to cool down after the exercise that you need to be concerned about as well. But if it's too hot, just don't walk them at the end of the day. It's not worth the drama, not worth overheating your dog. It's not worth then getting a heat stroke. It's not worth the drama, the vet spills, literally just don't take them. The point that you need to be concerned, and hopefully you'll never experience this, that your dog goes from just standard panting, like and obviously it could be a fast pattern, like the tongue's out and they're panting, but you'll hear it turn to a roar, and it literally just sounds like a lion roaring. And that's because they're in distress now. They're trying to get oxygen into their body and they're failing to do so. You never want to be in that position where you hear your bulldog roaring and overheating. Let's just avoid that in the first place. But back in the day, before everyone was so conscious about health testing, a dog could overheat and basically stop like producing all this unnecessary bile and phlegm and stuff. So to break that down, having lemon juice being so acidic breaks down all the phlegm. Now, it's never a bad thing just to have some lemon juice in the cupboard, is it? I don't expect you ever to need that. I've I've never needed it to any point where I'm concerned. However, if I'm travelling, if I'm going to dog shows, then I'd rather be over-prepared than underprepared. So I would take lemon juice with me. I would take pyroton with me as well. I've got tweezers with me, as these random things that you might need when you're out and about. I've got slippery own for upset stomachs, really good. Slippery owns a natural binding agent. And so if I was out at a dog show and one of the dogs got an upset tongue, then slippery own would work. So it's worth having like in a little emergency. Maybe I don't know if I've covered that or not. I think I may have covered it in a community call and I might have blogged about it, but probably not done a podcast on it. So yeah, maybe we'll go through what should be your dog first aid kit. Obviously, I know you can buy dog first aid kits and yeah, go and buy one, but it's probably not breed specific enough. So there's probably some extra items in there, like I've already mentioned, that'd be worth tracking in. But ultimately, if it's too hot and equally if it's too cold, if it's too icy and it's gonna damage the puppy pores, then just don't go. I never walk the dogs when it's really icy, and the dogs are fine, and to I it's me the one that's not fine, basically. If they pull me and I can't brace for that, then I'm the one that's gonna come off worse and end up with a broken ankle or a broken wrist or something like that. So um I'm very much a fair weather dog walker, and rightly so for the safety of the dogs and for me. But I don't mind to be fair, don't mind doing it in the drizzly rain. And nowadays everyone's all over a dry robe, aren't they? Or the or the equivalence of where they're just massive overcoats that can be quite lightweight as well. So it means you don't get drenched walking the dogs, it's quite nice. So they're well worth the money. But yeah, so in exercise, we know not to overwalk a puppy. We know roughly it's a five-minute rule per calendar month, but it's more about socialization and experiences than actual hard exercise until really they're over six months, if not 12 months. Make sure you're using the right hardware. I don't mind a martingale or a fixed collar like these combat tactical collars, are quite like those as well. Be conscious of the weather. The funny thing is, bulldogs will always stop and expect people to say hello to them, which is quite funny. Uh and equally, how do you entertain unwanted interest? Now that you've got to think about the safety of your dog when you're out and about, and you'll soon learn one of the questions you'll get asked is, Oh, these dogs are really expensive. It's just such a round of thing to say. Would you go to someone and go, Oh, trainers are really expensive? Or I see you've got a 15 grand watch on, I don't know, I just find it a weird, weird thing to say. But people openly say to you, equally, they'll openly tell you that your dog's ugly as well, so you need to um prepare yourself for that. We need some good comebacks, some quick, fast responses. So yeah, just people can just be a little bit weird when you're walking dogs. But how do you deal with being in uncomfortable positions? So I used to tell all my people, like someone being overly interested in your dog, and I've always just taught them to say, to be fair, like we rescued this one because they've got a heart murmur. So I I feel like I could be accountable for everyone thinking that bulldogs are really ill or poorly, but I think it's just the easiest way for someone you could just say, yeah, no, I rescued this one because they they got a heart quite a serious heart murmur, it's like and just put an end to it to make out that it's a bit of a dud. Dogs do get snatched, they do get stolen. So you do need do need to be quite aware of um your surroundings and where you are with a dog. So you just need to be a bit clued up, and equally the security of your house and when you're out and about, and have you got cameras, you can keep an eye on the dogs and how secure is your garden, and yeah, who knows, you know, your dog and where you live and all that kind of stuff. So, as with any valuable possession, just make sure that you look after it and have your wits about you, and that not all people that approach you are going to be nice people. So just be a little bit sensible in that respect. Typically, an adult bulldog, I think, is fine with 25-30 minute road walk. They can do more, they can do less. If you want your dogs to walk more as an adult, then just slowly condition them in and increase the activity, the exercise. But just be aware you're you're training your bulldog to become more of an athlete then. So their body shape will be different, they're gonna go taller on leg, they're gonna be leaner in body, which is fine if you want to fit them into your lifestyle. Are they a dog that you're gonna go jogging with and running with? No, if you want a dog for that, pick another breed, basically. That that's not gonna happen. I mean, I think the good thing is with bulldogs is they don't pest you for exercise. If your bulldogs are doing a lot of zoomies all of the time, then that's them needing needing to burn off energy, so then you might want to actually exercise them and get them out and about. That's you know, zoomies once a day is more than typical within the breed. But if you if they're doing it quite frequently, then um yeah, definitely consider that you need to be exercising them a bit more up in the amount of time that you are exercising them. But they're not a dog that hassles you for exercise, so they can become quite lazy. So for it's for you to gauge how much exercise they require, you're the adult in the room, as I always say. So I think 25 to 30 minutes per day, a road walk would be really well conditioned, a bulldog on that, taking the odd day off if you wanted to, because the weather's miserable, or you just can't be bothered, or you're ill, or whatever. Equally, they could do an hour, I have no doubt about it. Equally, they could do less. But as an adult, I think that's that's more than sufficient. So that probably ties into school runs and that kind of thing for some people. But as I say, you need to build up to it, they're never gonna hassle you for it, but it should be good for them, their routine, their mental stimulation as well as their physical stimulation. And obviously, have good practices, it'd be good if they can be trusted and walked by all members of the family, just not with one particular person. And I think it's good to stop those automatic triggers as well, that they do get walked by different members of the family. I guess the other end of the spectrum is when they start aging and that they start slowing down and making sure that you adapt your exercise to that. Um, I think you need to be careful that uh well, both sides of the coin, aging and young, bulldog puppies can go through growth spurts and they can get puppy limbs, just rest them. You know, just don't force it, it'd be fine. Don't then get over that before stressing the body with unnecessary exercise. And likewise, if you realise your dog's coming back lame from a walk, then you need to take them to the beds and get them checked out and see whether I've had it before where it's just misalignment where they've grown out of alignment. So um a lot of the giant breeds like Great Danes, St. Berners, like big, big dogs, they will take their puppies from four months old to a chiropractor and make sure that they're aligned correctly so when they grow that they grow in alignment. And I've actually had it before where I've um had a dog where he's just really tight across his shoulders. I could feel he's like quite tight and tense, and one of his feet turned outwards, which was weird because one if they're both turned, I would have thought that that's just how he was. But one was straight and one turned outwards. When I took it to the chiropractor and said, Yeah, he's basically too tight, he's too tense across his neck. So they weren't their magic. And to be fair, it was only two two treatments, but and uh they basically released all the tension, it was insane because he was so tense, they couldn't actually do it with their hands and they had this little tool, and they basically it looked like they just jabbed him and punched him. She did it, she said, run your hand across there. She said, Can you feel how warm it is? Said, yeah, and it's because she'd released the energy, like the tension had released his heat, it was crazy. Um, and then he never he never looked again after that. So I'm all for these supplementary services that are out there for dogs. I know like there's massaging is a really big one as well, and just like keeping the body flexible and subtle, which is what we should be doing as humans, isn't it? And especially as we age, that we should be stretching more. And I guess probably why yoga's like so popular, and Pilates is so popular that it does all these stretches that even though you're not living an active lifestyle, it keeps you mobile. And I think with the dogs, aging dogs, particularly, that's something that we probably should be bearing in mind as well. So I had a girl, and this is where reading body language is so important. I had a girl that always used to play bell, so they do the front legs down with their bum in the air. That for them is a natural pose when they were baiting balls, that position that they would go into to then strike. So bulldogs tend to do it more than other breeds. But I found I had a girl that was play bowing all the time, and basically she was stretching, and she used to do the front up and her back legs out directly as well. So you can literally see her stretching. So her alignment was off, and to be fair, she was, I would say, an inch or an inch and a half too short on her front legs. So I think her whole body was misaligned. So every morning she literally used to do these yoga moves, so she was naturally trying to correct herself. But it takes it takes some observation, doesn't it, to go, oh, that dog is a bit too short on her front legs. And luckily, she's naturally trying to correct herself and she was fine on movement. But maybe she wasn't doing that, she would have gone lame or she would have gone tight or she would have done this, or she would have been in pain, and then I would have had to have taken her for some some form of therapy to and yeah, make her all a bit more bendy that she could cope with it. So I just think it's interesting. You see your dogs act in a certain way, and they are telling you something. She was never ill, but that was obviously something that was sort of quirked to her that I managed to pick up on and work out why she was doing it. But as we age, so no different with adults, humans, it should be the same with dogs, just keep them flexible as possible. And yeah, there are services out there that can help you do that, so you might need to consider that as they age, but also reduce the distance down, you might have to reduce the frequency down, and eventually you'll get to a point where um you don't need to take them. So recently there was a a dog, I didn't breed him, but he was sired by one of my boys back in the day, and he actually died on his dog walk at 11 years old. So, like a great age, does he probably need to be going for walks? Like, and it's not a bad way to go, isn't it? Like, if if he did generally like love going out for his walks and that's how he went, then yeah, amazing. Like, what a way to go. I mean, a little bit traumatic for the owners, isn't it? Thinking, oh, like bulldogs are heavy, so the thought of trying to get a dead dog home and processing that and dealing with that, probably not ideal. For him, he just went out and did his usual thing. Are there many 11-year-old dogs that I've walked? I would say no. Um, I just don't bother. But obviously, it's the balance of keeping them fit and healthy at the same time. So just saying to be aware of. But yeah, so exercise. Don't do too much too fast. Just get them out and about. It's about socialization, don't force them to do anything, make it fun. Remember, it's mental exercise as well as physical exercise. Be wary of the environment that you're exercising them in and the weather, the climate, um, and how you're gonna call a dog down. What's your post-exercise routine? Deep chested breeze can be prone to bloat, and that's where basically the stomach swings over on itself and basically kinks and then air builds up, so they literally bloat, um, but it's fatal, like it's deadly. So you don't ever want a dog suffering from it. So, my general rule of thumb is just feed them and then no exercise at least an hour afterwards. Likewise, after exercise, leave them for an hour before you feed them. So it's just a general basic rule of thumb. So just think about when you're feeding them, think about when you're exercising them, think about where you're taking them. We've talked about road walking, we've talked about fields, we've talked about what walkway you're using and the environment that you're in, and also about how other dogs may struggle with the breed because they don't really understand them and how they might react to that. We all we want to make it fun and positive, and don't be too predictable in your patterns and your triggers. Try and um change it up a bit. And also, another thing in regards to triggers, try and not walk the same route all of the time, and like even walking it anti-clockwise can make a difference. So you just want to not be overly predictable with what you're doing and how you're doing it, just keeps the body flexible and keeps the mind flexible as much as possible. I think I've covered and yabbered enough this time. I'm signing off, but I will be back next week for another overly long, no doubt, pass, but hopefully still enjoyable. All right then, see you later. Bye. Before you go, head over to bulldogownersclub.com if you fancy a bit of support of your dog, help finding the puppy or joining one of our fortnightly informal chatty community hauls.