Like it or not, this story does not paint a pretty picture. That being said, this particular premise seems to be doing a lot of heavy lifting:
Herzog’s research shows U.S. bulldog registration remaining flat for decades and then climbing slowly but steadily from 1986 onward, from a little shy of 7,000 dogs registered to a little more than 20,000 by 2005. A rise like that suggests sustained cultural exposure to the bulldog. “It’s certainly possible,” Herzog says, that college football games on cable provided that exposure and led to the increase in popularity — and in turn the bulldogs’ health problems.
Certainly possible? Well, I’m convinced.
Get The Picture 
I wouldn’t own one (we’re pound puppy mutt people). The upfront cost, the maintenance and bills are too much. The Seilers are trying to be caretakers of the breed. More power to them because the UGA line is a labor of love passed down through their family.
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Purebred dogs/cats are inbred dogs/cats. It’s that simple.
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And who, other than the PETA peckers, says bulldogs have more health problems that . . . than when or what? That assertion is anecdotal at best.
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https://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/c_dg_bulldog
HEALTH
The average lifespan for an English Bulldog is between 8 and 12 years. It is a member of the brachycephalic breed class, meaning that is has a short head and snout. This physical characteristic can lead to a number of possible health challenges, including those of the nose, eyes, teeth, and respiratory system. The nostrils are narrower, and the soft palate longer in the Bulldog (meaning that the skin of the palate can partially obstruct the airway), creating the potential for severe breathing problems, especially when the dog is overheated or over excited. Heat is a special concern with this breed, since it is not able to cool itself efficiently through panting, as other breeds do.
Because of the extra amount of work that is involved with bringing air into the body, any situation that requires breathing harder can lead to irritation and swelling of the throat, which can also lead to respiratory distress in the Bulldog. Heat stroke is also more common with this breed.
Some of the major health problems the Bulldog is susceptible to are keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), ventricular septal defect, canine hip dysplasia (CHD), shoulder luxation, internalized tail, stenotic nares, and elongated soft palate. The Bulldog has also been known to suffer from urethral prolapse or vaginal hyperplasia occasionally. Some minor problems affecting Bulldogs include entropion, cherry eye, elbow dysplasia, patellar luxation, distichiasis, ectropion, and demodicosis.
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Well, the vet the owns Bully, the Miss State mascot, says she warns people about the health costs and challenges of owning one.
I wish they could breed them back to what they looked like 50 years ago. Those were active dogs. I can’t see Uga (DGD that he is) jumping or running around.
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Their logic makes sense. The fact that Texas is still not back explains why families aren’t adopting longhorn steers in greater numbers.
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https://canna-pet.com/english-bulldog-health-problems-issues/
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I don’t care one way or another about the breed other than I like UGA. But I just want to point out an incredibly imbecile logical fallacy. A total “it does not follow”. Just using plain old logic, How in the world does an increase in the breed’s popularity lead to increased health problems?
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“Although Purebred Dogs Can Be Best in Show, Are They Worst in Health?”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/although-purebred-dogs-can-be-best-in-show-are-they-worst-in-health/
But, you know, lots of people don’t buy this here science shit.
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What the breeders have done to the bulldog line is a tragedy. They have created a dog that suffers many health issues all for the pleasure of man.
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An increase in popularity provides incentives for breeders to produce puppies as quickly as possible. To save time and money, breeders will mate dogs from the same area, or even the same kennel, that are closely related biologically. This alone leads to less genetic diversity. Breeders then select for those features, e.g., all white, that make the breed popular. This further reduces the gene pool. These two mechanisms both produce genetic mutations and lead to inadvertent selection that includes health issues. For example, the genes that produce a particular head shape or color could also be associated with a particular health problem such as joint inflammation or breathing issues.
The AKC has been encouraging people to breed for specific appearances (rather than, say personality or work ethic) for over 100 years. This can be positive when genes for appearance are associated with other desirable traits, but it is negative when associated with health problems. In any event, the net result is a more limited gene pool to begin with for many breeds. Then along comes a surge in popularity, and you have breeders concentrating genes from an already limited gene pool.
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“Looking ahead at the future of purebreds, Serpell emphasizes that the goal is not to get rid of them but rather to put the health of the animals first. “I don’t think anyone wants the breeds to disappear,” Serpell says. “I don’t want the bulldog to disappear, I just want the bulldog to be transformed back into an animal that can function properly and is reasonably healthy.””
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My in laws owned Bulldogs for years. The health issues are legit. Super sensitive to temperature especially heat, respiratory issues that lead to pneumonia, heart conditions and joint issues. The last pair they had the male lived 9 years, the female 8. The in-laws wanted puppies but pair was unable to mate even with assistance (Having your mother-in-law explain the mechanics of manipulating a male dog’s penis in an attempt at penetration is awkward, to say the least. And I am no prude…) so they used AI for the litter. Of the six puppies delivered by cesarean 2 were DOA. The others lived and were sold when they weaned. After that expensive fiasco they had both the adult dogs “fixed” and the dogs lived out the rest of their lives as pets. All the dogs they owned had great dispositions to be sure.
FWIW Pa-in-law didn’t choose bulldogs because he’s a Georgia fan, he’s fascinated with England where his ancestors are from and thinks bulldogs are cool. He bought a Mini-Cooper that was more trouble than the damn dogs, too.
The writer has a point in saying that the breed’s increased exposure has resulted in over/inbreeding but I disagree that the breeds health issues are completely the result of breeding for specific characteristics. The inherited issues are a reflection of demand and supply.
Is this CFB’s fault? Inadvertently yeah, to some extent.
But why are we sitting here wringing our hands over a one silly dog breed when the entire population of Polar Bears is slowly starving to death because the sea ice is melting? Did y’all not see the commercials?
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Cut the massive funding to the PBSG and the polar bears will have plenty to eat.
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Spur, I honestly did not know what that was and had to google it. What’s your plan? Cut the funding and leave the researchers loose on the rapidly diminishing sea ice to provide a new if somewhat unsustainable food source for the bears?
I threw in the polar bear part because of the commercial that shows the cuddly white stuffed animal coke ad teddy/pooh/polar bears and asks for money to “adopt’ one of the adorable lil’ dickens that makes my wife cry every time she sees it. Why doesn’t PETA or WWF show a polar bear covered in baby seal blood dragging tattered carcass of the mother back to her gore spattered offspring?
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Our ceramic bulldog seems to be healthy enough. Although I’ll admit we don’t bring him inside during inclement weather.
And it must be a popular breed. Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc. seem to have dozens, if not hundreds of them for sale.
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I had always noticed that the recent Ugas didn’t look like the old ones. Now I know it’s because of inbreeding. Perhaps the Seilers can do what Yale did in that article and get a healthier version of the breed between the hedges.
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I will always give the Seilers the benefit of the doubt. They have certainly researched breed lines for years, more in recent years, and are doing their part to avoid denigration of the breed that occurs through puppy mills. Why doesn’t someone just pull the breed lines up for viewing since they are AKC-registered and you can trace the lineage of each dog? You can determine for yourselves how close the breeding lines are, but I’ll bet money that it shows how far afield they have gone to avoid genetic closeness.
Sporting breeds seek differing genes that usually are those that extend the lifelines. Stamina, heightened senses and brains are the first attributes sought and proofed early in sporting dogs. Style can be taught, but brains will take the dog to quarry. That does not prevent some idiot from taking two dogs from genetically close litters and breeding them for money using champion lineage names known by hunters. They sell them young before you can see the inbreeding errors. Dogs that are bred for championships are run in field trials early (futurities) that establishes that a breed can hunt, find and, in most case, point and hold quarry location. Bench events determine the breed characteristics that can be seen by eye.
My father established championship English Pointer lines in the ’50s and ’60s to produce the National Champion that was considered an investment in the breed. Fortunately, he was provided with the wherewithal to have such a program; land, money and time to research breed lines for total breeding honesty. He also was fortunate enough to have all the best dogs of that breed brought to him for the early years since he lived where the National Championship is run each year and he could witness the best at work for years. He took care to inspect kennels and records of known dog breeders to establish that nothing untoward could have accidentally occurred in their program. He would get a character analysis from others who knew breeders and how they may have operated through the years. Lineage was traced for both sire and dam to establish stability of genes in both lines (sadly, the sire is given the credit for all accolades). I’ll bet his attention to detail was not unlike what the Seilers do when establishing their line that costs beaucoup bucks and we are the recipients of their largesse.
How close do any of you look when you buy that Golden Retriever? Money says that that will be the next breed ruined by puppy mills. Yes, we have lost 4 Ugas over the last 20 years, but the Seilers said long ago they were doing what they could to further the breed and I believe them in that it takes time and money to get that done once unforeseen negative genes crop up. We don’t need no negative waves from some who would criticize and kick our Uga since plenty of that is conjured on the field of play during games. Uga’s breed has problems, as do all breeds, but kicking our mascot for his problems is un-Georgia like in loyalty to be shown for his years on the sideline that causes us to reflect how proud we are to have him and the Seilers representing us.
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“Yes, we have lost 4 Ugas over the last 20 years, but the Seilers said long ago they were doing what they could to further the breed and I believe them”
Maybe the Seilers just aren’t good at it. The linked article just showed how successful Yale was in fixing the problem. You can do something for decades and still be mediocre at it. They basically got into the business when Papa Seiler got trashed and brought a bulldog to a game lol.
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My dad is a veterinarian, graduated from the vet school at UGA, huge fan – goes to both football and basketball games. Has repeatedly said he’d never own an English Bulldog for all the same reasons stated in the article. And he’s told me the same thing, most can’t breed naturally anymore, and can’t deliver pups on their own anymore. When an animal can’t do either of those things naturally, that by itself should tell you things are way wrong. Add in the skin and breathing conditions which are rampant, and it’s really not a healthy breed anymore. The outcrossing is a good idea. Bring in some genes from Boxers or another similar breed to bring the Bulldog back to what it used to be.
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Bah, that’s just and anecdote! /s
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I owned a beautiful Sonny Seiler bulldog in the 90s. His name was Dewey. He lived 11 healthy years. It was brown with a white face with zero flab. They are great, lovable, dogs, but do a lot of homework before you buy or get one from Sonny.
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Is that: do your homework before you buy unless you buy from Sonny or is it do your homework whether you buy from Sonny or anyone else?
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I think these issues with the English Bulldog are real, but they aren’t unique to the breed. Any bred dog has issues. Take the ubiquitous yellow lab (really any bred dog) and hip displacia. It’s a serious issue with Shetland Sheepdogs as well. The only dogs who don’t suffer from it are mutts.
We’ve had two dogs in our family. One I got from a co-worker was an English Bulldog-Beagle mix and was the GDOE. He lived to be 16 years old. The other we still have. He’s a Treeing Walker Coonhound my parents found on their doorstep in Macon County. He’s awesome. He’s 14. Any dog is going to cost you vet bills. Anyone who pays upfront for that pleasure, I don’t get.
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“……but they aren’t unique to the breed”
I don’t know of any other breed that can’t even reproduce on its own anymore. I get your point that many full breeds have issues – but the issues in English Bulldogs are worse than most.
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First of all, screw PETA. Their agenda is a zero sum endgame where livestock and pet ownership do not exist. That being said, all issues with the breed stated in the article are 100% legitimate. The breed has become an unhealthy, grotesque abomination of its original self.
I’ve stated it here before and it’s an unpopular position, but the current Uga line needs to end when Sonny dies. I know this issue is as old guard Georgia Way as it comes, but 64 years of prestige and perks for maintaining the mascot line is plenty long enough. The vet school should take over and focus on promoting a much healthier bulldog, just like what Yale has done. A vet student club could be responsible for daily care of the new Uga line. I’d love to see a more vibrant and energetic bulldog on the sideline. The single most iconic image of any Uga is him lurching to attack Robert Baker at Auburn. I seriously doubt the current version could even get off the ground like that.
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This is another unmasked PC attack on college mascots. PETA went after Bevo and UGA following the 2019 Sugar Bowl. In summary, they hate animal mascots.
Are there genetic issues with the English Bulldog breed? Certainly, but that’s not up to UGA to solve. Changing to another breed would be ludicrous.
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Did you even read the article? It’s hardly an attack on mascots, it’s a very factually correct breakdown of the issues currently affecting the breed. Again, they can neither mate on their own nor give birth on their own anymore. If that’s not nature holding up a huge red flag that we took a wrong turn in breeding these animals, I don’t know what is. And that’s just one of a number of significant health issues that routinely show up in the breed.
And I agree it’s not UGA’s “responsibility” to solve the issues, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a leader in helping to restore some health to the breed. Given what the breed means to the school, and the resources available through the vet school, it’s kind of a no brainer that there could be some effort there. Nobody is trying to change to another breed, just wanting to improve the current one.
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Olde English Bulldogge is the way to go if you are in the market for a bulldog. I’m on my 2nd and 3rd one currently. It’s a made up breed so you have to do due diligence on what the hell you are buying. They are supposed to bred to be healthier and more athletic like the bulldogs of the 1800’s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olde_English_Bulldogge
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Yeah, the article said that’s what Yale is doing. I’d like to see us follow along. Of course, we’d have to breed it to be all white…
We had a pit bull mutt we got from the pound. He was made up of a bunch of different bully breeds, plus a pinch of others. Greatest dog ever.
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Eh…get a boston terrier, feed him steroids and paint him white for public appearances. The Mascot Lives On!
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I remember reading that even the Seilers had decided to go against the breeding of the typical UGA- short legs, squatty, huge shoulders and head, short face due to several UGAs lasting only a couple years due to these health issues. My parents had English Bulldogs when I was growing up. They also had a book about the lineage of UGA. Look at the original UGAs. They were taller and thinner with slightly longer noses. The fat head and thick shoulders looks awesome but the sleeker and leaner is healthier.
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Boxers, American Bulldogs, Pit Bulls uh excuse me Staffordshire Terriers. There are many different kinds of athletic bulldog breeds that could be incorporated in. Just doesn’t seem that complicated. My only experience with the Seilers is them shooing people away from Uga during homecoming this year. Super annoying and pompous. Pretty much nobody were even paying attention to the dog they were just standing near his house. Not really relevant, just rubbed me the wrong way like who tf are you to have people removed from the sidelines? Why don’t you worry about getting your breeding down correctly.
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nobody was*
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