Ferocia KennelS
Located in Southern Oregon
Ferocia (Latin) - fierceness, ferocity; wild, savage; courage, boldness; arrogance
Your Ferocia Kennels Puppy
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American Bulldogs are an amazing and unique breed. We breed to maintain the working drives and traits within the breed, "working lines", but most of our puppies go on to be happy and loved pets. One of the charms of this breed is their versatility, and their ability to be pets or sport or show dogs. They do still require dog savvy owners, and I prefer homes with American Bulldog or other large guardian breed experience.
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Your Ferocia Kennels puppy will be very active and boisterous. Spontaneous zoomies are not uncommon. As puppies, American Bulldogs are very “generous” with their teeth - they like to bite, a lot. They can bite very hard, and they can be very excited about it by growling and making all manner of angry sounds. Your puppy is not being aggressive towards you, the biting and growling your puppy does is playful in nature. Your puppy is trying to play with you in the only way it knows how, as it is a normal and natural puppy behavior and how they play with eachother.
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This is a breed that has been created and bred to use their mouths in their work, and as puppies this trait is one of the most prominent. They bite and play fight very rough with their littermates and their mother as they grow. Your puppy has had some bite inhibition done by us before leaving, but you will need to continue this once you get your puppy home.
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American Bulldogs are a guardian breed, they are territorial and protective. They require training and socialization to develop from puppies into well adjusted adult dogs. This is a breed that must have rules and boundaries, these are not “furbabies.” An American Bulldog is not like a Labrador, these are dogs that have countless generations of dogs behind them that were created to be farm utility dogs, hog catching dogs, working dogs and family/property guardians.
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They are very loyal and devoted dogs, they have a will to please, are intelligent, and are easy to train with motivation. They do, however, require rules and balanced training that includes corrections for unwanted, inappropriate, or dangerous behavior. I do not condone abusive handling or mistreatment, especially of puppies, but being overly permissive with this breed can result in problems when your puppy is a 70-100# adult. Learning new behaviors is very easy with motivation (food!) stopping unwanted behaviors is best with correction. Prevention of unwanted behavior combined with teaching the behaviors you do want is a great starting place for this breed but still does not eliminate the need for rules and corrections of unwanted behavior.
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These are not dogs you take on play dates with random dogs, or to dog parks. As adults they are often very selective in their social interactions and the breed is not supposed to be dog social. They can be reactive towards strange dogs and must be trained that this is not acceptable behavior. They are often dominant towards strange dogs, and their play style is very rough and boisterous which can cause conflict with dogs that do not appreciate this style of play.
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American Bulldogs have prey drive and will be interested in chasing and catching small animals outside. If you intend to house your American Bulldog with other animals they need to be introduced when young and trained to understand which animals belong to the family. This acceptance is not species wide - they can learn to accept your cats, birds, rabbits, livestock, but they will not view stray cats, wild birds, or other wildlife or livestock the same way. They are often excellent rat catchers and part of their “job” is to keep pest, vermin, and predator animals away from the home and livestock. This includes strange dogs, as strange loose dogs are a danger to livestock.
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An American Bulldog is an excellent hiking or jogging buddy. They thrive on activity with their people. They have tons of personality and can be very silly and funny dogs. Most American Bulldogs are very affectionate and love to follow their people around the house, “helping” with chores and other activities.
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Your puppy is a blank slate waiting to have their genetics molded and shaped by you. Have fun with their training and development. While they need boundaries and rules, and firm guidance, they have a will to please and are very easy to train and motivate with food and toy rewards. Nurture a good bond and relationship with your puppy while providing structure, and you will have a best friend for life.