Our Story
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
Welcome to Southern Charm Bulldogs. We’d like you to get to know us a bit better. We are a small home breeder of AKC English and French Bulldog puppies. We adore these breeds and embrace the challenges that come with raising brachycephalic (smooshy faced) dogs.
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
At Southern Charm Bulldogs, we believe in responsible breeding practices that prioritize the health and well-being of our dogs. We are committed to producing happy and healthy puppies that will make great pets for families and individuals alike.
Our Facilities
Our Philosophy
Our Facilities
Our facilities are designed to provide the best possible environment for our dogs. We have spacious kennels, outdoor play areas, and plenty of room for our dogs to run and play. All of our dogs live in our home. Our dogs have their own room where their kennels are. They do not spend all their time in their kennels. Their kennels are a saf
Our facilities are designed to provide the best possible environment for our dogs. We have spacious kennels, outdoor play areas, and plenty of room for our dogs to run and play. All of our dogs live in our home. Our dogs have their own room where their kennels are. They do not spend all their time in their kennels. Their kennels are a safe space for them to go when home repairs are being done, when visitors are in our home, when we are away from home, and for them to eat. When we are home our dogs have free range of our home and back yard. We have a doggy door that we keep open when we are home so they can come in and out of the house as they please. We also keep cameras on our dogs and puppies at all times. Our dogs have an abundance of toys for their enjoyment. We have a covered outdoor puppy enrichment area where our puppies can go outside to safely play. The enrichment area is full of toys, slides, a running tunnel, a ball pit, balancing bars and steps, and much more. Our puppies are always supervised when outside. Of course there are doggy beds throughout the house for our dogs to nap in but most of the time they prefer our lap, the recliner, or our bed.
Becoming a Breeder of Bulldogs
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The journey to raising bulldogs was not short or easy but our dedication to the breed has been worth it. In the early 2000’s we started our research into the world of dog breeding. It was a lot to take in and we quickly realized if we wanted to breed happy healthy dogs and produce amazing puppies, we had a lot to learn. We researched breeding dogs and all that it entailed for many years before we even bought our first breeding dog. The early years of our journey didn’t even involve a bulldog.
Bulldogs are not easy dogs to breed. They require ovulation timing with progesterone testing, artificial insemination to get pregnant, c-section deliveries, and 24-hour monitoring for the first 4 weeks after whelping. We felt we needed experience with the breeding process using a much easier breed. We started with a female poodle and a female cocker spaniel. Breeding these dogs was fairly straight forward. The part we were most concerned with was “could we part with the puppies once they were ready to go?”.
The quick answer is yes, we could. After worrying about, caring for, cleaning up after, losing sleep over, hours of socializing puppies, and missing social events for weeks we were ready for them to find permanent homes. It’s not easy finding the best homes for puppies you’ve dedicated so much of yourself to. After learning the basics of breeding dogs, raising a few litters, and placing them with family and close friends we thought we were ready to start our dream of breeding bulldogs. This is where Southern Charm Bulldogs began and almost ended.
THE STORY OF PENNY
We found an adorable English Bulldog puppy for sale online. She was the last in the litter. We asked the breeder all the important questions you would need to know about a new potential breeding dog. The breeder was great. We visited her kennel and met her other bulldogs. The whole experience was awesome. She was a show breeder, and her dogs were gorgeous. We’re still friends with this breeder to this day even though they no longer breed or show dogs. We met the puppy and fell in love. A few weeks later we picked Penny up. She was so spoiled. Our intentions were definitely to breed her when she was old enough, but she was our baby and family pet first. We registered her through AKC with the name Dream Weavers Princess Penny. Her dad was a champion bulldog named Phoenix Dream Weaver. Our journey to becoming breeders of amazing bulldog puppies was underway. Well we thought so anyway.
OUR FIRST LITTERS
The time came for us to breed Penny and we were so excited. We found an amazing stud, and everything seemed to go as planned. Fast forward to ultrasound day and it’s revealed that Penny was not pregnant. We were disappointed but understood that’s just how it goes, and we would try again. 7 months later we were ready to try again. This time with a more local stud. Everything seemed to go as planned. The reproduction veterinarian felt we’d timed everything perfect. 30 days later ultrasound confirms Penny is pregnant. I’m not sure I have ever been more excited about anything in my life. Penny was pampered.
For the next month we watched Penny’s every move. We were excited yet anxious to meet the puppies. We researched and researched what to expect when dogs are expecting. We felt confident we’d know when Penny was ready to go in for her c-section. Our vet was also working closely with us. Her due date arrived, and she was showing no signs of labor, so we took her in to have her evaluated. All the puppies looked good on ultrasound. We and the vet decided to wait until the next day to see if she would go into labor and if she didn’t, we’d do the c-section that morning regardless of if she was in labor or not. The next morning Penny was still her same happy self and showed no signs of labor, so we elected to proceed with surgery. We were crushed to find out 2 of the puppies had passed away in utero overnight and the one living puppy was weak and not likely to survive. Penny did well with surgery, and we went home to try to care for the living puppy. Unfortunately, the puppy passed away within a few hours. We were crushed. What had we done wrong?
We followed our vet's advice, and we researched what we thought was everything you could research regarding breeding these remarkable dogs. Something caused these puppies to pass away overnight just prior to being born. It was one day past her due date. Could one day make a detrimental difference in the outcome of these puppies? We clearly had more work to do. There was more learning to be done. So, for the next 8 months we spent hours upon hours studying canine reproduction. We learned that one day late can indeed make a huge difference in the viability of the puppies and that dogs can have something called uterine inertia which causes them to not go into labor. Guess what? It’s common in the brachycephalic breeds. We made a plan for our next breeding. Our vet was on board, and we felt confident once more that we had everything figured out. We used the same local stud, Big John, that we used previously. 30 days later an ultrasound confirms Penny is pregnant. This time with 5 puppies. We’re over the moon excited. Penny went for weekly ultrasounds because we were so scared we’d miss something.
This time we planned the c-section for the day before her due date. The day came. We were scared but we knew the puppies were ready to be born even though Penny was showing no signs of labor. The puppies were delivered. They were gorgeous. Two of the puppies had deformities and did not survive once delivered. The other three puppies were doing fantastic. We were sad that two didn’t survive but for the first time on this very long journey we had what we thought were three healthy bulldog puppies.
RAISING PENNY’S PUPPIES
We had everything ready for Penny and her puppies at home. A warm whelping box, plenty of blankets, and heating pads to keep the puppies warm. Now it was up to Penny to care for her puppies. Oh, but what happens if your mama dog has no milk? Well, we read about it but never really thought we’d have to deal with that. Nonetheless here we were with three puppies and a mom with no milk and zero interest in caring for her puppies. The next few weeks were a blur. We barely slept. The puppies were tube fed and then once they got stronger they were bottle fed every 2 hours around the clock. We stimulated them to pee and poop and took care of their every need. At about 3 weeks we started noticing there was something a bit off with the puppies. One never seemed to notice when we came around. She slept through loud noises and wouldn’t wake up until she was touched. Another puppy was having trouble walking, and the third puppy just didn’t have a normal appearance.
The puppies were examined by our vet, and it was determined that the first girl was deaf, the second girl was born with three broken legs and 2 broken ribs, and the third girl had a facial abnormality that while not normal wouldn’t affect her life. Once again, we were heartbroken that the puppies we brought into this world were not the perfect puppies we strived for. We continued to love and care for these puppies as best we could. Once old enough the puppy with the mild facial defect went to live with family, the deaf girl found a wonderful home with someone familiar with the breed, and we kept the puppy with all the broken bones. We decided to have Penny spayed and made the tough decision to let go of our dream of raising bulldogs.
RAISING A “BROKEN” PUPPY
Penny’s litter challenged us more than we ever realized possible. We were overjoyed when the first two puppies, Princess Lily and Peaches, joined their new families. Even though things didn’t end the way we had hoped and by this point we were beyond breaking financially and emotionally we could finally see something good come out of this breeding.
Both families that now had our puppies were made better by sharing their life with one of our babies. That’s a good feeling. While Princess Lily and Peaches were loving life with their new families, we still had this small puppy with broken bones to care for. We decided to name her Blossom. Even though we never intended for Blossom to be bred, we still registered her with AKC. Her official name was Dream Weavers Luv-A-Bull Blossom. Blossom was truly a miracle. She developed pneumonia three times as a very young puppy and spent several nights in the hospital on oxygen. It was actually our vet that encouraged us to continue trying to pull her through the last time she developed pneumonia.
We had accepted this puppy just wasn’t strong enough to fight anymore and had elected euthanasia so Blossom wouldn’t suffer. Our vet could see a fight in her and said let's give her one more day. Less than 12 hours later she was off oxygen and barking at the veterinary team. She was a true fighter and our little miracle girl. Her legs were splinted, and she was placed in a hard vest to help her chest heal and fill out. Her splints had to be changed every couple days because she was growing so rapidly. She went from being unable to move to running within a few short weeks. Blossom stole our hearts and the hearts of everyone who met her. Life was good.
THE DREAM WE JUST COULDN’T LET GO
When I tell you we loved Blossom I mean we really really really loved this girl. She changed our lives for the better. She is the most incredible dog I have ever known. The more time that passed with Blossom the more in love with the breed we became. There was still a small spark that made us desire to raise bulldogs again. I found myself looking up bulldog puppies online. I wasn’t reaching out to breeders; I was just looking. At least that’s what I told myself. The truth is I was really looking for a chance to find the perfect puppy to try breeding bulldogs again. We didn’t want to just breed bulldogs. We wanted a puppy that was small yet athletic, that had a slightly longer muzzle and could breathe with ease.
Finding a puppy with these traits was a bigger challenge than we thought. Then we came across a family breeder that had a litter of English bulldog puppies. There was one puppy in the litter that I fell in love with just looking at the pictures. It was hard to tell in such a young puppy, but she seemed to fit the description we were searching for. I was still telling myself we weren’t looking for a puppy. Ha! I was totally lying to myself. I 100% had puppy fever and my dream to raise bulldog puppies was still there even if I wasn’t ready to admit it yet. I looked at the puppy’s pictures and videos for several days before I decided to pick up the phone and call the breeder. She said they only had one puppy still available. To my surprise the available puppy was the one I wanted. I took a few more days to think about it. I remembered all the heartache, worry, work, and pain we went through with Penny, and I decided it really wasn’t a good idea to put us in the position to endure that again. I told the breeder it just wasn't a good time and she understood.
I couldn’t get this puppy out of my head. I thought about her day and night for over a week. I couldn’t stop myself. I called the breeder just to check in. The puppy was still available. We scheduled a time to go meet the puppy. At this point I knew it was going to take a lot of willpower not to bring her home. She was perfect. I wanted her but I just couldn’t commit. Then the breeder showed me her pedigree and I was shocked at what I saw. She shared part of her pedigree with Penny. Penny’s dad, Champion Phoenix Dream Weaver, was this puppy’s great grandfather. That sealed the deal. I left but not without leaving a deposit for my new bulldog puppy. She shared the same pedigree as my Penny. Sadly, Penny had passed away a few years prior due to anaphylaxis from a bee sting. This new puppy would share a piece of our first bulldog Penny.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED OVER
We named her Maple, and she was exactly what we had hoped for in a bulldog. She was sweet, had zero breathing problems, and was the most athletic bulldog we had ever met. Our vet even commented on her athletic ability. Her registered name was Scruggable Sweet As Maple Syrup. We never stopped learning and researching canine reproduction. We learned from veterinarians, theriogenology veterinarians, textbooks, the internet, other breeders, and most of all we learned from our past experiences. By the time Maple was ready to have puppies and had cleared her health testing we were ready. We knew the breeding process from start to finish. Maple's first litter was a huge success. The puppies were perfect, and Maple was the best mom. This was the moment we had dreamed of for years. We finally had our perfect litter.
THE MAKING OF A NAME
Things continued to go well with our breeding program. We had a few litters and even kept a couple puppies to continue improving our line. We loved where our breeding program was going but we needed a kennel name. One day I was looking at our dogs and thought to myself they are beautiful, funny, and adorable with a touch of southern charm. That’s when the name hit me. That’s how we became Southern Charm Bulldogs.
SMALL DOGS WITH BIG PERSONALITIES
Once we had the breeding process perfected as much as we felt possible, we decided to bring in a smaller breed. We wanted something similar to our bulldogs but smaller in size. We considered several different breeds, but the French Bulldog is the breed we fell in love with most. They were the most like our English bulldogs, or so we thought. We quickly learned Frenchies are very different from English bulldogs. They are more stubborn, more active, and tend to be very bossy. Apparently, us humans are very easily trained. They are similar in many ways. Both breeds are very comical, sweet, gassy, and loyal companions. We didn’t think we could love a breed as much as we did English Bulldogs until we raised our first French Bulldog, Paris. She took over our hearts and our home. She’s definitely the boss and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Once we raised our first French Bulldog litter we were hooked.
Years later we’re still enamored with bulldogs and frenchies. While our program is more focused on the French Bulldog breed these days we haven’t lost our love of the English Bulldog. We still have our original line of English Bulldogs and have no plans of letting the legacy of Penny end anytime soon. We adore both breeds and hope that our puppies are bringing just as much joy to their families lives as our dogs do ours. We are excited to welcome you to the Southern Charm Bulldogs family. It is our goal to produce happy healthy bulldog puppies that will bring your family years of happiness.
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