12 Days of Breeders – 09 – Lory Mitchell of Star Studded Bulldogs

The 12 Days of Breeders is a series of interviews conducted with members of the Dog Breeder Society who are doing innovative, creative, and inspiring things in their dog breeding business.  In each of these interviews we cover challenges each breeder has encountered, and how they’ve overcome those challenges to find success in their breeding program.  Join me for all twelve of these interviews for inspiration, and countless actionable tips you can use to overcome (or avoid) challenges in your own dog breeding program!  You can check out all of the interviews in this series here.

Lory Mitchell and Star Studded Bulldogs

Lory shares it all! She tells about her journey into breeding, what it’s like raising Bulldogs (it’s a lot more work than my GSPs!), and she breaks some of the misconceptions people have about Bulldogs and health concerns. As a canine nutritionist, she shares her journey and process with raw feeding and the benefits she’s seen! She also shares about her turf experience and what she recommends. Lastly, she shares WONDERFUL information about marketing, how she does her email newsletter, how her website plays into it, and how she’s gotten clever with some Facebook Groups. You’ll love learning all the magic from Lory!

Learn more about Lory and Star Studded Bulldogs

Transcript

Julie Swan | 0:24

You guys are in for a treat today. Today we have Lori Mitchell of Star Studded Bulldogs. Lori, thanks so much for coming on the podcast.

Lory Mitchell | 0:32

Thank you for having me, Julie.

Julie Swan | 0:33

This is so great. Okay, so first off, can you tell us how did you get into breeding?

Was this something you always wanted to do or where did this bug come from?

 Lory Mitchell | 0:43

Yes, I was always a dog lover and particularly English Bulldogs since I was a little girl, but I never had one until I was an adult. Married and off on my own and that’s when I wanted to look into it. I started researching it.

I bought a couple dogs, but then life kicked in. I was married. I got pregnant.

I was getting divorced. I had a newborn and so breeding was just, the timing was just not for me. So I kind of put it in the back burner, waited 20 plus years till my kids went off to college and here I am.

Julie Swan | 1:22

And you finally got to get going with it.

Lory Mitchell | 1:24

Exactly.

Julie Swan | 1:26

And so how many years has it been since you’ve actually been breeding now?

Lory Mitchell | 1:30

So I started breeding in 2019 and then I’ve been breeding ever since. So I got my first Bulldogs in 2018 and then started breeding with my studs first, and then my female had her first litter in 2020. That was my first litter on my own and then I have been breeding since.

Julie Swan | 1:55

So fun. So breeding Bulldogs is not exactly easy. It’s not like throw them in a pen together and everything’s hunky dory, and then they can welp on their own.

It’s a little bit more involved, isn’t it?

Lory Mitchell | 2:09

So no, it’s definitely not just throw them together and see what happens. With Bulldogs, you have, well, you don’t have to. Physically, they can breed.

So a lot of people have that misconception that they can’t. You still have to be careful. You still have to keep them separated.

However, it’s more dangerous for them than for most breeds simply because they’re very top heavy. So when the males mount the females, they can hurt their hips, which are already kind of like an issue for Bulldogs in general. So in order to keep them safe, and with the money and time you’ve invested in your females, you want to go ahead and use AI.

So we’ll start with progesterone testing. Typically, I try to start at about day seven after they start their heat cycle, but I do it in the second cycle to kind of get an idea how my females go because I have one female that she’s like lightning speed. She can be ready on day six.

I have others that take a while. So once you kind of figure out how your female goes through her cycles, then you get a better idea of how many AI’s and when you should start, I’m sorry, how many progesterones and when you should start that cycle. So you start with the progesterone testing.

And once you hit a spike in their progesterone level, then you’ll see the LH surge. That’s when you schedule your artificial insemination.

Julie Swan | 3:33

Perfect. Perfect. And so are you just doing regular like side-by-side AI?

Lory Mitchell | 3:39

Yes. So sometimes we’ll do side-by-side, sometimes I’ll have it shipped. We can use the stud anywhere in the United States, we’ll get them to collect, send it over, and then we’ll go ahead and AI with the chilled semen once it comes in.

Julie Swan | 3:56

Perfect. Are you doing that yourself or you do that at the vet?

Lory Mitchell | 3:58

No, I have a vet tech that I take them to. And I’ll tell you the reason why I do it is I, my first Bulldog, there’s questions about, I never bred him because there was questions about who his dad was. And I find from an integrity standpoint, if I have a vet involved, and there’s that third party, there’s no question as to did I switch the stud?

Did I, you know, not use the right one? Did I lie about who it was? So I just find it better to collect with a vet, have that third party, you know, verification and everybody’s on the same page.

Julie Swan | 4:34

That makes sense. Yeah, that does. And is that more of a thing in the Bulldog world culturally, that that integrity stuff is important?

Lory Mitchell | 4:42

A lot of people will do their own AIs, especially bigger breeders because it, you know, it can be expensive. You know, it adds to your bottom line, but you know, I don’t do that many litters a year. I do maybe three, four litters.

So to me, it’s just, I’d rather sleep well at night, not have anybody question whether there’s any question as to who my stud was, or, you know, whatever, then to save, you know, $90 for insemination. Because it’s really, it doesn’t work out to be that expensive.

Julie Swan | 5:13

Sure. That makes sense. That makes sense.

So then after that, are we doing C-sections with Bulldogs as well?

Lory Mitchell | 5:20

Yeah, absolutely. So again, they physically are able to give birth. It’s not like they have any kind of physical incapacity, but Bulldogs typically have very big heads.

So again, with a small hip and a big head, the chances of a Bulldog getting stuck in the birth canal is much larger than the other breeds. They also tend to have sometimes what they call water babies or walrus babies you’ve heard of before. And that’s when the dog or the puppy is swollen with liquid.

So they get very full of liquid. A lot of times those puppies don’t make it, but again, they get stuck in the birth canal and then that causes problems everywhere else. And you end up in an emergency C-section anyway.

So it’s just usually safer. It’s more controlled to just go ahead and schedule the C-section and bring them in. Once again, their progesterone levels are tested and are coming back down.

Julie Swan | 6:16

Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. And so that’s pretty routine for you, right?

So you’re scheduling it and everything’s pretty easy.

Lory Mitchell | 6:22

Yes. So we count the days, and again, you deal with the dog in front of you. So I have some of my females that you’ll never know they’re in labor.

I’ve gone to the vet thinking it’s two days away, and then I get there and they’re like, oh, their progesterone levels down to a one. They’re literally in active labor. And I’m like, they’re not panting.

They ate this morning. They’re not acting in labor. So you kind of have to figure out how your female reacts, how they go into labor and then play it from there.

So typically I’ll take them in at about, they don’t usually wait 63 days. That’s another thing. Most Bulldogs will not go 63 days.

So you’ll see that a lot of vets will tell you to start bringing them in at about day 60, 59 to 60 to kind of get those progesterone levels checked. And typically, you’re good if they’re holding out to day 61 or 62 at the most, but I’ve never had one goes all 63.

Julie Swan | 7:22

Oh, wow. Okay.

Lory Mitchell | 7:23

Yeah.

Julie Swan | 7:24

Yeah. Interesting. Okay.

So then you have your puppies. Is it hard to get them to bond? You always hear that.

Is that the bonding is hard after a C-section?

Lory Mitchell | 7:33

I only had one female that she took maybe like a day or two to kind of like, I had to hold her while she was feeding. Um, but I think a lot of that has to do with the grogginess, they’re coming off the anesthesia. They’re not going through the regular hormonal process of live birth.

So it takes a minute for them to figure it out. But after that, I mean, they remind me a lot of times, they’ll be running around the room and, and they’ll run into the whelping box, and I’ll be working or doing something and I’ll look up and I’m like, Oh, it’s been two hours. It’s time to feed.

So they’re kind of telling me, Hey, bring me my puppies. It’s time to feed.

Julie Swan | 8:13

Got it.

Got it. So that’s good. So the puppies don’t stay with them then?

Lory Mitchell | 8:17

No. So for the first, definitely for the first few days, while they’re still groggy, you definitely don’t want to have the puppies unsupervised with them because they’re clunky. They’re kind of like not coordinated as well.

They’re still kind of groggy and they’re heavy. So they have very heavy skin. They’re very heavy boned.

So it’s very easy for them to sit on puppies and not realize the puppies are underneath them. So if you’re not actually actively supervising, like sometimes I’ll work in between feedings, or I’ll take a quick nap, or I’ll be doing laundry, or whatever. You want to separate the puppies, whether it’s, you don’t necessarily need an incubator with oxygen, but I like the idea that it’s heated, and it kind of just keeps them safe somewhere where mom can’t reach them. I like to do the, you know, the baby bassinets like they roll around from room to room.

So they’re lifted. That way I can tend to the puppies without having to be bent over all the time and things like that, keeps them off the floor. So mom is not going and trying to climb in there because I’ve had that happen off the sofa if I’ve left it too close.

And they’ll lay underneath them sometimes to be near the babies and things like that. And I can put a heating pad inside, or you can put a light over it, but I can also roll it around with me if I need to. So that’s pretty cool.

Yeah. A lot of the baby stuff, like a lot of things you use for babies that I, you know, I mean, I’m sure all of us do for puppies.

Julie Swan | 9:46

Mm hmm. Yeah. Oh, that’s too funny.

So about three weeks of this kind of process.

Lory Mitchell | 9:52

Yeah. Once the babies can kind of start like getting out of the way, like getting out from underneath them, they’re a little bit stronger. They can kind of pull themselves up a little where mom can actually feel them move underneath her.

Then you can kind of start leaving them, you know, alone. I won’t leave them to go to sleep, like a full night’s sleep, but you know, maybe three hours, you can kind of be checking in on them if you have a camera, but I tend to try to do at least two to three weeks, before, and it depends on mom. I have one mom that she’s super like attentive in the sense of where she’s stepping when she jumps into the box.

Like she’s very careful. If you’ve got a mom like that, you can maybe let her in alone with the puppies earlier, but you kind of have to see who’s clunkier, who’s a little bit more like do, tudo, tudo, and then go with that, you know, and figure it out. But definitely by the time they’re about three weeks and they’re like walking around pretty well, then you’re safe to leave them alone with mom.

Julie Swan | 10:54

Yeah. So you can get some more sleep yourself.

Lory Mitchell | 10:57

That’s when you can kind of get, I’ll do it usually about 12 to six, one to six, something like that. And that’s when I’ll start kind of getting some, some decent hours of sleep.

Julie Swan | 11:08

Yeah. Good. That’s good.

Oh man. All right.

Lory Mitchell | 11:12

You also have to clean them. So you have to do a lot of stimulating at the beginning.

Julie Swan | 11:16

Oh, you’re doing that as well. She’s not taking care of that one. Okay.

Lory Mitchell | 11:20

Sometimes first time moms I’ve found are a little bit tougher. They might let you, they might let you do like the peeing, but they won’t poop them. So I just kind of have to, again, you kind of work with who you have.

I’ve had first time moms that are like, give me my baby, give me my baby. I want to clean them. And then there’s others.

But when you’re doing like a two hour feeding at night and you’re putting all the puppies and as they’re coming off, if I have to wait for mom to finish to then poop them, to then put them away, like sometimes it’s just easier for me to, you know, let me get this done while you finish feeding.

Julie Swan | 11:55

So you can go to sleep.

Lory Mitchell | 11:56

Yeah. So I can get an hour maybe.

So, yeah.

Julie Swan | 11:59

Yeah. That makes sense. So do you set an alarm for yourself at night?

Lory Mitchell | 12:02

Yes. If you look at my phone when I’m whelping, it’s like every two, two and a half hours, it’s going off and it’s wake up. And so I sleep in the whelping room with them.

I’ve got a sofa. I keep the little bassinet near me. And then mom usually lays either underneath the bassinet or by my, by the sofa, by my legs.

Julie Swan | 12:24

Oh, well that’s perfect. So they’re just with you.

Lory Mitchell | 12:28

They’re just with me 24/7.

Julie Swan | 12:30

You really are like midwoofing, right?

Lory Mitchell | 12:33

It’s like having a newborn times, whatever many you have in the litter, you know, sometimes you have to bottle feed. I had a litter of 11, I mean, there’s not 11 nipples on mom. So you got a bottle feed the other ones, because if you rotate, you know, or like if you wait till six are done and then put five, now you’ve got, by the time you’re done with that feeding, you got to start all over again.

Julie Swan | 12:58

Oh wow. Yeah.

Lory Mitchell | 13:00

Yeah.

Julie Swan | 13:00

That’s a lot.

Lory Mitchell | 13:01

Yeah. When they’re free feeding, it’s easier because then puppies will just feed when, you know, mom’s just laying there all the time. But when you’re physically putting them on, if you’re doing, you know, like six and five, by the time you’re done with the second like group, you’re almost ready to start with the first group, you know, by the time you’re done cleaning up and all that stuff, feeding mom.

Julie Swan | 13:23

Yeah. Yeah. That’s a lot of work.

I mean, I’m starting to understand more of the price increase of Bulldogs.

Lory Mitchell | 13:31

Yeah. It’s a lot of time, is what gets put into the Bulldogs. When it comes to the pricing is the amount of time that you have to put in when you’re whelping them because of those first three weeks, especially and, and the 24/7 attention and care that they need.

So you can’t work, a lot of breeders. If you have a job, you know, they’ll stack up their vacation time or things like that, or they’ll find someone to help them. And then they can go to work during the day and then they stay up with them at night and that kind of thing.

If you’re lucky enough to have your own business and you can just work from home, which is what I do, but yeah, those three weeks are your time. And then of course you have to take away time from work or, you know, whatever else you’re doing during the off seasons that you’re not breeding.

Julie Swan | 14:19

Definitely a labor of love.

Lory Mitchell | 14:21

But they’re so cute.

Julie Swan | 14:23

They are so cute. You were telling me the other day about some of the history with the colors and just the history of the breed.

Lory Mitchell | 14:33

Yeah, so the breed is known to have what they call standard colors. Which are the whites, the fawns, the brindles, the reds, the red is one of the popular ones and the whites. But if you look at the standards and the changes they’ve made now, they haven’t made any changes, I think since 2006, but back, I think it was 1892 was when it was.

They had an actual change where they added a disqualification for what they call a Dudley nose, which is the liver color. And the liver color is what you find on the lilacs, which are the full colored Bulldogs. So I think it’s funny that people talk about, you know, color being something new when, if you actually go through like some of the changes on the standards, there was mention of color and there’s even pictures back in the day of black and tan Bulldogs.

But they’ve just kind of been weeded out and it’s kind of been like “erased” from history. So now people are very like, Oh, that’s not a standard color, but a lot of puppies either weren’t sold. You know, there was a lot of euthanasia going on back then when, you know, puppies that were undesirable came out.

And so I just think a lot of that has just started coming back because people have started actually breeding the ones that are DNA color.

Julie Swan | 15:59

Yeah. Just the more recessive colors is ultimately what you’re saying.

Lory Mitchell | 16:02

And a lot of people say, Oh, it’s health and this and that. But I mean, that’s like saying, because you’re blonde and I’m a brunette, you have more health issues. It’s, it’s not a thing.

Your coat color is not going to change your health. It’s how you breed them, and who you’re breeding, and making sure that you’re checking for certain markers of medical things and avoiding them. But it’s not a, you know, a thing.

I mean, maybe if you have light eyes, you’re a little bit more sensitive to the sun, but other than that, I mean, it doesn’t make you a healthier person.

Julie Swan | 16:36

The color thing, like it’s not that blue makes me more susceptible to that, but it’s more that lighter blue eyes reflect light differently. And that is actually the thing that’s creating the problem. So that makes sense to me completely like, yeah, I need probably more sunblock.

Okay, great.

Lory Mitchell | 16:54

Exactly. Yeah. If you have fair skin, you know, you’re more susceptible to a sunburn, but you know, it doesn’t make you have more heart issues or more kidney problems or, you know, those kinds of health issues are not related to your skin color.

It just like, it’s not related to theirs. At least in my opinion, not from what I’ve seen in any studies. The only thing you do have to be careful of is the Merle gene only because it’s a mutation gene.

So when you double up on the Merle gene, then you can, you know, double mutate and then you can get things like the deaf and the blind dogs, which a lot of white dogs.

Julie Swan | 17:30

Yes, that makes sense.

Lory Mitchell | 17:31

Yeah. And a lot of white dogs tend to have that problem. And it’s really probably if we DNA, a lot of those, they have a double Merle gene because Merle can be ghosted.

I have a dog that’s a Merle. And if you look at him, you wouldn’t notice he’s Merle. It’s a ghost Merle.

Julie Swan | 17:47

Can you see it in his eyes?

Lory Mitchell | 17:51

His eyes are not that light. They’re not really Merle. My female, I, my females do have Merle looking marbly real pretty eyes, but he has just regular greenish eyes.

He’s actually a blue, but he’s Brown because he’s a blue sable. So he doesn’t look blue, but he’s genetically blue and he’s Merle. But when he was a baby, you could see the Merle, but as he got older, it faded.

And unless you really look close in certain spots, you can see a little bit of a faint, darker shade of his. And I think it’s the sable that covers it. But if you have a Brindle mixed with a Merle, they cover that covers the Merle as well.

So you have to really pay attention to the genetic DNA to make sure you’re not mixing a double Merle by mistake.

Julie Swan | 18:38

Right. No, that makes sense. And it, yeah, I know it was so funny.

So Cinch, Bill’s annoying Cattle Dog that I reference from time to time, love, love that dog. He thinks he’s amazing. I had a litter of Rat Terriers come out and I had eight ties with my little Rat Terrier stud, and you know, he’s a black tri.

Right. And she’s a black tri. So I was like, well, there’s nothing.

Well, these puppies came out and three of them were Merle. And I was like, what in the world? I don’t have any Merle on my property.

Right. And then I was sitting there and thinking to myself, and I realized that Cinch, who looks like a very light white colored standard Cattle Dog, right? Piebald Cattle Dog.

He has a little fleck of blue in his eye. And I started realizing, and he’s a cryptic Merle. There you go.

And so he threw a regular Merle color, which was crazy to see, I was calling my friend, like, I don’t know what the heck happened. It can’t be a coyote.

Lory Mitchell | 19:39

You’ve got some wandering dog on your, on your property. Right. Yeah.

No. Yeah. There’s cryptic Merle’s out there.

People don’t realize it. And so if you’re breeding without DNA testing, right.

Julie Swan | 19:49

It can be scary.

Lory Mitchell | 19:53

Dogs, especially in the Bulldog world, because we have a lot of Merle. Then you’re going to go ahead, and unintentionally, put two Merle’s together and then you’re going to have, that’s when you’re going to see the issue. That’s where the health issues are going to come in.

Julie Swan | 20:04

Yeah. Yeah. No, that makes sense.

Yeah. That’s, we definitely don’t want to do that. I know that that is hard when you have a double Merle, cause they do often become deaf and that’s a big one.

And that’s just really, that’s very hard on owners. And a lot of times you just don’t know, you know, as puppies until later.

Lory Mitchell | 20:21

Yep. Especially with Bulldogs, because they do tend to be selective listeners, you know, but the foolproof is just mention food and you’ll figure out real quick.

Julie Swan | 20:37

That works on my kids, weird.

Lory Mitchell | 20:38

Yeah. They’re very stubborn and they’re very selective listeners, but they are very food motivated. So anything you need them to do, just have a treat in your hand, and you got it done.

Julie Swan | 20:53

Easy enough. So, you know, people always talk about health issues with Bulldogs, but you were kind of explaining, it’s not exactly what people think.  So tell us a little bit about like, cause everybody has this idea that they’re just like, they’re just like a walking medical problem.

Like that’s kind of the stereotype, but they’re not.

Lory Mitchell | 21:14

No. So, well, they don’t have to be. So there’s a running joke among vets, and I say this because I know vets and I, and I talked to them and they tell me themselves that, you know, they’re like the cha-ching, like they see a Bulldog walk in and they’re like, Oh, there’s the money bag.

But it’s more so because it’s, so when you take things like a Cavalier, for example, Cavaliers are known to have Parkinson’s. There are other dogs that have like specific organ tendencies, organ issues that you have to watch out for. With the Bulldog, the organ that they mostly have issues with is their skin.

So, but a lot of that goes back to what you’re feeding it, what you’re using to treat them, to bathe them, what kind of chemicals are they being given? How many, you know, are you over-vaccinating? So a lot of the skin issues, just like with humans, you know, if you’re eating a lot of chocolate, you’re going to get pimples, right?

Like we, we heard that growing up. If you eat a lot of greasy foods, things like that, you’re seeing it in your skin. Well, it’s the same with the Bulldog.

So what you’re putting into them is going to affect their skin. So a lot of times people will run to the vet because they see a hotspot or they see a hair loss, you know, like a bald spot or interdigital cysts are very common, yeast. They get a lot of yeast.

Julie Swan | 22:32

Can you tell us what an interdigital cyst is? I think that’s just a weird term.

Lory Mitchell | 22:36

I know. So the interdigital cyst is kind of in their paw. They’ll get like a, like a blister looking thing right between their toes.

And sometimes it’s just something they picked up. Like, I don’t know what they’re called, but those little fox. . .

Julie Swan | 22:51

We call them goat heads out here.

Lory Mitchell | 22:53

But yeah, there’s those little prickly little things. If they get stuck in between their toes, they can, you know, they can irritate them and create that. But a lot of times it’s internal and it’s coming out through their paws.

Yeast is a huge thing with Bulldogs because they’re very wrinkly. So that moisture from the wrinkles being kind of folded over in the fold, if you’re not cleaning them, if you’re not keeping them nice and dry, then you can have yeast. But also if they’re feeding certain things, that’ll add to the growth of the yeast.

Then if you don’t pay attention to the yeast, that turns into a secondary infection and it starts, you can see how it starts building. So that’s really where the health issues come from. And a lot of people think, oh my God, these are like end of the world.

These are like, you know, fatal things. They’re not. A lot of other breeds have more fatal health issues that people don’t talk about than the Bulldog.

It’s just, the skin is all over. So it’s something you’re dealing with visually. Like you’re not seeing a heart problem until it’s a problem, but you’re seeing, you know, a little cyst in between your toes.

You’re seeing a hotspot behind the ear. You’re seeing an ear infection. You know, those kinds of things are visual.

And then people run to the vet, you know, they treat it and they’re not treating the cause of it. They’re just treating the symptom. And then, so it just keeps growing and growing and growing.

And eventually because of all the stuff that’s being given, because of the years of chemicals, because of the years of medicine, because of steroids and apoquels, and all these kinds of things. Now you’ve got a six, seven, eight year old Bulldog, that’s got kidney issues. That’s got, you know, something more fatal.

Julie Swan | 24:32

That makes sense.

Lory Mitchell | 24:32

Yeah. So it’s just, if you take care of them from the get-go. I believe in a more healthy, natural way, and trying to try to feed them appropriately for the species, then you’ll see that you really don’t have a lot of health issues that you have to worry about. And there’s not a lot of grooming with them either.

I mean, we talked about that the other day. You’re not doing professional grooming. You’re not doing weekly baths.

You’re not, you know, getting matted hair that you have to like be cutting or brushing through. It’s a quick brush. So they got short hair.

It’s, you know, you maybe bathe them every six to eight weeks. If that, you know, cause a lot of times they’re indoor, you know, they’re mostly indoor dogs, and you’re cutting nails. I mean, it’s not a big, the biggest thing is get a few packs of unscented baby wipes and just kind of go between the folds, make sure everything’s nice and clean.

And that’s pretty much it.

Julie Swan | 25:35

That’s awesome. Yeah. So they’re really not that big a deal.

It’s just, yeah, they’re just a little bit different demand.

Lory Mitchell | 25:41

Yeah. It’s become a big thing. Like everybody says, Oh my God, but they’re so high maintenance.

And I’m like, they’re not really high maintenance. If the biggest thing in my opinion is the gut, if you’re keeping the gut well, and you’re keeping them as clean internally, then you’re going to see a lot cleaner on the outside as well. And also keeping them not overweight.

So keeping them at a good fit athletic weight for their bodies, because that’ll help their joints especially, but it also will help with everything else too.

Julie Swan | 26:12

Yeah. And you’ve done a lot of research into the gut and health of them, but you raw feed, right?

Lory Mitchell | 26:17

Yes. I raw feed. So I became a certified canine nutritionist last year.

I also do animal aromatherapy with them, and I’ve been raw feeding now for probably about four years. And it all started with my first bulldog as well. He just had skin issue after skin issue.

I mean, he had a tail pocket infection. I’m seeing so many Bulldogs that I’m reading in like these Facebook groups that they’re like, we amputated their tail, because they had a tail pocket infection. I mean, these are things that you can treat and you can avoid with real simple changes.

So at the time I didn’t know any better. All I kept hearing was don’t feed chicken. Dogs are allergic to chicken.

That’s a very high trigger food. So we had them on whitefish kibble, and it was a high end kibble, but it was just infection after infection after infection. So it was antibiotics, steroids, antibiotics, steroids.

And then eventually the vet was like, your only other option right now is Apoquel for the rest of his life. And you’re talking about a $200 plus bill just for the medication on a monthly basis. And I was like, Whoa, you know, nobody wants to be spending $200 a month on medicine, you know?

So I was like, let me figure this out. Then the more I read up about it, the more I didn’t want to give the medication even without the cost. And that’s when I just started raw feeding.

I just went head first, took him off kibble right away. I put him on a detox, you know, diet for a while. And then we’ve been raw feeding.

He’s never had a tail pocket infection again, an ear infection, a cyst, a yeast infection in his folds. He’s been perfectly clean. Ever since we switched his diet, it was just as simple as switching his diet.

Julie Swan | 28:11

Wow. That’s so fantastic. And so you just kind of said, okay, this is the answer.

This is easy.

Lory Mitchell | 28:16

Yeah. And then I, at the time I had two others, so I had Adonis and Aria. And so I switched them over.

Because I mean, if I was feeding one, I was going to feed them all, even though they hadn’t really had any issues. Because again, it’s like us, you know, you may be more tolerable to certain things or foods than I am. But once I switched him, I switched them too.

And every dog that I’ve gotten since, from the time they get here at eight weeks, they’re just switched over to raw. And all my puppies are weaned off of mom and go straight on raw.

Julie Swan | 28:45

Nice. And are you using commercial or are you mixing it yourself?

Lory Mitchell | 28:48

So the puppies I do commercial, only because I think it’s easier when they go home, for parents to continue that, at least until they decide what they’re going to do. If they’re going to continue raw feeding, which I do try to help and support them, you know, in ways to, for them to continue that because I do truly believe that’s the best way to do it with them. Now for my adults, I do do those DIY.

So I meal prep them myself. I do their, you know, I create their recipes and then, or I’ll find them. I, you know, I follow a lot of vets like Dr. Becker, Dr. Judy Morgan. They provide recipes. They have books with recipes and then we’ll just do those DIY. So my eight adults gets that DIY and the puppies are usually commercial.

Julie Swan | 29:34

Wow. That’s great. And then about how much prep time does it take for eight adults?

What do you think?

Lory Mitchell | 29:40

So I went last night to Sam’s Club coincidentally. I was in and out of there in about 20 minutes

Julie Swan | 29:43

Just for the dogs?

Lory Mitchell | 29:50

Just for the dogs. And we prepped this morning.

Well, I didn’t prep, but my partner prepped and he took, I want to say maybe two hours at worst to do a week for the eight dogs.

Julie Swan | 30:03

So that wasn’t too bad.

Lory Mitchell | 30:05

No, it wasn’t. Once you know what you’re doing, like once you’ve got, like, okay, this is what I’m feeding, this is what I’m buying. And you’re not in the middle of the researching of it, you already have your plan.

Then it’s just get into the rhythm of measuring it out and weighing everything. You get your containers out, and it can go pretty quick.

Julie Swan | 30:28

That’s good. That’s very good. Well, perfect.

I love the results you’ve gotten. I mean, you’re just seeing such incredible stuff. And that dog that was on antibiotics and steroids and now fine, right?

Lory Mitchell | 30:42

Yeah, he’s doing so much better. He’s actually up there on the wall. But yeah, he’s been doing great.

Like I said, my vet was amazed. He was like, whatever you’re doing, keep it up. You know, if any new vet tech comes along, a new vet comes into the office, and they try to like, what do you mean you’re feeding raw?

No, you should feed kibble. And you know, it’s not balanced. Or, you know, you might not know what you’re doing.

He’s like nope. Leave her alone. She’s got this. Because, you know, I mean, besides the fact, obviously, that he knows now that I’ve kind of certified myself and made sure that I know what I’m doing.

But even when I started, the results were just because we were, you know, he was perplexed. He was like, I can’t do anything else. We’ve tried it all.

Like at this point, it’s Apoquel. And that was I think he was a year old. I imagine starting a dog at a year old on this medication for what the next eight years.

Julie Swan | 31:36

Right. Yeah, easily.

Lory Mitchell | 31:38

So it’s just the amount of money, the amount of, you know, medication that was going to go into him, was just, it was crazy.

Julie Swan | 31:46

Yeah, no, that’s just it. You saved him from that. That’s so good.

Yeah.

Lory Mitchell | 31:52

And I try to help other people, you know, with Bulldogs do the same, because I like I said, I’m in the groups and I see them. I mean, I’ve even seen vets that tell people to cut the nose rope off. And I mean, you’re talking cosmetic surgery on a Bulldog.

You’re going to take a fold off of their face because they’re getting a yeast infection in that fold. Well, there’s ways to stop that from happening that don’t require surgery. You know, it’s just it’s crazy to me.

Amputating a tail. Your tail is part of your spine, or their tail, not our tails. But their tail is part of their spinal cord.

So, you know, why would you amputate their tail if they’ve got a tail pocket infection. Just deal with why they’re getting the tail pocket infection and fix it.

Julie Swan | 32:45

Right.

Lory Mitchell | 32:46

And if it’s as easy as diet, then change the diet. I mean, even if it takes you a little bit to meal prep and that’s eight dogs. I mean, most people only have one or two.

Julie Swan | 32:58

Yeah, it’s not too bad. Right. The people that I’ve sold dogs to who go to raw, they say they’re down to like less than an hour a week.

They kind of just roll it into their groceries. It’s just not a big deal. Yeah, it’s funny.

I did hear and I’ll just throw it out there. It’s preliminary research I ran into listening to this holistic doctor explain some stuff. And she said more people have yeast and candida infections than we know.

She said it’s way more common than than we’d think. But she said it also relates to heavy metal toxicity, because it actually wraps on top of the metals in your body, almost in a protective manner, but then comes with its own complications. So she said many people could never get rid of those infections until they did a heavy metal detox, which I thought was so interesting.

But here we are with vaccines, with some metals as preservatives. And cheaper kibble. Right. We know rice is really high in heavy metal.

Lory Mitchell | 33:56

Rice and corn is really bad because corn can get very moldy.

Julie Swan | 34:02

Yeah.

Lory Mitchell | 34:02

Some people don’t realize it.

And it’s also a lot of things that go into it is, you know, they tell you to read the labels and they get smart. These companies, because they know that we’re already telling everybody to read the labels. So when you read the labels, they say the first ingredient is the one that it has the most of and so on and so forth.

So, OK, great. It says meat or beef or chicken or whatever it is you see. But then you don’t realize if you start reading down the line that things like corn or pea or any of these other fillers that they put in, they’re splitting it up.

So it’ll say cornmeal, corn flour, corn this, corn. And now you’ve got six different variations of the corn. But if you add it all up, it’s mostly corn.

Or it’s mostly pea, or it’s mostly carbohydrates. And if you look at it also, the moisture amount on a bag of kibble is what, like 11 percent. When you raw feed, your moisture amount is about 70 percent.

Julie Swan | 34:58

Right.

Lory Mitchell | 34:58

So it’s better for your skin. It’s better for your kidneys.

It’s it’s just better for your body. I mean, not for ours, but for their body altogether.

Julie Swan | 35:08

More bioavailable. Right. Ultimately.

Lory Mitchell | 35:10

Correct. Oh, my God. The difference, especially from a breeding standpoint, when you’ve got a litter of puppies and I mean, you can relate as well as a breeder, the poop that you have to be picking up, you know, on a constant basis. When they’re raw fed, like I tried doing kibble one time because I’m like, you know, a lot of parents like kibble and they want to switch them anyway. So let me do this.

I was like, never again, they can deal with it. Because it was night and day with the amount of, you don’t realize that with the adult dogs as much. I mean, I do.

But someone who has one dog or whatever. But when you’re doing a litter of dogs, when you’ve got seven puppies pooping and you go from a raw type of pooping to a kibble, you definitely can tell the difference. And it’s just what they’re not keeping in their body.

It’s being eliminated. So there’s nutrients that are just not kept in.

Julie Swan | 36:03

Yeah, that’s true. And it does. It’s gross.

Yeah. I totally get it. That’s great. I know raw has like no poop.

It just in Arizona, because it’s so dry here, too. When I would put my dogs on raw. Their poop, you would go out there and it was like white and chalky.

You were like, what is that? And then like poof, like the sun would dry it out. It would turn to powder and it would disappear.

It looked like kind of like skeletons in some movies, you know.

Lory Mitchell | 36:28

Yeah. And it’s easy to like watch it. It’s easy to know, like, OK, am I giving too much of, you know, like bone?

Am I giving too much organ? Because you can just watch the color, and watch the texture. But the amount is what makes a huge difference.

It’s just so much less poop to deal with.

Julie Swan | 36:44

There’s no binding agents. Kibble always has to have a binding agent to make it a kibble.

Lory Mitchell | 36:50

Right. Right.

Julie Swan | 36:50

No, that makes so much.

Lory Mitchell | 36:52

And they add coloring and they add all that for you, not for the dog. Because the dog could care less what color it is.

But to make it attractive to us as pet parents, they make all the like colors. And that’s all added afterwards. Because they overheated it so much that it’s just ugly brown grayish mush that they harden.

And then they add flavors on top, you know, powders and sprays and all kinds of stuff to make it attractive to us.

Julie Swan | 37:17

Yeah.

Lory Mitchell | 37:18

Which isn’t necessarily doing anything for them.

Julie Swan | 37:21

Right. Well, yeah, the dogs don’t quite see how we see anyway. Yeah.

It’s pretty wild. But speaking of putting all that, you know, having your dogs in the backyard with less poop. You blew my mind the other day when you were telling me about all your turf. You’ve got to tell me about this turf that you have in the backyard because it was a game changer for you, right?

Like you had, what was your backyard before?

Lory Mitchell | 37:44

So when I bought my house, now for context, I live in Miami, so I don’t have 10 acres of backyard. So that makes a difference in a lot of ways. But when I bought my house, my entire backyard was cement.

So whoever lived here before they didn’t want to deal with cutting the grass. They didn’t want to deal with that kind of maintenance. They just cemented the entire backyard.

So what I did was I took one full side of my yard, which is where the door is that leads from the dog room. And we took all that cement out. Now that was a labor of love.

Because we did it ourselves. And we had turf, I’m sorry, soil and grass put in. Less than a year later, the grass was like in certain spots where they kept running and, you know, peeing and whatever, that was gone. And so I was going to have to replace it. And then every time it rained, which again, in Miami happens very often, we have hurricanes, we have all kinds of stuff.

It was just mud fest when they would come in the door, which also doesn’t help with paw and help with yeast. You know, you have to constantly be cleaning. So instead of replacing the grass for new grass, I just went ahead and replaced it with turf.

So I got a pet friendly turf. It’s not hot. So I go out there, I can take my shoes off and stand in the grass and it doesn’t burn.

It doesn’t get hot when it’s hot outside, which in Miami, it’s always hot. And now I have no mud.

My grass is green year round, no matter how many dogs are out there, no matter how much they pee, no matter how much they run around, it’s perfect looking grass to the eye. And they don’t track things in. Another side benefit is it avoids a lot of bugs, it avoids fleas. They don’t burrow in there because there’s no soil for them to be living in.

So that’s been a game changer for me as well with things like worms, things like, you know, fleas, ticks. Well, we don’t get many ticks in Miami, but that kind of stuff. So for me, I love it.

There’s little spots in other areas of my backyard that I’m like, okay, now I want to put turf over there, get rid of the little rocks and stuff and just put turf there. Because it’s a big difference.

Julie Swan | 40:06

People always want to know, is it hard to pick up poop on it?

Lory Mitchell | 40:10

So it’s not. But I think it has a lot to do with the poop. So obviously if it’s raw fed, and they’re harder and firmer, it’s not going to be hard, even if it was regular grass.

If for whatever reason, they have a little bit of a soft poop or something like that, then it’s just like regular grass. The only thing is instead of pulling the grass out with it, you’re just going to clean it as much as you can. And then you just bring some water and just, you know, either, you know, hose it down or pour, you know, sometimes I’ll just get the pitcher and pour some water on it and it just goes away.

Julie Swan | 40:42

Okay. That’s pretty easy. And then you sanitize it.

Lory Mitchell | 40:45

So what I do is I usually use, I have the Wysiwash and that’s been great. So I just put in one of those tablets in there and I’ll maybe once a month, it depends, if I feel it’s a little smelly, then I’ll do it more often.

But for the most part with once a month, it’s pretty easy. It rains a lot here too. So that helps with that.

It’s not as often. Sometimes I can go to every two months and I’ll just kind of like hose it down with the Wysiwash and that kind of like chlorine thing that they sell to put inside the tablet.

Julie Swan | 41:19

Like the miracle grow thing.

Lory Mitchell | 41:20

Yeah. And that’s been great because that’s supposed to be able to like kill all kinds of stuff, like the Giardias and all that, that kind of thing, which luckily we’ve been able to avoid. So whether it’s been the Wysiwash, whether it’s been the turf, I don’t know, but it’s been great.

Julie Swan | 41:35

Yeah. It sounds really, really good. I know I keep bugging Bill. I’m like, Bill, we’ve got to get some turf.

Lory Mitchell | 41:40

Even if you do it like an area where you can, cause I know you have a bigger property, but if you can have like a fenced in area that’s like for your dogs and you just have turf there, that’s great.

Julie Swan | 41:49

I’m debating, I have a couple of pens and I’m like, I think I’m gonna try it on my smaller pen first, and just see if I like it, you know, see if it handles Arizona. Okay. And then.

Lory Mitchell | 41:57

You just have to get the right one. So when you deal with whoever you’re going to get it from, just let them know, you know, it’s a high traffic area for pets and you want something that doesn’t, you know, get hot, but they’re there, they do exist. It was a little bit more expensive.

They had an even more expensive one. So it wasn’t the most expensive. But it’s a little more expensive than like your normal standard average, like just pretty turf for your front yard. That just is there to look pretty. But it was well worth the investment because otherwise I would have had to replace grass every what, nine months, every year, you know, so.

Julie Swan | 42:33

So annoying.

Lory Mitchell | 42:34

And I don’t have to deal with the mud.

Julie Swan | 42:35

Yeah, exactly.

The mud is what kills me. Yeah, that’s good. Okay.

Well, cool. So Bill doesn’t know what just got added to his to-do list. So we have, tell us a little bit about your marketing. Because you redid your website recently, and you’ve been integrating email marketing, and oh my gosh.

So tell us, how’s it all, how’s it all coming together? Have you noticed a change? What do you love?

Lory Mitchell | 43:04

Yes. So I rebranded the website last year. I changed the logo.

I redid the whole website. I had it redone. And I started using, well, it was ConvertKit.

Now it’s Kit for my email marketing. And that’s been great. Not only for email marketing, but even for my puppy parents and the whole process, once the application comes in, and like keeping them up to date, and making sure that they know what they need, and what they’re going to do.

So I’ve been doing newsletters for all my leads. So anyone who’s gone into my website, who’s gone into any of my lead magnets, and signed up that they’re interested in knowing about the puppies, they get newsletters. They also get emails whenever puppies are born, litter announcements, if there’s a return puppy, if somebody’s available, that kind of stuff.

And then I also send them things like treat recipes or, like a product that I’ve come across. So I try to keep them informed through the emails as well. And it’s made a big difference.

It’s gotten a lot more traffic onto my website, which I didn’t have before. Before it was just all social media, which as we all know, it can be really tough. And sometimes social media can get crazy.

They can shut down, they can take your posts away. So it kind of changed my control into my hands as opposed to Facebooks or Instagrams. And it still gives you a presence.

It gives you, you know, what’s the word I’m looking for? Like you’re legit, you know, you’ve got your full website. I’ve got my health guarantee on there.

I’ve got my puppy application on there, how to make a deposit on there. Like, so all the information is there. It’s cut down on a lot of phone calls, a lot of having to answer the same question over and over and over again.

So that’s been a big help. And then the emailing just, you know, keeps everybody kind of like at arm’s length, and whenever they’re ready, you know, they’re hearing from me. So I’m top of mind, I’m in their face.

They know I’m there and I exist. And even if they don’t have a puppy for me, if they have a question on, maybe they got a puppy somewhere else, on, you know, how to raw feed it correctly or, you know, what they can do if they’re having a certain issue, then, you know, they’ve got my contact there, and then eventually they may need another one. So I have a lot of buyers that bought somewhere else and then came back and got a puppy from me.

So yeah, they decided they want a second one cause they’re like potato chips.

Julie Swan | 45:40

It’s hard to have just one. Yes. Very true.

Very true. So that’s great. And then frequency on newsletter.

What do you think you probably send out?

Lory Mitchell | 45:48

I’m doing it once a month, more or less. I would like to start doing them every other week, just because I want to get more information out to them, especially with the taking care of the Bulldog with the educational side of it. I think that’s really important.

I think that’ll change a lot of the misconceptions for people who are on the fence, especially that maybe they’re interested. They think they’re cute. They got on my website.

They said, yeah, sure. You know, send me your information, send me, you know, keep me up to date. But they’re still kind of like, ah, they’re are a lot of work.

Oh, I hear there are a lot of health issues. So I think being a little bit more top of mind would be a little helpful, but I think once a month for a newsletter and then you can sprinkle in an email like an available litter or anything like that in between, I think that’s more than enough. We’re not Macy’s, you know, we don’t have to be like constantly.

Julie Swan | 46:42

An email every day. Oh my gosh.

Lory Mitchell | 46:44

I mean, yeah, that to me is crazy.

Julie Swan | 46:47

Yeah. I think it’s really annoying. I think you get more unsubscribes that way. Anyway, people don’t mind hearing from you once in a while.

Lory Mitchell | 46:51

No, I think I’ve only had, I’ve been doing ConvertKit now for a little over a year. Cause like I said, we rebranded last November and I think I’ve only had two unsubscribes.

Julie Swan | 47:05

That’s great.

Lory Mitchell | 47:06

Out of the whole time. So yeah. And people, I have a over 50% open rate, you know, I’ve got a pretty good click rate.

So they’re pretty receptive. And I think it’s just that, because they don’t hear from me too much. It’s, you know, when I have something to say I’m sending it to you and it’s going to be quality information.

It’s not just, you know, constant emails, constant emails.

Julie Swan | 47:31

Right. Exactly. I think, yeah, people, I noticed that if you put a little bit more in one email less frequently, you’re more likely to have it opened.

But also I like what you’re doing with the differences and some you know, treats.

Lory Mitchell | 47:45

Yes.

Julie Swan | 47:46

Or something along those lines where they’re more. So there’s something for everybody. So even if, even if you’re not in the market for a dog, it’s not just like, buy my puppies, buy my puppies, buy my puppies.

Lory Mitchell | 47:55

Oh yeah, no, definitely.  I come from a very like educational type side. So I, I’m very big about teaching people what the Bulldog is, how to take care of the Bulldog, that kind of stuff.

Like what makes your life better? Cause I believe in working smarter, not harder. So if there’s a tip that I come across or if I do something and it works real well, like I’m going to put it out there and help, you know, other Bulldog parents.

And I think that makes a difference when people then start looking for a puppy and they’re like, well, I know. Because I get a lot of people that say my breeders not responding to me. I bought a puppy from this breeder, but now I can’t get ahold of them and I’m having this issue or I have this question.

Well, that’s not how I am. Like I want to be available if they need me. And so I think if they see that you’re available, even before you buy the puppy, and you’re kind of giving them information. Not available, like you don’t have to answer every phone call like in the minute or, you know, in the middle of the night, but I’m saying like, you’re giving them information.

You’re being honest and open with them and transparent about things that they could use. Then I think it makes a difference when they’re looking for a breeder.

Julie Swan | 49:10

I agree with you. I find a lot of people, like what you’re doing, they’ll buy their next dog from you. Right.

And probably sooner than later.

Lory Mitchell | 49:19

Yeah. I get a lot of like, you know, I just got this one six months ago, but I kind of think maybe I need another one. So yeah, they can be like little potato chips.

Julie Swan | 49:32

Absolutely. And then you have this really cool idea of these. Like when you send home with your puppies, you go in and you sort of customize your. Can you share?

Lory Mitchell | 49:42

Yes. Yes. So what I did now, I originally did it on Photoshop. Like I mentioned, I mean, not Photoshop.

It was on Powerpoint.  I just aged myself real well, but yes.

So I did it originally on PowerPoint. Now, if I redo it, I would definitely do it on Canva, but it’s just a simple slide deck. And my first page and my second page are the only two pages that really change anything.

The first page, I literally put a picture of their puppy, whichever puppy they ended up choosing with their name. It’s got the name of the litter and obviously our branding. And then on the second page it’ll have the date that the litter was born, which you’re only going to change for one anyways, you know, one time for that litter.

And then I’ll put the most recent vaccine date that they had and when their next vaccine is due. So even though you’re giving them the vaccine records, a lot of times I’ve found that they were like, well, but when’s the next vaccination? Like, when do I give them the next one?

So I just kind of put it, I go that part. So there’s only like two or three things that I really have to change per litter and maybe one thing per puppy. But for the buyer, it feels so personal because it’s got their puppy on there.

It’s got their litter information and the rest of the pages are just, you know, if you’re raw feeding, these are the foods that I recommend for the commercial brands. This is how you would transition if you’re going to change the kibble. These are the things that I recommend you have before you bring home your puppy, like your crate, we turf train, you know, in the litter.

These are the treats that we recommend, you know, all those things that you kind of would tell them anyways. I put it into that slide deck and it’s pretty, they can refer to it. They’ve got it available to them.

They don’t have to log in anywhere. It’s literally on their email. They can save it.

And I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from it. And it takes no time because once you’ve got the base of it with all your recommendations, unless you’re changing something, because you changed maybe the brand of the treat or whatever. The only thing you got to change is the picture on the front slide and the information for the date that the litter was born.

Julie Swan | 52:08

And you just do this digitally, right? Like you just download it and send it to them.

Lory Mitchell | 52:11

Yeah. I just download it. I send it to them when I send them the email confirming the pickup drop-off confirmation.

You know, the emails before I’m sending them like order your food up front, or, you know, I kind of asked them, are you, we raw feed? Are you going to continue?

Is it something you’re interested in? Are you going to kibble? Then they’ll respond whether they’re going to raw feed or they’re going to kibble feed.

And then I’ll send them depending on how they respond. So if they’re going to kibble feed, I’ll tell them, okay, you need to order this food, which is what they’re eating now to start the transition. And then this is the trick, how you’re going to transition them off the raw onto your kibble.

And if they’re going to raw feed, then I’m just sending them, you know, where you’re going to find the food that they’re on right now. So I kind of separate that path, depending on how they respond. But in my packet, I give the same information for both or I give their information for both.

Julie Swan | 53:03

So if they change their mind or something.

Lory Mitchell | 53:05

Yeah, exactly.

Julie Swan | 53:06

Perfect.

Oh, that’s so good. And then you also had some crafty ways of Facebook groups and how you were using those to sort of boost yourself.

Lory Mitchell | 53:14

Yes. So we all know when you go on Facebook, you can’t sell puppies, you can’t talk about, you know, available or for sale or any of that, you got to come up with creative little ways to tell people. But what I found is there are, at least with Bulldogs, there are groups that are very clearly available sale type of groups. So it’ll say, let’s say bulldogs in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and surrounding states.

Well, why do you need to, like if you just like Bulldogs, then you just want an I love Bulldogs group, you’re not state specific, but they have very specific rules like don’t say these words. Well, great. I’ve found I join the groups, even though they’re not my states, because at the end of the day, I can ship puppies, I can deliver puppies to any state.

So I don’t limit myself to only Florida or to only like Georgia and Florida. I will be in California, I will be in Oklahoma, I will be in Pennsylvania. And I’ll go on to those groups and I’ll post. And when people ask, you know, if there’s any puppies available, I’ll post pictures of the puppies, and then if they reach out, then I’ll discuss with them their options. Especially with Bulldogs, I find parents are very impulsive.

They’re not a working breed. So they’re not looking for the best bird dog or the best hunting dog or the best herding dog. They’re looking for the Bulldog that speaks to them physically. They see the picture, and they’re like, Oh, my God, it pulled at my heartstrings. That’s the Bulldog I want. And so they don’t care that they’re in Pennsylvania you’re in Florida, as long as there’s a way to get the puppy to them.

If that’s the one they fell in love with, that’s the one they want. So I do try to like make sure that temperaments match, but a lot of the dogs, the Bulldogs specifically have very similar temperaments, there’s not a lot of difference between them. I mean, you may get a little bit more of an energetic one every once in a while or things like that.

But for the most part, they’re pretty standard temperament wise. So it’s a little bit not too big of a deal to have to match personalities as much. You want to make sure that you know, if they have little babies, you know, they’re not too jumpy, you know, that kind of thing.

But they’ll take the puppy, they don’t care that they’re in Pennsylvania, I’ve delivered to California. I’m in Florida. I mean, there’s breeders between California and Florida, come on, you know, but that’s the one they fell in love with, that’s the one they wanted.

And so I have probably, I want to say maybe three or four puppies, at least in California. And I bought one of my dogs in California. So that’s kind of where I figured it out, I was like, Wait a second, I was willing to buy from California, why wouldn’t somebody from California be willing to buy from here?

So I think that’s don’t limit yourself. If I would give anybody, any breeder, kind of a suggestion about that, join the Facebook group regardless. They’re not going to stop you from posting the puppies, they’re not going to tell you don’t post them because you’re not in the state.

And the buyer is the one that’s ultimately going to decide whether it’s worth it to them to have the puppy shipped or picked up or whatever arrangements you make with them. I fly them. We are able to fly through one of the airlines as a buddy pass type of thing.

So it’s very easy for me to fly on standby and take a puppy. So a lot of times I don’t even have to charge extra depending on where they are. And it makes it easy for me.

But even if they had to pay, like I’ve had to do sometimes where I had to buy the ticket and I’ve had them pay for the ticket or pay for an extra amount of time because I have to do an overnight. And they’re willing to do it, they’ll do it. So just join the group.

And then all the other type of groups that say I love Bulldogs, or help and advice for Bulldogs, or any of that. Sometimes what I’ll do is I’ll post a response to a question that has nothing to do with buying a Bulldog. But I will mention, you know, as a breeder, I can tell you blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, or, you know, when I breed my puppies, I do this and this and this or, you know, so I’m kind of throwing it out there, but I’m not telling them I have puppies available.

But now they know, oh, she’s a breeder, because a lot of times they’ll have questions about like, I bought this puppy and the breeder didn’t give me this, or I didn’t get that, or she’s not responding. And, you know, they have worms. And I’ll be like, oh, as a breeder, you know, you really should have gotten this, this and this or, you know, I’ll give them information, I’ll give them advice, but I will give them my credentials.

And eventually, sometimes they’ll reach out and be like, oh, I saw that you’re a breeder. And it might not be the person that asked the question, it might just be someone who read the response and say, do you happen to have puppies?

Julie Swan | 58:01

Right. And they can always go to your profile, maybe see your website, like, you know, just all those little things.

Lory Mitchell | 58:07

And I don’t have anything private. My personal page is public, my obviously my business page is public. And I do have a private Facebook group for my puppy buyers.

That’s the only thing that I have private. And that’s just because I like the idea of the community. And I like the fact that they can, they do play dates together, the ones that live in the same state, you know, when I post, like, give me your, send me updated pictures, or how’s everybody doing or anything like that, they’ll start like, oh, my God, is that the brother of this one?

And they get a kick out of it, they get it. And they, a lot of them have become friends. And I’ll see like someone post, like, I have one puppy parent that just got engaged.

And some of my other puppy parents were commenting and congratulating her. So they’ve obviously friended each other through Facebook, because they have puppies from the same litter. And so that’s been pretty cool.

Julie Swan | 58:59

Yeah, I love that. I think it’s really great. And yeah, it’s just such a good idea to just get in there and give that advice, and if you’re in there as a breeder, and you can answer a question that another breeder maybe should have answered, you’re building that rapport and that authority with them right away.

And then they’re like, well, yeah, I’d love to get a dog from her. I mean, she’s helping people. She doesn’t even know.

Lory Mitchell | 59:23

Exactly.

Julie Swan | 59:23

Yeah.

Lory Mitchell | 59:24

And it doesn’t I mean, it took you, what, 30 seconds to respond on the post? You know, so it’s not a big deal. You know, I had a post the other day where somebody was talking about a puppy they got and, you know, they were kind of kind of bashing the breeder and that they put up a negative review and, you know, that the breeders doing all these things.

And I kind of said, listen, you know, yes, those things shouldn’t, like they didn’t have vaccine records. They didn’t know when the dog had been vaccinated. They didn’t have dates.

You know, I said you should have all that. You really should reach out to the breeder. You should make sure you have that, because otherwise you’re going to go to the vet and they’re going to say we’ve got to start this all over again. And now you’ve given them extra vaccines for no reason, if they’ve actually been vaccinated. So there are things, you know, she apparently had her, the puppy had a hernia that wasn’t disclosed, that should have been disclosed.

So I did comment that there should have been a health certificate, there should have been something from the breeder’s vet that says this dog was okay to, you know, to be sold. But she said, you know, the dog now is sick, was all she said. And it has parasites.

But I said, well, those things like worms can be stress induced. So that’s not necessarily something that, you know, came from the breeder. So you have to see how long have you had the puppy, like, you know, so things like that, that I kind of was like trying to maybe calm them, to let them know, like, it’s not the world, it’s not really bad, like, it happens.

Sometimes just moving the puppy, traveling, all those things can come.

Julie Swan | 1:01:02

Things that are dormant can come right out.

Lory Mitchell | 1:01:05

And at the end of the day, the hernia as well, it should have been disclosed. But it’s not a death sentence where, you know, you’ll be okay, the puppy will be fine, you know, like, so I tried to calm her.

And the breeder is actually in the group, and then reached out to me. And then she friended me. And she was I appreciate that even though you kind of did say what I did wrong.

You also didn’t like throw me under the bus and be like, Oh, she’s horrible. She was the worst breeder, you know. So I think, you know, even other breeders can kind of see you there.

And they’re like, Oh, okay, so she’s, you know, depending, you know, you, you got to be careful what you say. But, you know, you can give the correct advice without being mean, or putting anybody else down or especially when you don’t know what what happened, because you only know one side of the story.

Julie Swan | 1:01:49

Right.

Lory Mitchell | 1:01:50

But yeah, if you don’t have the information of the vaccines, and they didn’t tell you the dog had a hernia before they delivered it. Those are things that breeders should be telling people. But things like worms, or parasites or whatever, what you know, that could have been, did you take the dog anywhere?

Did you pick up the puppy? How many puppy parents do we know get the puppy and the first thing to do is go to PetSmart? Or they go some to a dog park and throw it on the floor?

Well, that’s not the breeders fault. You know, so like, I kind of put that out there too, because other people were commenting like, Oh, this is a horrible breeder. And I was like, Oh, you know, we don’t know.

Julie Swan | 1:02:27

Yeah, I agree. It’s so hard to get it perfect every single time. You know, I mean, we make, things happen.

We make mistakes, dogs are dogs, they can be gross. And I appreciate that. Because really, the dog breeding industry does not need any more breeder hate.

Lory Mitchell | 1:02:41

Oh, no, we do that enough of that to each other. We don’t need it from from our buyers too, like so. So yeah, and I appreciated that she reached out and she told me her side of the story.

And I told her, No, listen, I think you should respond on the post. And you should, you know, you should say this. Because she said the puppy had been with her for three weeks. She had been taking her everywhere before it got sick.

So we don’t know what it is. She claimed to have $2,500 in vet fees, but then she only sent me a $600 bill. You know, so yeah, that means something.

And but I did tell her, I said, I think you should definitely offer to at least cover half of that hernia. Because if the hernia was there when you sold the puppy, then you should have said something.

Julie Swan | 1:03:24

Yeah, for people too that are dealing with that, because hernias are common enough, right? They happen. And most of the time, you’re not having the intestines fall out of them, you know.

So they, I found the easiest thing to do is just tell people, I will pay for it at spay, you know, or neuter, because they’re already under anesthesia takes a few minutes, I usually tell them I prefer if use my vet, or I’ll cap the price because some people are ridiculous what they charge.

Lory Mitchell | 1:03:55

And that’s what I told her. I said, you know, you can pay half, you can get a you know, a quote from your own vet. But it also depends.

Like I said, I have four puppies in California, obviously, they’re not using my vet if they’re in another state.

Julie Swan | 1:04:06

Right.

Lory Mitchell | 1:04:06

So but I had one that had a hernia. And I told the lady ahead of time, and I just discounted the puppy. I said, Listen, I’m going to discount the puppy the cost, it would cost me to get the hernia fixed.

And then you can just wait until you do the spay. Because that way they don’t need to go into surgery twice.

Julie Swan | 1:04:18

That’s usually the easiest thing to do. I take off $200 on a puppy for that. You know, or I’ll cover it, my vet would only charge me $50. If I if she was to do it, it wasn’t much at all.

Lory Mitchell | 1:04:32

Yeah, I would, I was paying, I would pay $250. If I did it as a puppy, like if I didn’t wait till.

Julie Swan | 1:04:40

Oh, yeah, I wouldn’t do it. I don’t like risking them.

Lory Mitchell | 1:04:42

So but if I, but that’s what I’m saying. So if it was just the surgery for the hernia would be $250. So I’ll deduct the $250.

And you can take care of it at spay and neuter. Cherry eyes, which is a big thing with Bulldogs, too, is another one. And sometimes they’ll pop up, like, between yesterday and like, it’s right there.

Like they were fine yesterday. And then they did something, they maybe exerted themselves, maybe they were roughhousing with the other puppies. And you wake up the day of delivery.

And it’s like, Oh my god, it’s a cherry eye, you know. And same thing, you know, it would cost me $250 or $350, depending if it’s going to get cut or tucked. And I’ll just say, Listen, you can either take the puppy and take care of it on your own, and I’ll deduct it or, but I’m not gonna, like, hide it or try to pretend it’s not there and then drop off the puppy.

And so you know, those kind of things. Yes, I will. I mean, I didn’t throw her under the bus.

But yeah, I called it out. Like, that should have been disclosed. But, I think what’s fair is fair.

Because we’ve all been buyers, right? We didn’t start with our own dog, we bought a dog from another breeder. And we didn’t like to get burned.

You know, I got burned a couple times with my first dog. Like I said, I know his papers are hung. So, you know, he had all these health issues.

So like, I’m not, I don’t want to do that to someone else. And so yeah, that’s kind of just the way I look at it.

Julie Swan | 1:06:10

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I appreciate that feedback and everything. It’s really useful.

Lory Mitchell | 1:06:16

And I think if all of us kind of got together, and had each other’s backs, but also held each other accountable so that we don’t end up with, you know, people who are doing things that make us look bad, because I hate when I read a post. And I know that the breeder didn’t really do anything wrong. And people are like, Oh, they’re just greeders.

They’re all of them are greeders. It’s all they’re just greedy people. All they do is for money.

And it’s like, we don’t. But I mean, don’t teachers love to teach? Isn’t that why they got into teaching, but they get paid for it, right?

I mean, just because we love what we do, or we love the breed, or we want to make the breed better, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be able to get paid, and we shouldn’t have some kind of profit. It’s still our time, it’s still our work. It’s still our love.

I mean, the tears, the puppies that can pass, the moms that can pass, not having a litter, you know, not having a mom take after you’ve spent money, especially when you’re doing AIs and progesterone, and then paying for a stud, and mom doesn’t take. I mean, there’s a lot that we go through. I had a litter of 11. We lost five puppies.

That was rough. That was a rough time.

Julie Swan | 1:07:26

Yeah.

Lory Mitchell | 1:07:27

You know, so am I greedy? Because I sold the puppies that didn’t pass away? Like, that’s not, you know, that’s not I don’t believe that.

Julie Swan | 1:07:35

Right? No, I totally totally agree with you. I know people knew half of what we deal with.

They would be like, Oh, good, you do that. We’ll just buy them from you.

Lory Mitchell | 1:07:43

No vacations. You know, the times that you know, like, I’ve had to miss a Christmas Eve, because I have newborn puppies at home. And I can’t, you know, I can’t tell moms when to go into heat.

They’re going to heat when they go into heat. I literally did an AI on Christmas Eve. I got to my family house.

And my vet tech calls me and says, You need to come back. So I had gone earlier in the day to get the progesterone done. And she wasn’t supposed to be ready.

This is my one that goes like this. And she calls me and she says, Guess what? And I said, What?

And she said, your progesterone. She said, I think she was at a 19. She spiked.

She’s like, you need to do her now. So can you come back? I literally was driving into dinner, like I was getting to my family’s house for Christmas Eve dinner.

So I walked in, I said, Hey, everybody, I love you guys. Happy Merry Christmas. But I got to go.

Yeah, female that needs to get inseminated. I jumped back in the car, went back home changed out of my, you know, Christmas Eve clothes. Luckily, I was supposed to use the stud from out, but it was Christmas Eve.

So guess what? It wasn’t happening. I grabbed my stud, grabbed my female got to her house, I think it was like eight o’clock at night.

And she inseminated her for me. And then we did a second insemination on the 26. So I missed Christmas Eve dinner.

You know, how many people say that? And they’re doing it and it’s not a work related thing. It affects our family.

It affects our, our life. It affects our day to day. So yeah, it’s a big part of who we are.

Julie Swan | 1:09:20

I agree. Yeah, it’s a it’s a big thing. Big thing.

Lory Mitchell | 1:09:24

When you’re doing it right.

Julie Swan | 1:09:25

Oh, yes, absolutely. Absolutely. If you’re gonna give advice, anybody out there new breeders getting into it, people been doing it a while, what would you say?

Lory Mitchell | 1:09:35

I think my biggest advice would be find another breeder that does things the way you like, it’s being done. So if you’d like a naturally raised puppy, for example, and you like the idea of the raw feeding, and you like the idea of, you know, minimal chemicals and things like that, find a similar breeder and try to get mentored. Maybe get a puppy from them to start your line with.

I think mentors are huge. I think they can be very helpful. Because there’s a lot of things, even myself, I’ve been breeding, what almost five years now, I still don’t know it all.

And stay humble that way. You know, like, know that you’re never going to know at all, ask questions, reach out to other breeders, and keep your line of communication. Don’t go on there and be you know, bashing other breeders because they’re not doing things the way you do it.

Everybody does things the way they want to do it. But align yourself with who’s doing it the way you like, and learn from them. I spent many years just watching other breeders lives, listening to them, and maybe they didn’t do something I liked the way they did it.

But then I knew, okay, I didn’t want to do it that way. But I want to do it this way. Or I liked the result, but I didn’t like how they got there.

So I changed it. But research, research, research, and don’t stop trying to learn. I think that’s the biggest thing.

Julie Swan | 1:10:53

I agree with you 100%. Yes. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Lory Mitchell | 1:10:59

Thank you.

Julie Swan | 1:11:00

And where can people find you?

Lory Mitchell | 1:11:03

So you can find me on any of the social medias. All of my handles are the same. It’s @starstuddedbulldogs.

And my website is www.starstuddedbulldogs.com.

Julie Swan | 1:11:16

Perfect. Thanks so much, Laurie.

Lory Mitchell | 1:11:18

Thank you.

Have a great day.