Even people who don't know much about dogs recognize an English bulldog when they see one. If it's got spots, it's likely a piebald. That's simply a term for white spotting in the dog's coat. In the bulldog, piebalds come in a variety of shades.
Piebald
Piebald English bulldogs differ from simply bi-colored dogs by the amount of white in their coats. For example, a red-and-white bulldog is predominately red with white on the face or legs, while the red piebald is predominately white with red spots. Piebalds come in all the basic bulldog colors. Whatever the color, the bulldog's coat is straight and short, requiring only moderate grooming.
Other Bulldog Colors
The American Kennel Club lists piebald as the least desirable among the acceptable colors for a registered English bulldog. That shouldn't matter to you unless you want to show your dog. The most favored colors involve brindling, a mix of darker and lighter hairs forming a pattern. Bulldog colors, in order of AKC preference, are red brindle, other brindles, solid white, and solid red, fawn or fallow, the latter a blond shade. Piebald follows these colors in order of preference.
Size
The mature English bulldog weighs between 40 and 60 pounds, with a height between 10 and 15 inches at the shoulder. Originally bred for bear-baiting, the bulldog remains a muscular animal with a thick, heavyset body. Males are larger than females.
Temperament
Bulldogs make good family dogs, as they're gentle with kids but also protective. If you have an active lifestyle, this is probably not the breed for you. Bulldogs are low-key—that's a euphemism for lazy. Favorite pastimes include eating and sleeping, more or less in that order. Not the most easily trained dogs, they crave affection. If you want a lovable, relatively low-maintenance lug around the house, the English bulldog fills the bill. One downside—this isn't a long-lived breed. The average lifespan is about 10 years.
