The clown among terriers. The pedigree chump. Those are just a couple of tags attached to the English Bull Terrier.
And while both are certainly appropriate, what may not be generally understood is that English bull terriers are absolutely devoted to people, particularly the elderly and children. They are intensely loyal and devoted to their owners
Wonderful Family Pets
‘Bullies’ as these dogs are affectionately known, make wonderful family pets, but they do need to be kept active because the bored ‘bully’ soon becomes the mischievous ‘bully’.
The breed is stubborn by nature and does need firm handling from the start.
So what is the origin of the breed and what the the dog actually look like?
According to The Bull Terrier club (www.bullterrierclub.com) the breed was established in the early 1800s by crossing a bulldog with a terrier. The club itself, established in 1887, claims to be one of the oldest and largest of its type in the world and exists to help anyone interested in the breed.
In appearance, the English Bull terrier might not be the prettiest of dogs – in some countries, this dog is called the Pig Dog, because of the piggy look of his head and eyes – but it is certainly among the most enchanting. And unusual.
It has a funny, egg-shaped head, is mainly white in colour and its muzzle slopes right down to the nostrils. The eyes are small, triangular and deep set and there is often an endearing patch over one eye. The body is strong and muscular, the temparement stubborn.
Test White Dogs for Deafness
Like many other white dogs, the English bull terrier should be tested for deafness. Also, because it is likely to have various areas of exposed skin, sunbathing is not advisable. Those areas can burn badly.
This breed of dog doesn’t need much grooming, but a daily brush will make him look particularly handsome and a drop of cod liver oil on his dinner will help not just the coat, but general well-being.
Bookshops and libraries have a plentiful supply of English Bull Terrier books and because of the totally unfair bad press attached to these dogs, animal shelters always have a selection of rescue English Bull Terriers available for adoption.
Ronnie and Gusto
Ronnie was a particularly affectionate English bull terrier/Dalmatian cross who was re-homed from Freshfields Animal Rescue Centre, near Liverpool, England
He went to live with a couple in Wirral, on the opposite side of the River Mersey, where he shared his home with another rescue dog called Gusto, who had been re-homed from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in nearby Wallasey.
Ronnie was a great comedian. There was nothing he enjoyed more than sitting on a chair, lolling back, showing his fat pink tummy. Asked to ‘shake hands’ he would offer one of his back paws, then turn up the corners of his mouth, grinning delightedly at the human reaction. On the floor, he liked to stretch out full length, front paws extended one way, back paws the other, the tail high in the air like a rudder which, according to experts, is a typical bull terrier pose.
But there was a serious side to Ronnie, too.
His house-mate Gusto was an insulin-dependent diabetic who, by the time she met Ronnie, was totally blind from cataracts.
Ronnie took his disabled little house-mate under his wing, guiding her when they went walking together, leading her to the food bowls when it was time for dinner, and to the big, heavily blanketed box they shared, at bed time. The two became inseparable and lived happily for several years. It surprised no-one when they died within months of each other.
Safer With a Harness
Dog magazines and newspapers promote much English bull terrier merchandise.
These include vehicle and transit accessories, safety gates, toys, leads and in particular, harnesses that can come in very useful when training a dog.
And on this latter point, an English Bull Terrier harness is always a safer bet than a straightforward collar and lead. The ‘egghead’ is actually narrower than the animal’s very wide neck with the result that it is easy for this breed of dog to slip the lead and hare off madly in search of excitement.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Please help!! I have a nine month old male Bull Terrier puppy who is frightened to death of traffic. Its getting worse every day he will not walk antwhere near the road he shakes and cowers,
What a shame. I’m so sorry. Bull terriers are usually such macho little chappies. Your puppy does need help.
First of all a few questions:
1… How long have you had the puppy?
2.. If from birth, can you pinpoint a time when this fear originated?
3.. If you’ve only recently adopted him, is there anything in his previous history that might suggest some sort of problem?
4.. Has he been frightened by some incident when out walking.. a car driving too near the pavement, a cyclist riding on the pavement, even a pram or a wheelchair appearing when he least expected.
5.. Have you recently moved from a district where there was not much road traffic to one where there is, thus taking him out of his comfort zone?
6.. Have you approached your vet? Your dog trainer?
I think de-sensitisation is probably the answer. The vet or dog trainer will explain. I’m sorry not to be able to help any further, but I do think this is one for the experts.
Hello,my 5 month old bullie is finding it hard to eat without her nose embedding itself in the food before her mouth can get to it!!.Is there a specific kind of dog bowl for this shaped head?
Thanks
zoe
Hello Zoe,
We’re so sorry to hear your gorgeous little bullie is having trouble with his food and have had a truly frustrating time trying to track down a suitable feeding dish for her; possibly covering the same sort of territory as you have yourself!
Some years ago, Ronnie, our beloved bull terrier/Dalmatian cross had a similar problem and we managed to locate a slanting bowl… i.e., with one side higher than the other and he did manage to eat out of the lower side (usually) without making too much mess.
But when the bowl was past its chew-by date, we were unable to replace it because the manufacturers had gone out of business, So the line was discontinued. Somehow he managed to manoeuvre his funny little nose and mouth around the food in the conventional bowl he eventually had to settle for. Though it has to be said that he did make a complete mess of the floor around the food bowl and invariably splashed the contents of his water bowl over everyone in the vicinity.
The nearest product we could find during our current research was a slightly-slanting plastic bowl (retailing at around £2 Sterling), but it’s geared towards Spaniels, with the purpose of keeping their big ears out of the food and drink. This one is made by Armitage and might – just might – be worth a try.
Armitage also do a range of ‘double diners’ – with matching food and water bowls, some of which might be worth trying..
The only other possibility is to try and encourage your puppy to eat with her head raised from the floor… better for her posture too. The raised head position is also, incidentally, recommended for dogs with arthritis and those breeds with long necks.
A company called Next Tag UK (www.nextag.co.uk) have come up with an ingenious effort called the Trixie dog feeder. Again, it incorporates two matching bowls. But these are deep and their fixtures come attached to an adjustable stand, although the bowls themselves simply lift out for filling, and washing.
This means that as your puppy grows taller, the bowls can be raised higher and higher to accommodate her needs. The stand has a H-shaped base making it very stable. You should be able to order one from your local pet supplier for less than £20
If you can’t envisage what we’re talking about, think hospital bedside. Conjure up an image of the pole with those bags delivering intravenous fluids and medication throughout the patient’s body.
The Trixie dog feeder is nothing like as tall as the stand for those medical bags, but without an illustration to hand, it is the nearest we can get to describing it. Apologies to the manufacturers…
By the way… if there are any entrepreneurs out there, wondering what next to invent, how about having a go at this for Zoe and others experiencing the same problem with their bullies. You never know, you could end up on that TV programme Dragons Den and make yourself a fortune.
Meanwhile, please… comments will be very welcome from other bullie owners who have managed to get around this, or any other dog-related problem. Thank you.