Advice and Bull Terrier Breed Info?

Sorry I don't know nuch but I was just watching a show on TV and my mom was saying how cute they are.

[] Who could not fall in love with that egg shaped head?
You can see why I have a hard time saying "No"


(sniped from dog.com)

They're great dogs, and a lot of fun- we have one in our obedience club who is a hoot.

Some of them are dog aggressive (but not all, and I'm fairly sure all the dog-aggressive ones I knew were intact dogs, and the neutered pets I meet don't seem to be that way at all), and they do have some health problems to look out for (deafness and epilepsy are the two I know about, I think hip dysplasia is something of an issue too). They are a LOT of dog in a fairly compact package and seem to be happiest with a LOT of exercise- and LORD can they be stubborn.

I think your boyfriend should have a dog of his own! It's only fair.

The bull terriers that come into the clinic are all very pleasant towards humans, but about 90% are dog aggressive.  We have 4 that board with us regularly and they are total clowns, they work hard to get a laugh from everyone around.  We see about 100 of these dogs and about 30 of them are deaf.  There are also some that have seizure disorders, and others that are blind.  I don't know if these problems are normal for the breed or if these pups were mass produced from a byb in the area, and these are just the byb's donation to the breed.  I will say that they are quite energetic, and would need socialization early & often.

The health of these dogs are what really worry me. Working as a tech myself I saw my share of BTs with health issues. I assumed it was due to poor breeding. I didn't notice the agression as much as the clowns they were. I've also like the ones I've met at shows, they are just hyper dogs who have a need to please every person they met.

I think in a way my BF is jelous that I have a dog and he doen't. He often goes with me to Gizzy's training classes and is dissapointed that he has to sit on the side and watch. A dog of his own might be good for him. Something similar we can both share. I don't think 3 dogs between the two of us would be too much. Humm...still have more thinking to do. Can anyone tell me honestly why anouther dog would not be a good idea?

I just think it might be difficult to get two new dogs pretty close time-wise to each other.  But, maybe like having twins, it might be easier to get all the puppy-stuff out the way with both at once? 
 
But since you seem to think you'd eb okay, and you're the best judge of that, then go for it!  it would be good for him to have his "own" dog.  He obviously knows what goes into having a dog, so it seems like a good idea!
 
good luck!

Is he interested in the regular bull terrier or the miniature? The miniature might be more managable than a larger dog.  Trust me, terriers have enough fire already; he won't be having one of those "little" dogs some guys seem to have issues with. You know the type; "I have to have a BIG dog; little dogs are NOT for straight guys".  Ummm, I don't THINK so, but some guys are like this!

He's not anything like the "gotta have my big toys" type of guy. I was thinking the miniture would be better for him and his lifestyle. He's the kind of guy who is more brains over muscle so to speek. He's graduating college in May with degrees in Bio. Chem. and Phycology and after that is planing on going to med school. Going to grad school makes me wonder if he will have enouh time for the dog. Then agean being in college myself and haveing a dog of my own has helped me get threw college. It's nice to have a dog to walk a few times a day to get all that stress out.

I get it now! I know why he wants his own dog!

When we had our last dog, Georga, we shared her. She was his dog just as much as she was mine. When we had to re-home her my boyfriend was upset, we did what was best for her. Now my BF wants a dog of his own because he misses having a dog around. I still question if I did the right thing when we re-homed her. When he saw a bull terrier it was the dog he had in mind. He said he would be the one who would take care of this new dog and he would pay for everything so I would not have to worry about anything like that. I think once we come back from our trip we will start looking at some rescues and see what we find, I'm thinking an older dog might be best for a companion.

Here are some links on Bull Terriers:
 
The Bull Terrier club of America:
[linkhttp://www.btca.com/]http://www.btca.com/[/link]

The Bull Terrier.com Message boards,
Bull Terrier breed and care information, photos and events:
[linkhttp://www.thebullterrier.com/]http://www.thebullterrier.com/[/link]

Minature and Standard Bull Terrier breed info:
[linkhttp://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bullterrier.htm]http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bullterrier.htm[/link]

Akc's breed info on the Bull Terriers:
[linkhttp://www.akc.org/breeds/bull_terrier/index.cfm]http://www.akc.org/breeds/bull_terrier/index.cfm[/link]
 
Bull Terrier Rescue:
[linkhttp://sets.com/btrescue/]http://sets.com/btrescue/[/link]

There's a Bull Terrier in Max's agility class. He's a complete goofball, and the most stubborn dog i've ever seen. If he doesn't want to move, he isn't going to move, and he doesn't care what you have, or what you think about it. Yesterday he just sat on the table a while when he was supposed to run a course and refused to go anywhere. When he finally did decide to start moving, he got half way around and decided to quit, and he just walked off. I think he went to sit on the bench at that point, but I don't really remember.
He's young, I think about a year and a half, and although he isn't dog aggressive yet, I think I can see that coming. Right now he has some behaviors that are generally considered rude among dogs. He humps other dogs every chance he gets. Max doesn't mind it, but if the trainer's dog were there, she'd teach him really fast that that's not appropriate. Also, there's a pittie in the class who is dog aggressive, though not terribly. She's fine as long as the other dogs are kept a few feet away and don't stare at her. She won't go looking for a fight either, because she does sometimes decide to run zoomies around the field, but she stays away from the other dogs. This Bull Terrier has a tendency to stare at her sometimes, which of course gets her agitated, which in turn gets him frustrated. So, while he doesn't show aggressive behaviors outright, he does do things that could provoke other dogs to become aggressive with him, and for all I know, he could become aggressive when he's a bit older.

We have new neighbors across the street just moved with a BT. They say he is extremely dog aggressive, he is an older guy.  Imagine my surprise when my 2 guys started barking and BT was at my fence.  He was being nice with tags jingling, so I grabbed my leash and walked him home.  He has escaped twice now from the yard,  Not sure if he's a digger and thats how hes getting out. 

How about a mixed breed Bull Terrier? Our Mocha Jean is a female  lab/pit mix and she is stubborn
but smart! And she is not aggressive towards dogs or people.

Pam

I was telling my BF how difficult a BT is to train and how stuborn it would be his sassy response was "not much differnt than living with you"....[sm=blush.gif] It wasn't ment as an insult, he has a rather strange sense of humor that takes time to adjust to.

The I asked what about Gizmo, she's slightly dog aggressive and we would have to go threw everything all over agean that we have done with her, his response "at least they will have something in common"...

Well...he has his mind set on a BT and anything I say doesn't seem to make him think it's not a good choice. I think I'll start him on his search by looking into rescues first. I figure if I can't talk him out of it then it's something he really wants and worth going after. I tried www.petfinder.com but all I could find were "Pit" Bull Terriers, not exactly the same and a "bull Terrier" so I think for this breed I'm better off contacting a breed specific rescue, maybe along the way we'll find something that's a good match.