English Bull Terriers!

[nessie]

Hiya
I'd love to hear from any English Bull Terrier peeps on here. I am making plans for the future, and I've always had staffies (and my current staffie x)... My boy is getting on now, and I wouldn't get another dog just yet as I think he deserves a quiet retirement! However, I can't imagine life without a dog so I thought it sensible to make enquiries and start finding out if this really is the breed for me now!

Any help or advice gratefully received!!!! I prefer to rescue as I'm not looking for a perfect show specimen,just a little lad or lassie who needs a loving home. I'm moving in with my fella soon and he has 2 kids aged 3 and 5, are they good with children? I know the rules with kids and dogs, and these two are pretty good having always had dogs in the family...

Im aware bullies can be predisposed to hereditary skin conditions, but are there any other health issues to look out for?

Looking forward to hearing from you!!! thanks, nessie :)

[claire25]

hi nessie we have Buster a 3 and a half year old all white ebt he is so loving good with the children and other dogs the down side is yes he has a allergie which shows up in his skin but it doesn't bother him so doesn't bother us he isn't to good with sharing so he will take his toys/treats to his cage have you heard of B.I.N rescue you can have a look on there for your bully friend i am not sure on the illnesss thing in a bully book i have just says deafness which will be from birth and should have been detected early on another ebt owner on here is firewalker his gus doesn't have any skin complaints feel free to ask any questions

[Snowmantra]

I think they may also be prone to kidney & heart problems but I ain't 100% certain :-\

[nessie]

Thanks for ur replies! I can't wait for a new bully friend!!!! I hadn't heard of the rescue centre u mentioned Claire, but I will google it!

[claire25]

i hadn't heard of it either till i joined this forum which lead to me joining a forum called bulliebar an ebt forum and they have it all over the forum as alot of them have rescued from there good luck with it all

[kimandshelby]

I know this is an old thread but I have 2 Bull Terriers one of which came to me through Bullies In Need.

Bullies can have heart and kidney problems some complaints are more common than others.

They are good with children but they, the bullies not the kids, tend to be clumsy and can knock a child over without meaning to. A lot of reported "maulings" have been claw damage rather than teeth. I can attest to that as my arms are often used by my white bullie as a scratching post! lol

If you wanna know anything else just ask! I should also add I've met Firewalker and Gus but didn't know they were members here.

[Gizmo Popsy Mummy]

I think they're absolutely stunning

[ruffkutz]

I think they too are an absolutely lovely breed - just unfortunately because of their looks are either misunderstood or get into the wrong hands!

[Panya]

My favourite breed of all time!!!! (as most of you know...)

I think they are beautiful! I agree ruffie though, people think they are "hard men" dogs, yet they are just clowns! much like staffies!

[ruffkutz]

and Old Tyme Bulldogs. All gorgeous misunderstood dogs, that get a bad name cos of a few irresponsible owners!

[Gizmo Popsy Mummy]

thought I'll post some pics here of a BT from Latvia called Gordon taking part in some artsy photo campaign/advertising (for wall paper, believe it or not! :wink:)http://i023.radikal.ru/0711/08/279125b960a7.jpg

http://i028.radikal.ru/0711/21/2ce117d03d1d.jpg

[kimandshelby]

Like the first pic but not sure that the second pic is a good advertisement for the breed. It only takes some idiot to get it into their heads that's a pic of a dog killing a child or similar. I've had "child murderer" shouted at me when out with my bullies or people come up and say stuff along the lines of "that's a hard dog innit". I guess the definition of hard depends on whether you view a dog that crawls around on it's belly making strange noises as hard! Hard, no, strange, very!

Here are my 2 -

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/shelbybt/11102007155.jpg

[katy]

very cute - is one of them wearing socks?

[kimandshelby]

Shelby had a poorly foot and had been treated with Stockholm Tar, the sock was to put him off trying to bite the bandage.

[katy]

Shelby had a poorly foot and had been treated with Stockholm Tar, the sock was to put him off trying to bite the bandage.


bless :)

[Gizmo Popsy Mummy]

see, but that's just stereotyping, if there was a chihuahua with the carcass, it would be seen as funny.

I just thought that they were striking, beautiful pictures with a beautiful dog.

[katy]

I like the pics but can see how they would give the wrong impression to ignorant people.

[Gizmo Popsy Mummy]

any more bully pictures? :)

[Numpty]

I have very limited experience with EBTs - two owned by friends and two in rescue - but they all seemed to inhabit Planet EBT which sometimes merges (or should I say collides) with Planet Earth but not all the time. Planet EBT seems to be a happy, licky, manic place where no-one is an enemy, merely an obstruction.

Good luck.

[ruffkutz]

Could we please extend Planet EBT to Planet Bullie - Chika is a complete nutter!!

[raggies1]

Numpty LOL!! We saw a few at the vets (usually for skin as mentioned) and they just seem to be strong, clumsy, fools (in the nicest possible way). Stunning dogs with a lot of character and certainly not for the faint hearted!

[kimandshelby]

I have very limited experience with EBTs - two owned by friends and two in rescue - but they all seemed to inhabit Planet EBT which sometimes merges (or should I say collides) with Planet Earth but not all the time. Planet EBT seems to be a happy, licky, manic place where no-one is an enemy, merely an obstruction.

Good luck.

Funnily enough Shelby's half brother's name is Numpty. lol And you are so right, they do live on a strange 4th dimensional/outer space type level. Love them for it though, wouldn't have it any other way.

[kimandshelby]

any more bully pictures? :)

Here we go -

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/shelbybt/IMG_4740.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/shelbybt/11102007149.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/shelbybt/09092007135.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/shelbybt/31082007128.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x179/Shelbybt2/15072007080.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x179/Shelbybt2/27052007022.jpg

[Panya]

Planet Bullie it is - theyr'e all daft as bats and strak raving mad! :D

[firewalker]

I should also add I've met Firewalker and Gus but didn't know they were members here.

Hi Fancy meeting you on here.

[katy]

is that a halloween costume?! :)

[firewalker]

Love those pics of Shelby and Dodge

[kimandshelby]

Hi Fancy meeting you on here.

I've been known to get around! lol

[kimandshelby]

is that a halloween costume?! :)

No, costume ideas for the Bullies In Need Funday over the summer, in the end he went as a Ninja Turtle. He won first place. The dress up thing seems to happen a lot when I'm at work and OH has the dogs! lol

[Sunshine + Jasmine]

They are a lot smaller than I was expecting!

[Panya]

In what way S&J? the miniature bullies are quite small but the standard ones are actually quite large!

[Sunshine + Jasmine]

Are the photos of mini's then?

Cos I didnt know you could get mini's.....

[Panya]

Oh i see what you mean - they look small in the pics! sorry, had a tough day! lol!

I think they are standard size in the pics actually...just know that most people think they are smaller than they actually are!

This gives a good idea of size with the pics in the left hand corner:
http://www.dogsindepth.com/terrier_dog_breeds/bull_terrier.html

[kimandshelby]

Both Shelby and Dodge are standards. Shelby is however quite small for a standard and Dodge was suffering from extreme malnutrition when we got her but as a female she will be smaller than the males. Shelby weighs about 4 stone but I have met bullies of 6+ stone.

This is a mini BT

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/shelbybt/IMG_4745.jpg

This is Shelby with his half brother (same Dad) -

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x179/Shelbybt2/IMG_4678.jpg

[Panya]

Oh, they are SO gorgeous!

[nessie]

Lovely photos! My mind is made up - definitely a bullie (or 2!) for me in the future, but not whilst the old boy is still with us. He's enjoying life as a single dog and is almost 16 now.

[kimandshelby]

If you are interested in getting a bullie there are loads needing good homes (no doubt this won't have changed by the time you're ready) with Bullies In Need or Bull Terrier Welfare. Good luck.