Bull breed addict

Bull Breed Addict

I love all dogs. From working with so many of your pups with Dogs be Dogs I have added a much broader variety of breeds to the list that I would like to own, much to my husband’s dismay. But I ADORE bull breeds. Large or small, it doesn’t matter, they just put a smile on my face.

If you have never owned or been around one, you may not understand the attraction, especially given the media coverage over the last 30 years. In my experience, bull breeds are the biggest comedians, affectionate, tenacious, and a huge part of the family. If you like a dog to be independent, then a bull breed is definitely not for you, think not even being able to go to the toilet in peace! They love to be with you, it doesn’t matter where you are going or what you are doing, as long as they can come. A good walk and then home to have a cuddle on the sofa in the winter, or a sunbathe in the garden in the summer (I forgot to mention that they are solar powered!) would be a perfect day for one of these guys.

Being a dog owner is a huge responsibility and this is heightened when you own a bull breed or other large breed, because of their strength and potential power, but this is no different to someone owning a powerful sports car or a superbike, it is about being a responsible owner/driver. This begins with the research you do in finding a reputable breeder who is breeding for the correct reasons and then the training you do with your puppy to set them up to be a confident and happy adult dog.

With the upcoming ban on XL bullies, and a potential for even more focus on bull breeds in general, it is even more important that our amazing bull breeds are showing off how awesome they really are. I started thinking of ways to keep our dogs safe and for members of the public to notice how well behaved they are. To be honest, I would do these irrelevant of the breed that I owned as they are just good life skills for a dog in general, but they could be especially helpful given the current circumstances.

• Teach a check in with me (give me eye contact) every time they see another dog, especially if the other dog is loose and mine is on her lead. This can diffuse any excitement and prevent a more direct and confrontational approach as my dog is orientating to me and not the other dog. I also think some dogs are intimidated by the wide and forward stance of our bullies; with their head turned towards us, this isn’t so pronounced.

• I do lots of sniffing exercises with my dog to tire her brain but also to reduce any stress hormones and promote calmness. She then takes this out on the road and sniffs every blade of grass. This puts a lot of dogs off approaching her anyway as her head is in a bush! She is also given regular natural chews. Chewing releases happy hormones into their brains.

• Teach “Let’s go!”. If there is a situation that you want to get out of quickly, or something that you want to pass quickly without your dog stopping, we can teach a "let’s go" cue to tell our dog to follow us this way quickly.

•  I don’t put my dog in certain situations; if there are multiple dogs loose in a field or park playing together, we go quietly around the outside. As humans we do not like every other  human that we meet, we find some too overpowering, annoying or intimidating. Dogs are the same and may not like every other dog they meet. Why would I potentially put my dog in a position where she feels the need to tell another dog (appropriately) to back off and risk the potential judgement and issues that comes with?

• My dog has her friends that she knows well and plays with off-lead, but I have taught her to be able to ignore strange dogs and just walk quietly by them. We can’t predict another dogs' behaviour or reaction to our dog. Let’s not put our bullies in an awkward position.