Miniature Bull Terrier

Search Miniature Bull Terrier Info by Google® Miniature Bull Terrier (Comprehensive Owner's Guide) The compact version of the Bull Terrier, this Miniature offers all of the fire and fearlessness of his bigger brother in a more manageable, portable package. A happy, friendly dog that thrives in an active family where he serves as an affectionate companion and courageous watchdog. Smaller than the Standard Bull Terrier, the Miniature Bull Terrier is stronger--pound for pound--a true mighty Mini!

Miniature Bull Terrier
Also called the "Mini Bull"

Simply stated the Miniature Bull Terrier is a downsized version of the Standard Bull Terrier. He has a sturdy and square constitution and large, egg-shaped head. His eyes are quite unique - small, triangular-shaped, dark and piercing. The ears are small, pricked and high set. The chest is deep, the abdominal tuck moderate and the tail is set-low, tapering and curved. The limbs are straight and muscular with heavy bones.

The Miniature Boston Terrier has short, flat, hard and glossy coat. When it comes to coat colors, there are 2 varieties - white and colored. The white variety can have markings only on the head, while the colored variety may be red, fawn, brindle, black-brindle, white or tricolored.

Personality

Despite its size, the Miniature Bull Terrier is strong, courageous, devoted and tenacious. he is very protective of his owner and if faced with opponents quite fiery and fierce. At home, he is playful, lively and comical. He likes being the center of attention and will do anything to entertain you.

Because of his hilarious nature and sense of humor, the Miniature Bull Terrier finds humor in everything, including training. Therefore, as long as the training sessions are turned into entertaining games, training will be easy. To satisfy its inquisitive and mischievous nature and prevent boredom vices, the Miniature Bull Terrier needs regular mind and body exercises.

The Miniature Bull Terrier is generally friendly, but requires early and extensive socialization, especially if you need him to get along well with children and smaller pets.

History

In the late 1800s, the Bull and Terrier breed was associated with questionable class of people. To improve its reputations, fanciers of the breed, started selecting for appearance and crossing the Bull and Terrier with Dalmatians and the now extinct White English Terrier. Later on, crosses with Staffordshire Terriers were introduced.

Although the Miniature Bull Terrier was not specifically bred for fighting, he still retains much of his feisty, courageous ancestry and guarding instincts.

Today, the Miniature Bull Terrier is loved and affectionate companion, as well as prized guardian dog.
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Health & Happiness

The ideal height at withers for both females and males is 10-14" (24.5-35.5cm) and the ideal weight for both females and males is 24-33lb (11-15kg).

FOOD/DIET: The best feeding option for a Miniature Bull Terrier is high-quality, dry dog food. His food intake must be carefully supervised, because he has an overeating tendency. If he becomes overweight the risk of developing obesity associated issues increases.

HEALTH ISSUES: The Miniature Bull Terrier is a relatively healthy breed. However, just like any other breed it can be prone to developing certain health problems. The most common issues include cardiovascular conditions (left ventricular outflow tract obstruction), musculoskeletal conditions (hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, patella luxation), neurological conditions (congenital unilateral or bilateral deafness), eye conditions (persistent papillary membranes, primary lens luxation, corneal dystrophy, cataracts, vitreous degeneration), urinary conditions (hereditary nephritis) and endocrine conditions (hypothyroidism).

The Miniature Bull Terrier often manifests behavioral compulsive disorders like spinning and tail chasing.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 12-13 years

FUN FACTS: The Miniature Bull Terrie has a fascinating appearance that infatuated many celebrities. Therefore many celebrities like Kirk Hammett, Lily Allen, Jane Birkin, Taylor Swift, Marc Jacobs, Eric Clapton and Princess Anne, own a Miniature Bull Terrier.

The Miniature Bull Terrier

The Miniature Bull Terrier is one of my favorite breeds of dogs primarily because they're very easy to care for while also having the personality traits that are perfect for both families/children.

Miniature Bull Terriers are loving, kind and loyal and are considered to be an excellent choice of breed if you want a companion by your side.

From personal experience, Miniature Bull Terriers absolutely love to participate in social events (bring around a lot of people), car rides and simple walks thru the neighborhood; the perfect all-around breed!




One unique personality trait of the Miniature Bull Terrier is there "sporadic" burst of energy which is so prominent in this breed that it has been dubbed the "Bully Run". This, as I'm sure you're wondering, is when these Terriers (for whatever reason) decided to dash/run thru the yard or even the house although the Miniature Bull Terrier that I owned years ago slowly phased out of this act as he aged/matured. .

Another trait of this breed that's worth mentioning is that while they're quite friendly with guests (strangers) they have an incredible instinct and do a great job of being a watchdog when need be. .

I kind you not, there were times that my Terrier would start barking upstairs in my room and 10 seconds later someone was knocking at the door or ringing the door bell (definitely a smart breed).

Miniature Bull Terrier Physical Activity

Just as with most other breeds of dogs, the Miniature Bull Terrier requires quite a bit of exercise and if you have the time to provide the Terrier with at least 20-30 minutes per day of physical activity then this would be sufficient enough for him/her to burn off the energy that they need to. .

Of course, as aging takes place, physical activity durations will slowly decrease and you'll be able to judge this based on the tiredness of your Miniature Bull Terrier. .

I use to take me Terrier to the dog park twice per week and I always kept a bowl of water by the bench I sat on and I always knew when he was done for the day as he'd leave the field, come to drink some water and then lie down. .

One trait of the Miniature Bull Terrier that is common among them all is that when they're not getting the exercise that they need they do become quite destructive in the sense that they'll start biting furniture/objects in your home or will dig up your flower garden that you've worked so hard on. .

So, be sure that your Terrier is getting an adequate amount of exercise on a daily/weekly basis. .

Training your Miniature Bull Terrier

If you want to train your Bullie it's highly recommended that you start the training at a "young" age or if you are buying/adopting a Miniature Bull Terrier that's not a puppy check with the owner to see if training for the Terrier has taken place. .

Training a matured Terrier that has no previous training is incredibly difficult and will be near impossible (even if you contract an experienced trainer to intervene). .

As the old adage says, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and this is very true as when Terriers age they will become a bit more stubborn and as a result will not respond well to training. .

One thing to keep in mind that many don't take in to consideration while training their Bullie is that this particular breed doesn't respond well to disciplinary actions or harsh tones. I'm not going to lie, training a Bullie is a lot of work and does require an immense amount of patience and understanding but being patient and "calmly" speaking to the Terrier will greatly increase the likelihood of the Terrier responding to these new instructions.

How to respond to your Terrier’s unwanted Actions

One thing I noticed about this breed (and a lot of other owners had this problem come to find out) is that even if your Terrier was trained as a puppy, as they age, here and there, they'll begin to fall out of line by not doing what they were trained to do. .

A close friend of mine who just happens to own a Miniature Bull Terrier made a comparison between her Bullie and her 16 year old daughter as the Bullie (just as with her daughter) will push boundaries to see what he can get away with and knowing how to respond to the Terrier acting up will help to ensure that your Terrier doesn't act-up again. .

Here's a personal experience from a time that my Miniature Bull Terrier (who was 7 years old at the time) decided to make a bowel movement on my carpet at home... .

Perhaps being the best advice in this article is the fact that before you assume ownership of a Terrier you need to understand up-front that your patience "will be" tested and knowing how to react to the unwanted actions of your Terrier is just as important as making sure your Terrier is being fed (well, almost as important). .

So, how did I deal with my Terrier going to the bathroom inside my home? .

First off, when I walked in to my front door my Terrier was huddled in the corner (looking afraid) with the expression that said "Yes I did something wrong" and I automatically knew what this meant (by the aroma in the house and his expression). You see, Terriers tend to only act up once they're older so when they do something wrong, they're mature enough to know they did something wrong so if you respond in the right way the first time they usually won't do whatever it is that they did again. .

What I did to let my Terrier know that this was wrong was I put the leash and collar on her and escorted her to where she went to the bathroom. Once at the spot, I gently pushed his head down to the point that his nose was about a half foot above the ground and "calmly" said "no, no, no". Would you like to take a guess at what happened after this? For the 6 years that he lived after this took place he never did this again! .

Most people would make the mistake of raising their tone with the Terrier which is a big mistake as they're much more responsive to being spoken to in a soft tone.

While this article was supposed to mainly cover only the characteristics of the Miniature Bull Terriers and ownership suggestions I really wanted to go in to the details of ownership as many online resources don't offer this kind of first-hand advice and I felt that anyone looking to adopt/buy a Terrier should really understand how to treat/talk to their Terrier as it'll make both yours and the life of the Terrier much easier. .

Training your Bullie to be Friendly with Others

One characteristic of your Bullie that you can control without training/guidance is their friendliness with others. For example, if you have a family, are planning on having a family or tend to participate in a lot of family/social events you'll want to make sure you adopt a Miniature Bull Terrier as a puppy. .

This is because as a puppy, if they're actively participating in events or are taking part in situations where a lot of people are present then as they age they will tend to be quite friendly with nearly any person that they happen to meet (stranger or non-stranger). .

However, let's say you adopt a Bullie that's 1-2 years of age (or older) and this particular Bullie has been sheltered or kept away from a lot of people by its owner/breeder then involving the Terrier in social events (including dog parks) could "possibly" be a challenge as when they're not apt to being around others they can become aggressive with others (and I'm referring to both people and dogs). .

I, personally, highly suggest and recommend that if you don't yet have a Miniature Bull Terrier that you only adopt a Bullie that's a puppy so you can begin to train him/her to be around others and what's great about this is as I mentioned no training is required... Simply involve your Bullie in events where others are around and your Terrier will grow up with a very friendly personality. .

The flip side to this is that if you want this particular breed as a "watchdog" or a dog that's more on the protective side then simply take your Terrier on walks for exercise and don't take the Bullie to socialize. .

How you raise your Bullie will truly determine their personality as they get a little bit older so just keep this in mind when you have a Miniature Bull Terrier puppy. There's nothing wrong with having a Miniature Bull Terrier that's more on the protective side whatsoever as they're a great breed for this but they can also have a very friendly and bubbly personality if you choose to allow them to have those traits.

Miniature Bull Terrier Behavioral Traits
I touched a bit on their behavior previously in this article but wanted to touch base on a couple of other points as there are some things that you need to be aware of (especially if you travel for work/business or are away from home frequently for any reason). .

First off (this is my opinion), Bullies I believe suffer from separation anxiety more so then any other breed and I learned this extremely quick when I decided to leave Lily (my Terrier) at a "Doggy Hotel" for 4 nights while I traveled out of town for work.

When I returned to pick her up (keep in mind she had a very laid back personality) I learned from the dog caretaker at the hotel that she was barely eating, behaved aggressively with other dogs that were there and was constantly growling and learning of her behavior sparked my interest to learn why she was acting this way. .

After this took place, I did my research and I learned from both online resources and Bullie owners that the Miniature Bull Terrier is extremely "possessive" of their owner(s) and they're extremely territorial. .

The reason I'm bringing this up is because if you're an individual that tends to travel a lot or are away from the Bullie for frequent and extended periods of time then this wouldn't be a good breed of dog to take ownership of. This breed becomes "very attached" to their owner(s) and when they're away from their superior for both frequent and extended periods of time their personality tends to change quite a bit.

I noticed an incredible difference in Lily's behavior for the entire first week that I brought her back home and to this day I believe it's because she was upset with me for leaving her for that period of time. .

With that said, only put the Miniature Bull Terrier on your list of possible breeds if you're going to be home on a daily basis to give them the attention and company that they want/require.