[Akari_32]

Hey guys! In the next few years I’ve decided that my next dog will be either an English Bull Terrier or a Pit Bull. It all really depends on what finds me first, and finances.

Since you can get pits here all day every day, I was hoping you guys could help me out with finding the best place to get a bull terrier. The only rescue I’ve found does not keep their website up to date (http://www.bullterrierrescue.org), so if anyone could point me toward an active one, that’d be great.

Quite honestly, though, a rescue is my second option. I know that Bull Terriers can be very head strong, so I’d be looking at a puppy if I couldn’t find a local-ish rescue with a dog I could handle. So that leaves me also looking at breeders. I’m happy with this one:

http://bulliesofnc.com

And there are a few on the AKC website I’m going to look into, as well. But that’s as far I’ve been able to research so far, as I don’t like doing much on my phone and I don’t currently have internet at home. If anyone has thoughts on this one, and any others to add, that’d be great. I’d also like some tips for buying from a breeder– what to look for, what some red flags are, your experiences with buying from (any) breeders, etc.

This is all a year plus off in the future, so I’ve got plenty of time to scoot around and mull things over, and find the best breeders and rescues. I live in Florida, so please keep that in mind when recommending anything. I don’t want to go to California for a dog :p

While this will be my first personal bully breed, I do fully know what I’m getting into. I’ve walked dogs at the local humane society (and by “dogs” I mean about 2 dozen pit bulls), and my aunt had a pit up until recently when he had to be out down after shattering his shoulder at the age of 15. I’ve also got a 130 pound Rottweiler mix. Needless to say, I’m no stranger to large, powerful dogs. And I’m always the one people come to with dog troubles. However, I’m open to all advice of you bully parents!

TIA! 🙂

[Shasta220]

It sounds like the research you’re doing is very good. Rescues are definitely the best. If you’re looking into one for the future, maybe you could start checking sites like Petfinder now. You’d be surprised at how many purebred pups come up. Even getting a mix wouldn’t be terrible (mixes tend to not have as many health problems anyway).

I know you’re not really wanting a “pit bull,” but did you know there’s only one true pit bull? The American Pit Bull Terrier. Almost everyone I know mistakes every square-headed muscular dog for a pit bull, when in reality three are tons of other bully breeds out there. There are American Bullies, Dogo Argentinos, American Staffordshire, English Staffordshires, and most dogs that people call pit bulls are, in fact, nothing more than mutts (I’ve known many many dogs personally that had the pit bull label, and were a mix with NO kind of bully breed).

I used to have some great web pages about all the different bully breeds out there, but I can’t remember the names of the sites.

Honestly if I were you, I’d be content with trying to find a bully mix at the shelter. Nothing wrong with having something that’s not exactly going to be the most unique dog out there. (And I love unique dogs…. I love them so much that I went searching for a prick-eared blue Merle blue eyed herding dog. I found one, and well… I will be honest, mutts and bully breeds are still more my type. This dog is craaaazy. I do love him, but I wish I’d have done a temperament test instead of trusted the shelter. They told me he was great with dogs, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. He has horrible fear issues and severe dog aggression, I can’t take him anywhere that might have a dog!)

[Akari_32]

It’s not that I’m not wanting a pit bull, it’s that I just *really* want a bull terrier. Like, for 10 years or so– and I’m only 20. I want them both (among much larger, and less common breeds like the Irish Wolfhound), but I’m more on the bull terrier side. What really decides it is money when the times comes. How much it is to get a puppy from whatever breeder I decide to go with, how close they are and how I’m going to be getting the puppy, if there even are puppies available, if a rescue has a dog I like, how much and where it is, and how it’s going to get to me, if I don’t have the money for said dog or puppy, and/or fall in love with a dog from one of the various shelters around here.

Obviously, a breeder is always going to have puppies, but a rescue is not going to have the same selection, which is why I’m not pushing too much for that right now. When it comes down to it, I will be looking at what rescues and shelters have, but I can’t count on either to have a dog for several years until I’m ready for it. Which is why I’m looking at both, and find the best few of each. Another big reason for me going to a breeder though is I will be living with room mates, and they will have their own animals, as well as what ever I have. Rescues can *say* a dog is good with other dogs, cats, men, etc, but when the dog is moved from home to home, that can easily change. I am shopping around for both, but when it comes down to it, I have more to factor in than just puppy vs adult. I need to figure in the safely of the existing animals at the time I’m ready for this dog.

And really, I don’t even know when I will be getting this puppy/dog. My rott mix is extremely aggressive toward outside dogs, and very protective of me. So I’m basically waiting on him to pass, which is hopefully no time soon. He’s my 130 pound baby, and I love him to death. But they can’t live forever… I’m also going on almost 15 years of rescue dogs. Don’t get me wrong, give me any dog and I’ll love it for the rest of life, but I’d like to explore all my options for my next dog.

[theBCnut]

I used to teach obedience lessons. We had this guy come with his bull terrier for our 8 week class. His dog really didn’t do very well, never learned the first thing about walking on a leash, didn’t even learn sit, so we told him he could come back for free the next set of classes…and the next…and the next…and the next…He ended up paying for one class, coming for a year, and still didn’t have a dog that could walk on a leash or sit on command.

I also was a vet tech. I worked at one vets office for a bit over 9 years. We had a bull terrier come in because he ate something and it wasn’t going through. We took xrays and found he had several somethings in there that weren’t going through. We ended up having to do surgery on that dog 3 different times. We took training collars, cross pens, nails, credit cards, jewelry, combs, you name it, out of that dog. Most of it, the owners never knew was missing until we called to tell them what we had found. They never could trust that dog loose in the house.

Fortunately, they aren’t all like that, but that’s now how I think of them.

[Shasta220]

BTs aren’t super common breeds, so they really aren’t something that’s very economical to get. I’d imagine buying from a breeder would be very expensive, plus then you’d have all of the health issues purebreds tend to get.

I’ve known a few of them as well, they are VERY difficult dogs. They don’t have “Bull” in their name for no reason… I’m not saying they can’t make great companions and pets, but I still think rescuing a bully mix would be the best way to go.

I still have my own dreams of one day owning a Great Dane, a wolf hybrid, and a BT myself. I’d like to say it’ll happen if I want it badly enough, but I just don’t see any reason why going out of my way and spending a fortune on a “purebred” could be any better than spending a much smaller price for a rescue dog. Plus, as I said, purebred dogs in the bully group almost always end up with tons of bummer health problems that cost a fortune more than an average mutt’s issues are. So for those reasons, I doubt I will ever end up getting anything other than rescued mutts and bullies… I still have those daily dreams of having that wolf hybrid tho, LOL (then reality tells me that wolves aren’t meant to be pets, and will continue to have their wolfish issues until they get domesticated back into regular dogs… I’m in a pet-wolf forum right now, so I’ve learned a thing or two about em)

Ultimately, the choice is up to you… But I still think you would be just as happy with a rescued bully-mix puppy. It is relatively easy to find rescue pups, even outside of the shelter. 3 of the 4 dogs I’ve owned, I got as 5-8wk old puppies because they were giveaway pups. The fourth one was my first shelter dog (he’s the crazy blue merle boy.)

[Shasta220]

If you still have your mind 100% glued to a BT, then I’d just recommend to keep doing online research and keep asking around. Ask local rescues and shelters to keep their ears out if they ever see some BT pups (like there could be a rare case where they just happened to be able to rescue a BT mama and her puppies), or if you know any breeders, call them and ask if they’d know any BT rescues/breeders around. If it’s something you want this bad, then you will probably have quite a few calls to make, and will end up possibly traveling quite a ways.
Just curious – what area are you in?

[Akari_32]

I’m fully aware of how difficult bull terriers can be. There will be two other people I’ll be living with, so we can have eyes on the dog at all times. I also plan on crate training (I will never not crate train! My dogs love their cages, and they’re handy). I also know very much about hard headed dogs. My rott mix was a terrible puppy up until the age of about 3, when he finally mellowed out. He’s 10 now, and he’d rather be lazy and lay around (and counter surf…).

When the time comes, I very much so have a lot of people to be contacting, which is why I’m working up a list now, and weeding out the bad ones.

I’m in Florida, right in between Orlando and Miami, on the gulf coast. The closest breeder I’ve found is the one linked above (North Carolina), and I’ve found no active bull terrier rescues. Thankfully I have time to find more of each. As of right now, I’ll either have to have the dog flown to me, or I’ll have to take a week off work and drive to get it. I’m leaning more toward the going and getting it option, so that I can see the facilities and parents if I get one from a breeder, or meet the dog in person first if I adopt (but we have other animals, I don’t know how well that’ll work out). There are kinks to work out, but I’ve got time to get it all straight.

[Harpers Mom]

I have an English bull terrier and she is the sweetest dog I have ever had. Yes she is extremely stubborn, so if you don’t have the time and patience I wouldn’t reccomend it. But she is now 14 months old, well trained although it did take some time and obedience classes. They are very curious dog so I personally never leave her in the house by herself. Crate training is a must. But i think they are great dogs. Good luck with what you choose! Definitely do your research and make sure you have the time for him/her if you do decide!

[Harpers Mom]

And she is a rescue! We got her at 14 weeks old from the shelter! Her and her momma and litter mates were an owner surrender.

[Akari_32]

All the dogs in my family and immediate friends families I’ve trained or helped train, so I’ve been around the block a few times in that department. My biggest challenge was a friend terrier/shepherd mix, but not because she was stubborn (she wanted everybody’s love, and did whatever she had to to get it, which made her really easy to train), but her owner didn’t keep up with it as much as he needed to. She was so active that she had to be worn down some to get her into a good energy for training, and he always tried to go right into training with her, so it took a while for commands to stick. I’m certain I can handle the energy and stubbornness, fingers crossed.

I do also know times change, and if I’m too busy for this breed when the time comes I’m ready for another dog, I will look elsewhere for an easier breed.

I’ll be looking more into breeders and rescues tonight, and report back with what I’ve found. Still waiting on anyone that knows of or has dealt with breeder posted in my first comment above, well. 🙂

[Akari_32]

Breeders:

http://www.mazerklaverkennels.com/

http://www.pets4you.com/pages/tnt-pigasus/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Croft-Kennel/165853020290567

Rescues:

http://www.adoptapet.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bull-Terrier-Rescue-of-Florida-Inc/221615061278615

http://www.dogsnow.com/bullterrierflorida.htm

Been scooting around the web tonight, looking specifically for dogs here in Florida, and was actually MUCH more successful than I thought I would be, finding two bull terrier specific rescues, and three breeders, all of which I’ll be digging more into when I feel like charging my computer, as its about to die :p Any one have info on any of these places?

[Akari_32]

(I typed a post all out and the stupid forum logged me out and all I lost it all! Thank god for browsing history, at least…. Lesson learned: when you type stuff out and don’t post it immediately, copy it! Still lost one of my rescues, though…)

Breeders:

http://www.mazerklaverkennels.com/

http://www.pets4you.com/pages/tnt-pigasus/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Croft-Kennel/165853020290567

Rescues:

http://www.adoptapet.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bull-Terrier-Rescue-of-Florida-Inc/221615061278615

http://bullterrier.rescueshelter.com/Florida (list of bull terrier rescues in FL)

I found several rescues and breeders right here in Florida, which I didn’t think I’d find! Super happy about this. I’ll be digging into these all more later, but I think its a good start! Anyone have info/experience/etc on any of these?

[LoDoVilla]

I, too, am in Florida. Also found this group that might be closer to you: http://www.bullterrierrescueclub.com/

[Akari_32]

Sorry for the double post, guys! The spam filter appears to snatching up any posts with multiple links, and I’ve been back and forth with Dr Mike about it lol at least I got the link to that other rescue back :p

Thank you LoDoVilla! Another for my list 🙂

[Olivia R]

Akari_32…I just wanted to clear something up. I am the breeder with Mazer Klaver and the thread you found on the pit bull chat happens to be a breeder in California not me : ) I know both the breeder and the buyer and I had nothing to do with that situation. If you read a bit further on the pit bull forum you can see that there is a different breeder listed.

[Akari_32]

Thanks for clearing that up. I did read about a quarter of the way into the thread, but it just got so off track that I gave up after a while. I could have over looked it, or just not have made it that far.

I see you have a fancy new website now :p

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