Dos and Don’ts with Bully Breeds

1) Do walk your dog every day.  The importance of this is easily overlooked, but it helps accomplish exercise and a connection with the owner.  Make sure the dog is under your control and the dog is not leading you wherever he wants.  Bullies are naturally strong pullers and this may take considerable effort to accomplish.  When done correctly, this will also lead to the dog respecting you as its leader.  If you have problems getting the dog to walk well, see item # 2:

2) Do take your dog to obedience class.  These are a great way to establish a bond between you and the dog, make the dog more manageable, and to socialize your dog.   Additionally, having a well mannered bully will help to improve the perception of your dog and the breeds in general.  Speaking of perception...

3) Do plan on receiving negative attention regarding your dogs.  Unfortunately, no other breed is currently more maligned than the breeds commonly referred to as "pit bull" and you will probably receive your share of dirty looks, frightened people going out of their way to avoid you and your dog, and maybe even comments about how you "shouldn't trust that dog" or "it's going to attack you someday" or other such nonsense.  Plan ahead for this type of thing so you can remain calm and give an enlightening, rather than defensive, response.   After all, it is kind of sad that they don't know any better.

4) Do exercise your dog.  Notice I have listed this as a separate item from walking your dog.  Although there are examples of lazy deadbeats in every breed, on the whole Bullies are working type dogs and need lots of activity to be happy and manageable.  Keep in mind that some dogs respond to lack of activity in different ways - one may become hyperactive and another may become depressed and lay around all day, which would seem to indicate that it is content to do so.  It probably isn't - both dogs are unhappy and need a change in lifestyle.  There are many activities that bullies excel at.  It is a misconception that pit bulls are "only good for fighting".  Although they certainly do excel at that, they are one of, if not the most versatile breeds that there is.  Bullies can excel at such activities as retrieving ball, catching Frisbees, weight pull, agility, flyball, and others.  There are many organizations that sponsor these competitions, although you certainly don't need to enter formal competitions to participate.  Keeping your dog busy is a great way to keep him out of mischief and trouble.

5) Do sufficiently contain your dog.  Most of the pit bull headlines you read will contain the words "broke through its fence", "running loose", escaped from its owner", etc.  Prevention of such things prevents any negative incidents.  This means you should not expect a 3 ft picket fence to hold your bully breed.  Make sure you use a leash and collar that are strong enough to hold a very strong dog.  Plastic "quick clip" collars are easily snapped, and should never be used with bully breeds.  Think of it this way, if one adult grabbed the collar and another the end of the leash and pulled as hard as they could in opposite directions, are you confident it wouldn't break?  If you're not sure, you need a sturdier collar/leash. 

1) Don't expect two same sex adult dogs to get along.  This is a good guideline for any breed of dog, but especially with bully breed dogs.  There are of course exceptions where two same sex dogs may get along, but such cases are few and far between and only an owner with significant breed experience should even consider the possibility.  Most bully rescues will not adopt out same sex dogs for this reason, and if they do, you should probably be suspect of them.  Also, just because two dogs "grow up" together does not mean they will get along once they are grown.  It is not uncommon for someone to report that "they always got along and then one day Fido just attacked Rover".  Often, this is a case of dogs reaching maturity.  it is also common to believe that neutering/spaying your dog will prevent this from being a problem, but that is not so, especially with females.   

2) Don't allow your pit bull to approach a strange dog "nose to nose".  It is unnatural for dogs to approach each other face to face(instead they should approach side by side and smell the rear end first - well socialized dogs off leash will do this), but when constrained on a  leash, that is generally how they will come together.  This, along with tension on the leash as they are pulling to go towards the other dog, may be perceived as a challenge and may lead to conflict. 

3) Don't leave pit bulls alone together or with other animals.  It is very easy for owners to get careless with this one, especially after they've been together for a long time.  While the chances of a fight happening may in fact become less as the dogs are established with each other, the chances of them continuing to fight should a fight start probably won't be any less.  Again, we must keep in mind the history of our breed is to hang on tenaciously and not quit in spite of adversity, whether they are being slung around by cattle, trampled by a wild hog, or being attacked by another dog. This means that even though the dogs may "like each other", they may not stop fighting until one or the other is seriously injured.  There are far too many horror stories of what people have come home to find to risk it.

4) Don't take your bully dog to the dog park.  This is one that some people will argue with since having a well-behaved bully at the park will make a good impression.  However, there is just too much risk involved.  No matter how good your dog is, there are far too many overexcited dogs and ignorant or inattentive owners at dog parks that can really cause a problem.  All it takes is one incident that isn't even your dogs fault, and it will be all over the newspaper - you will hear way more about the one incident than you will about 100 other times when there was no problem, and the finger will always be pointing at you. 

As you have noticed by now, bully breeds are a big responsibility, and require a bit more attention than others.  However, the extra responsibility is easily matched by the extra enjoyment they provide.  There is no more loving, versatile group of breeds around, and following these guidelines will help make your experience with them the best it can be.

Shaun Roberson