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Personality: Now here's a dog who knows how to fun, and we're not just saying that because his was the breed chosen to depict Budweiser's Spuds MacKenzie. "Playful and clownish, the bull terrier [aka the English bull terrier] is best described as a three-year-old child in a dog suit," says the American Kennel Club. The breed's intimidating physicality belies its true demeanor, which the AKC goes on to describe as "exceedingly friendly... sweet and fun-loving." Dog Breed Info Center agrees: "Though this breed was once a fierce gladiator, he is much gentler now... courageous, scrappy, fun-loving, active, clownish and fearless... loyal, polite and obedient."
Grooming: No need to set aside tons of time to care for the short-haired bull terrier's coat. "An occasional combing and brushing will do," according to Dog Breed Info Center, which alternately recommends a quick, daily rubdown with a special rubber glove to pick up loose hairs.
Common Health Issues: The bull terrier experiences a number of debilitating, sometimes deadly health issues at a rate significantly higher than that of other breeds. These include luxating patella, heart defects and kidney failure, according to Dog Breed Info Center. These dogs are also "prone to suffer from a zinc deficiency, which can cause death." They also gain weight easily, and white bull terriers are deafness-prone.
Training Tips: When a dog is both way too sweet and slightly physically threatening, that adds up to being "somewhat difficult to train," according to Dog Breed Info Center, best dealt with by providing the "firm, consistent leadership," on which this breed thrives. The California-based Bull Terrier Rescue, Inc. says they are "easily trained if a game appealing to their innate sense of fun can be made of the process."
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