Puppy Bully

/bullies1
 
PUPPY TIME

This page is dedicated to every Bull Terrier and to all our bully friends (all over the world ) whom we love dearly. We hope this page will give to the prospective buyer a little more understanding of this unique breed.

Beginning - Just Born and Puppy Life:

After all  the necessary health tests are done, Bullies can be bred the natural way or AI (artificial insemination). Use of Progesterone testing is the best way to successful breeding. Many of the top male dogs are located far away and BT breeders have to use chilled or frozen semen. This test helps to identify the optimal time to do the AI. But even when bred the natural way, these tests will give better idea when to breed.

No matter which way the mother-to-be is bred, Nature takes it's course and puppies are born into your house, either the natural way ,but many times  by a C-section.
 
 
 

"Q" enjoying her pregnancy.

Bully mothers are all different. But one thing for sure, they should all be watched. I watch my girls 24 hours a day for two weeks. I sleep, eat, brush my teeth next to the whelping box. I do not move from that litter box. After two weeks, everything is settled and I can start doing some of my regular chores again. But I still keep an eye on the puppies and the mother all the time. Many times Bully mothers smother their pups. It can be from inexperience, being too upset about being a new mom, or they just plain fail to notice that the puppy is under them.It takes only a few minutes....

If a C-section was performed, many times you will  have to become the mother. Puppies have to be cleaned and fed every two hours. Not much sleeping for the lucky breeder.
Later on, you feed only every four hours, so it does get easier...:-)).
 
 
One day old.
The second week the eyes and ears will start opening and later (at about 3 weeks) you can tell if the puppies can hear or not. They start exploring the box and try to eliminate off the blanket which is their bed. Good moms clean the whelping box and play with the little guys, rolling them over, cleaning them, massaging them and at the same time teaching them submissive position.You should do the same.Put them in your lap and clean them like the mother would and at the same time you are teaching that puppy to be submissive to human and also to trust us.
 
Nina two weeks old
By three weeks the moms are usually glad you take over, as the teeth are sharp and the puppies are relentless in pursuit of mom's milk. Very soon the opening to the box is discovered and here they come! Out of the box they go. At that point our puppies go into our kitchen, the floor at first being covered completely with paper, and the small crate standing on the blanket in the corner. It does not take them long to figure out what is what. Eventually the papered area is very small and puppies use it anyway for elimination.
Little Mini Annie came for a visit...was she sorry!!!!
Now the fun begins. All those new things: new food, new toys, new sounds, corners of your cabinets to be chewed on, people and their arms, fingers and shoelaces!!!! Mom just comes for visits now...or if the weather is nice, we all go outside. There the mom can run away, jump on the picnic table, and watch her offspring from safe distance. We play fetch and go for LONG walks (in the eyes of the puppies) exploring, playing with our cats, checking out Mr. Rooster and his hens... We start weaning the puppies at 3 weeks. First ,just a pablum and milk ,later, they are slowly introduced to a good natural diet of ground cooked turkey/cooked rice/oats/some raw pureed veggies/vit/minerals.
 
 
William loves his Snoopy .....4 weeks

The ears of a Bull Terrier are NOT cropped.They stand up on their own. In my experience, smaller the dog will be at maturity, the faster those ears will come up. It can be as soon as 5 weeks or late as 6 months of age. Many breeders tape the ears for a few days around 8-12 weeks. That is usually sufficient and ears will stay up.

Sometimes the ear will fall again - around 6-8 months....the puppy is growing...if the ear/s does not come up ..tape it. Many times when Bully is tired the ear/s may flap and when  full of energy they will stand up nicely.

The BAER (hearing) test is done around 5 weeks of age and puppies are dewormed two or three times already by this time.
 
Indy-Having a metal chairs helps a lot.
 By the 8th week the puppies eat finelly chopped up raw chicken necks or ground raw turkey necks with great relish. They are fed some of the kibble, too (we use Pro-Plan Turkey and Barley formula - always moistened  and mixed with vegetables,fruits and other meats-cooked or raw) as not every person who buys a puppy will be able to feed a completely natural diet. We do recommend at least supplementing with raw foods. A good argument for the natural diet is......no vet bills.
One thing I always recomend "do not feed a pup dry food from a deep dish"
They can inhale lots of kibble and sufficate.  
 
 
Romulus & Remus 71/2 weeks old.
For those who will show your Bully:  I start practicing the "Stack" with my puppies at this time. It is so easy to keep their attention.

When cooking , I call them  and they all come running, all in nice line in front of me, waiting for some good morsel. Then I point my finger and say "Annie-watch!" and give her a treat. "Bonnie!" and she gets that treat. "Corrie!" and so on..... This way I teach 6 or more puppies to stack in front of me without any problem. Later, when they become teenagers and adults they do not think anything of it - it is just what we do, this is what mom wants.

 
 
Eve,Zima,Jakee and Nicky practicing "stack" .

I take our puppies to a Puppy class when about 10 weeks old, just to socialize. I do practice "Stack" when others practice "Sit". Nothing serious - just fun. At around 5 months of age we start going to confirmation classes. Again, just for fun - to see other people and to meet other dogs. My Bullies want to see the people; the other dogs are secondary.

There are Bullies which will show like a dream (our Bonnie or Randy) without much work on your part, and then there are Bullies which will take all your might to show them (Tina T). Some will never succeed ...they are probably shy or spooky. Many Bullies get spooked by loud sounds. I try to introduce my puppies to all kinds of different noises. I take them to Home Depot , Flea Market or pet stores, so they can experience the store loud-speakers.