Blue Merle Bull Terrier
BulliesofNC
Richlands, NC
I seen this today on Facebook. It's truly upsetting to see so many breeders deliberately trying to ruin the breed by going out of their way to produce something outside the guidelines of the breed standard. They want so bad to create a color which they can call "Rare" or "Unique" and fool people into thinking it warrants a higher price tag due to its rarity. Of course it's rare, it's rare because it's not supposed to look that way. It's called a genetic fault!
Uggg, sorry I had to rant a little because I hate seeing people ruin the breed I love so much.
Uggg, sorry I had to rant a little because I hate seeing people ruin the breed I love so much.
Merle BT - 2.JPG
747 x 600 - 88K
Merle BT - 1.JPG
307 x 375 - 22K
Comments
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Here's a puppy sired by the illustrated Merle Bull Terrier:
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Possible problems can include but are not limited to mild to complete deafness, increased intraocular pressure, ametropia (bad refraction abilities) or coloboma, skeletal or cardiac abnormalities or abnormalities of the reproductive system.
And it can only get worse, once he starts crossing Merle x Merle.
I better stop writing ... because all I can say from here on about people doing this would not be polite.
Sorry for missing everybody. The cause of the week of mini strokes (after a series of other health problems like pertussis and asthma from it), they found an anomoly with my blood that causes leukemia and is probably responsible for the mini strokes. My husband and older son are taking great care of the pups. I get to play with them some, but they walk them and feed them. That's not too bad after all?
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
2 years later. He can See and hear! He is NOT ill!
If you Wanne See More, look at my intergram page: Miss_rampage
Shame in you, to talk about a dog you've nothing know
He is one of the lovliest dogs i've ever Seen.
I can understand why a responsible breeder is upset though. They have spent years trying to eliminate genetic health conditions that have plagued the breed for years. So would find it difficult to comprehend why someone would purposefully add another genetic fault.
Other than for what I would consider selfish aesthetic reasons I can see no advantage to this.
Und ich kann nur nochmal betonen dass DEMON absolut gesund ist. Abgesehen von empfindlicher haut und Unverträglichkeit auf Getreide ist er in kleinster weise "durch seine blauen Augen" eingeschränkt. Und diese Punkte hat auch ein "normaler" weißer bullterrier.
Jetzt beruhigen wir uns alle mal und hören auf uns in das Thema reinzusteigern! Hier ist der lebende Beweis dass "die armen Welpen" absolut frei von dem sind, was hier alles so breit getreten wird. Ich habe auch regelmäßigen Kontakt zu den Besitzern seiner Schwester - ebenfalls toll entwickelt und eine wunderschöne hündin
Please don't take the comments made as personal attack on your dog. People on this site are passionate about the health, temperament and future of the breed.
It sounds as though Demon is in the care of a loving and caring owner and hope you have many years of joy together.
Nobody is saying the puppies produced from these backyard breeders won;t be loved or that the puppies will fall dead in a year. The fact is that these puppies are produced from breeders that care nothing about the health and integrity of the breed and look forward to owners naive enough to purchase from them with thoughts that they are getting something unique or special when the truth is they are getting a puppy with poor qualities. I'm sorry if that hurts the feelings of anyone but I'm not one to beat around the bush when it comes to the deliberate production of poor quality Bull Terrier that degrade the future integrity of the breed that so many others respect and love.
I think it's it's wonderful that there are people who have the heart to raise a puppy brought into this world from an unethical and irresponsible breeder but if they paid this breeder for their acts of piss poor puppy production than shame on them for contributing to the demise of the breed by supporting the breeder to continue their pursuit to corrupt the breed.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Niemand greift hier Besitzer an, die sich liebevoll der Individuen annehmen, die durch gedankenlose Züchtung nach Aussehen oder ohne Auslese der Zuchttiere nach Gesundheit und Wesen entstanden sind, solange dadurch nicht die Machenschaften hinter dieser Problematik noch unterstützt werden. Auch diese Tiere brauchen Liebe und ein gutes Zuhause.
Ich verstehe aber auch, dass Züchter, deren Augenmerk sich der Erhaltung und der gesunden Fortentwicklung der Rasse in Bezug auf genetische Gesundheit und ein ausbalanciertes Wesen richtet, wahllose Züchtungen oder bewusstes Weiterzüchten von Gendefekten niemals gut heißen können.
Nur weil vielleicht nicht JEDES Tier, das bewusst mit einem Gendefekt gezüchtet wird, nicht schon verstümmelt zur Welt kommt oder in den ersten Lebensjahren keine gesundheitlichen Probleme zeigt, heisst das auch nicht, dass nicht noch Folgeerscheinungen auftreten können. Vor allem heisst es auch auf keinen Fall, dass man mit solchen Individuen z.B. weiter züchten sollte und damit das Risiko, dass sich ein Gendefekt auch tatsächlich in folgenden Generationen schädigend potenziert, noch weiter erhöht.
Die Problematik beschränkt sich auch nicht nur auf Hobbyzüchter, Welpenfabriken und Hinterhofzüchter, das zeigt sehr eindrucksvoll diese Reportage:
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/pedigree-dogs-exposed/
Es gibt auch Hunderassen, bei denen sogar ganz bewusst mit genetischen Fehlern auf Aussehen gezüchtet wird - seit Jahrzehnten, was dazu führt, das praktisch die gesamte Rasse irgendwann nur noch aus geschädigten Tieren besteht. Die Folge sind bei einer Rasse zu kleine Köpfe für das Gehirn und entsprechend VIELEN Hunden dieser Rasse dauerhafte, lebenslange Schmerzen verursacht (Chavalier Spaniel, glaube ich) oder eine "offene" Wirbelsäule, die diverse Krankheiten im Lauf des Hundelebens auslösen kann (Rhodesian Ridgeback). Von Schmerzen ganz zu schweigen. Und das sind nur zwei Beispiele.
Zucht ist keine unkomplizierte Sache, auch wenn viele sich das so vorstellen und es deswegen auch einfach tun. Aber selbst wenn man mit bester Absicht und Vorsicht herangeht, sind gesundheitliche Probleme nicht unbedingt vermeidbar. Der Bull Terrier zählte ehemals zu den gesündesten Hunderassen. Das ist leider Geschichte. Und viele Dinge, wie Nierenprobleme, Allergien und andere sind zum Teil auch auf Züchtung zurückzuführen, wie bei vielen anderen Hunderassen auch.
Umso wichtiger finde ich es, Züchter, die sich für eine GESUNDE Rasse einsetzen und auch das Geld in gesundheitliche Tests der Hunde, mit denen sie züchten, investieren, zu unterstützen. Auch ein Tier mit genetischen Fehlern aus dem Tierheim zu holen und ihm ein gutes und liebevolles Zuhause zu geben, unterstütze ich absolut.
Während es für mich als Tierfreund aber ein No-Go ist, einen gedankenlosen Züchter DURCH KAUF eines wahllos gezüchteten Hundes finanziell dabei zu unterstützen, die Gesundheit der Rasse zu untergraben. Das sehe ich heute so. Ich musste meine Lektion auch erst lernen.
Die Tatsache, dass wir als Menschen "Gott spielen" können, indem wir bestimmen, welche Individuen gemeinsam Nachkommen zeugen dürfen, geht mit einer großen Verantwortung einher, die leider aber einigen Menschen vollkommen egal ist.
Solange Optik eine Rolle spielt, wird es die ideale gesunde Hunderasse nicht geben. Und ich bin ganz ehrlich, auch bei mir spielt Optik eine Rolle, sonst hätte ich keinen Bull Terrier, sondern irgendeine Promenadenmischung.
Jedem, der Hunde liebt, sollte es aber eigentlich trotzdem vor allem darum gehen, dass die Tiere gesund und glücklich leben können. Natürlich spielt das Aussehen eine Rolle. Aber es sollte nicht der alles entscheidende Aspekt sein und als verantwortungsvolle Käufer und Hundehalter sollten wir nicht noch die unterstützen, die die Gesundheit in die zweite Reihe der Prioritäten stellen.
Das kann nicht nur möglicherweise richtig belastend für den Geldbeutel mancher Herrchen und Frauchen im Lauf eines Hundelebens werden. Es grenzt eigentlich auch in gewisser Weise schon an Tierquälerei in meinen Augen. Denn es müsste nicht so sein. Es gäbe keine Hunde mit bewusst in Kauf genommenen, angezüchteten Genfehlern, die verkauft werden, wenn niemand das unterstützen würde, indem er diese Tiere kauft.
Durch das Verteidigen gedankenloser Züchter und das Augen verschließen gegenüber der Problematik beteiligt man sich leider - bewusst oder unbewusst - daran, dass solche Zustände niemals aufhören.
@Miss_rampage
No one here attacks owners, who have the heart to give a new and loving home to individuals created by thoughtless breeding just for appearance or without proper selection of the breeding animals, yielding health and temperament.
That is as long as adopting such an individual does not directly support the questionable practices behind the issue of genetically flawed breeding.
Of course, these animals also need love and a good home.
However, I also understand that breeders who are focused on maintaining and sustaining the breed in terms of genetic health and a well-balanced temperament can never approve of indiscriminate breeding or deliberate breeding and duplicating/potentiating of genetic defects.
Just because not EVERY animal that is purposely bred with a genetic defect is not already born crippled, or does not show any health problems during its first years of life, that does not mean that there are will never be any issues related to genetics in the future. Above all, it does especially NOT mean that such individuals should be used for continued breeding, thereby further increasing the risk that a genetic defect will actually cause damage in subsequent generations.
The problem does not only exist with hobby breeders, puppy factories and backyard breeders, which this report lays out very impressively:
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/pedigree-dogs-exposed/
There are also breeds of dogs that are deliberately bred for appearance BASED ON genetic defects - for decades, which means that practically the entire breed at some point consists only of damaged animals. The result is that the heads of the individuals of one breed, for example, are too small for the brain, which is why MANY dogs of this breed suffer from permanent, lifelong pain (Chavalier Spaniel, I believe) or an "open" spine that can trigger various diseases in the dog's life (Rhodesian Ridgeback). Not to mention pain. And these are just two examples.
Breeding is not an uncomplicated thing to do, even though many imagine it as really simple and therefore just do it. But even if you approach breeding with the best of intent and caution, health problems are not necessarily preventable. The Bull Terrier was once considered one of the healthiest dog breeds. Unfortunately, that is history. And many problems, such as kidney problems, allergies and others are partly due to breeding, as with many other breeds too.
This makes it all the more important to support breeders who are committed to maintain a HEALTHY breed and also invest their money in health tests of the dogs they breed with. Also, adopting an animal from the shelter, which unfortunately has the fate of genetic defects, and to give it a good and loving home, I absolutely support.
While for me as an animal lover financially supporting an obviously thoughtless or oblivious breeder by PURCHASING a randomly bred dog and by this undermining the health of the entire breed is an absolute NO-GO. This is how I look at things today. I also had to learn my lessons and had to understand the severity of the problem.
The fact that we are able to “play god” by actively determining which individuals are allowed to mate, there also arises a lot of responsibility - which, sadly, some people just don’t care about.
As long as appearance plays a role, the ideal healthy dog breed will not exist. And I will be honest, looks also matter to me, otherwise I would not own a Bull Terrier, but some mix of any breeds from a shelter. The looks to me are not the only part of the story, primarily I love the temperament of the breed.
But I would have to lie if I said that looks don’t matter to me at all.
However, anyone who loves dogs should still focus on ensuring that the animals can live healthy and happy lives. Of course, the appearance plays a role. But it should not be the all-deciding aspect. And as responsible buyers and dog owners, we should just not support those, who put health far down the list of priorities.
This can not only possibly really impact the wallets of some owners in the course of a dog's life. It actually borders on animal cruelty in my eyes. Because things would not have to be the way they are, if nobody supported the breeding of dogs with deliberately accepted, cultivated genetic flaws by purchasing such puppies.
By defending thoughtless breeders and closing eyes to the problem, one unfortunately - consciously or unconsciously - contributes to the degeneration of health over generations due to improper genetics.
I truly mean that
However, I don't think we're going to hear back from Miss_rampage as her intent was solely to cast bitterness to anyone faulting the dog she apparently owns.
My objective wasn't to fault the dog but to fault the breeders who deliberately produce such dogs. I'm confident most everybody picked up my intent as well as my concern for the future integrity of the breed.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Even the ones I can't agree with bring up helpful discussions.
Steve, if I really only wanted to address one person I would maybe have spared my precious time because I am also not sure if we will ever hear back.
But in my opinion this issue goes far beyond one person. She is just one part of this valuable discussion. And I firmly believe that future readers can benefit from everything that has been said here.
However, in this discussion the point - as I remember it - was the DELIBERATE choice and crossing of individuals with VISIBLE or testable genetic defects that are known for their potential of impacting the health of the offspring. Which means deliberately accepting the risk that the resulting individual will have to face a life with genetically sourced health issues JUST to exploit the genetic defect for the looks and create a "rare" variation within the breed in order to possibly make more money with it.
We did not even touch the issue of breeding regarding the obviously often at first invisible impact of recessive genetics until it becomes a general problem within a breed.
While I am still in the process of wrapping my mind around the entire breeding issue and gathering information as I am not an expert in genetics, not having found a clear stance on it so far, I am still convinced that at least the OBVIOUS genetic defects that are know for causing health problems should be excluded. I don't think that it would make anything better if we just said: purebreds are screwed anyway, so let's just duplicate breed in any obvious genetic defect we want, just for the looks.
And if they come out with azur fur and three heads, let's just call it a "new variation", even though they will not be able to live past their first year under those conditions (that' a slight exaggeration of reality, I know) and make some money, money, money. Intentionally putting health behind looks feels unethical to me. But that is just my personal opinion, of course.
The word "Pure" bred gets used loosely by people who know little about responsible and ethical breeding. 90% of breeders do not conduct proper genetic tests on the sire and dam they intend to breed and 99% are unaware if their dogs actually emulate the Breed Standards and have the qualities to breed and produce puppies that compliment the breed.
Breeding properly isn't a hard thing to do but it takes certain dedication and a lot of knowledge on the breed. The first step is knowing the "Breed Standards" and it's apparent many have no clue or care about this concept. Having no care or knowledge on the Standards is exactly how breeds are tainted with health issues and genetic flaws due to irresponsible breeding. The objective for ANY breeder should be to breed to the standard NOT against it.
Call me crazy, but I care too much about the future welfare of the Bull Terrier breed and I certainly don't turn a blind eye to those who deliberately compromise the future integrity of the breed. My passion for the breed is what causes me to feel so upset about seeing poor quality puppies being produced and noticing that there will always be ignorant people encouraging them vice condemning them.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
I’ve bought dogs from hard core Hunting breeders Westminster winners
Regretfully the behind the scene glimpses I’ve garnered have left me dejected and upset
Breeders hiding flaws like entropion, dysplasia etc
I’ve watched breeders breed for head type and ignore weak back ends
I’ve seen breeders line breed so tightly they flat out told me the dog was either gonna be incredible or a mess
Not many breeders have the courage to admit when there is a genetic flaw in their lines
They sweep the issues under the rug before admitting it
Imagine putting everything into a line and than realizing it’s flawed .... it’s almost understandable ......but not really
Regretfully I’ve meet few breeders I really respect
So when I see one that really cares ...... it’s impressive
All dogs deserve love and life no one is saying they don’t but to push things for profit is wrong on many levels
But not all breeders lack proper ethics and many truly care about the future welfare of the breed. If you ever wish to know how much confidence a breeder has within the genetics of their bloodline ask them what their legal and written contract depicts for their puppy's health guarantee. Many Health Guarantees are so long winded and lengthy because they are written very calculated in order to protect them from refunds or puppy exchanges for known genetic issues. In reality a Health Guarantee can be provided in one sentence -
"We guarantee the health of all our puppies for 2 years against ANY form of genetic disorder."
Sadly most health guarantees end after 12 months which is normally when kidney disease is noticed. Additionally, breeders may be selling puppies for a lot of money but very few are doing it legally with a Business ID# and claiming the sale of the puppies they sell. With this said, the contracts written by backyard breeders have no merit at all regardless what's written on it.
I think it's up to each individual to conduct thorough research on breeders prior to purchasing a dog which will become a loving companion and family member for many years to come.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com