He is Growing!

Cfols25

Bronte started out as an unhealthy runt of an unhealthy liter from a backyard breeder. Weak immune system, lethargic, no focus or spark in his eyes, bad skin, and no personality:/ 

But after some awesome talks and pointers found on this site, some medication for his skin problems, a hardypet vitamin every morning, dog park visits, and a strong healthy diet, I do believe that Bronte has turned a HUGE corner in his young life. He seems to have that bullie personality I read and studied about so much when I first received him, he is strong and bounces around the house all day with endless energy!! He is loving and playful with a knack of putting a smile on my face on any occasion. I am simply glad to see him healthy and growing so well and I owe all you guys a bug thank you for your help! 

These were taken August 6th meaning he is 4 months old with lots of growing left to do!

BulliesofNC

Regardless where he came from there's one thing you can't take away from a Bull Terrier and that's their character. When provided with all the attention they deserve they will always conform into the most lovable and loyal dogs you could ever ask for. Bronte appears like he is well loved and spoiled to death. He even has a buddy to pal around with. Seems to me he's living a great life and although he may have been a little shallow when you received him from your breeder that may very well have been due to him not getting the attention he needed but it's apparent you have made up for lost time and he's coming alive!

For 4 months of age you have him looking very nice. His size and weight is appropriate for his age. I look forward to seeing some updated photos of him as he progresses with maturity.

philsergeant

He is looking fantastic! Good work!!

Cfols25

Thanks guys! He is most definitely spoiled and loves his other pals   

Also he hates a broom worse than anything in the WORLD.....which is somewhat humorous when I'm sweeping

Cfols25

Just a couple pics that show his developing personality 

philsergeant

You have to learn how to read Bull Terriers.... If you take a close look at his tongue hanging out in the second photo... Zoom in, and magnify... you can see the closed captioning there.....   it reads, " Here I am, the smartest arsehole on earth, I think my s**t don't stink, and I am the most adorable creature on the planet... Count yourself lucky that I am in your car and blessing your day.  I will continue to look at you through these squint little eyes just to remind you of how precious I am"....

P.S.  All Bullies hate brooms because they associate them with witches... They have even worked out that modern day witches ride vacuum cleaners
)

Cfols25

Phil thank you so much for letting me know about the fine print by zooming in and enlarging.....it's this type of information I can't find anywhere else online ya know!! Only experts have the uncanny ability to pick up on such beautiful facts of the Bull Terrier Breed!.

And also what other dog is intelligent enough to make the association between brooms and witches?? Intellectually superiority is a quality of this breed that rarely gets the attention it deserves 

:-B :-B

Cfols25

Hey guys we were working on some training tonight and I got this pic that makes him seem like the most well behaved bully I ever did see.....looks can be quite deceiving!

Anyway I wanna ask for tips as far as keeping him focused on a task or focused on me depending on the activity but he seems aloof most of the time. Should I just expect this out of a stubborn bully or can it be worked out?

He does not challenge me or mouth off at all just seems to be in his own world.....his bully kingdom if you will 

Harriet_R

Teddy wasn't good at focusing at first then i changed his diet and treats ..... huge difference! At 6 months old he can perform basic obedience , tricks , a reliable recall etc . I put him on wet food with no grains , natural , human grade , no meat meals etc and his treats are freeze dried raw treats ( the wet food he is on is as near to raw as you can get without actually being raw its not over processed no e-nasties etc )

Harriet_R

Cfols25

Harriet thank you for your response! Bronte is actually on a raw diet and he loves it .....perhaps I should have been more specific in saying that he does focus and focuses well, but only on what HE wants to focus on lol I'm having trouble keeping him focused on me and not being distracted on walks or when he goes out to potty.

He seems to be a stubborn one who stays focused on what he deems important 

Harriet_R

Have you taught " watch me " yet ? Start off in the house and Garden for a week or two then outside, you may also find hand targetting useful if it fails outside the house take a step back practice more then try again 

Cfols25

Harriet that's simple yet profound advice lol I haven't thought to just say "watch me" will be putting that to use asap.

My other two dogs were easily trained and all I would have to do was snap or simply talk louder. So I guess an actual command to say "watch me" has just never crossed my mind.

Thank you 

Harriet_R

Haha no problem its a good one to have i also highly reccomend hand targetting you can use hand targetting to get dogs on scales at the vets and even to defuse a situation such as reactivity toward a squirrel across the road ( they can't look or sniff the squirrel during a hand touch )   

I highly reccomend watching nando brown and jo rosie they're very good 

swbaggies

Hi

My issue isnt so much with the paying attention as such more the paying attention when no treat is involved. When ii have the clicker and treats he is great, behaves, recalls, sits downs etc all time. When i dont have the clicker the sit and down is about 50/50 and hard to keep attention, recall is still very good.

When i have clicker and treats he never takes eyes off me which is good but makes stay hard as he wants to follow me/treats. he has a massive food drive. any tips how to get the training done without 100% treats or is it a matter of keep trying?

Harriet_R

Try hiding the treats and quizzing your dog thats what i do with Teddy i will put some treats in my pocket and when he isn't training i will randomly ask for a behaviour and reward out of the blue  , a clicker is to say yes correct now you get a treat but if your pooch already knows the behaviour and command you should really be fazing out the clicker and only using it to teach not as part of the rest of his life if this makes sense i use a bridge word ( yes )  over a clicker maybe use the clicker to teach a trick initially then fade to a yes or good ? You can just load up the word of choice the same as you did with the clicker  and just keep practicing if your dog struggles in public go back a step and use the front garden then slowly work up to higher distractions 

Harriet_R

I also recommend this channel he covers everything 

Harriet_R

@swbaggies this one should answer many of your questions