My Bully Observations

swbaggies

So this is not necessarily a q and a post but if anybody wants to
contribute then feel free lol.... Its my first bully and other than my
first ever dog the only male, all the others have been female Boxers...

he is 7 months old and 44llbs, is that big for his age, i havent measured his height?

Observations i have had...

1. He sleeps in such weird uncomfortable positions . When i sit on
   the floor he sometimes comes over to say hello and will fall asleep with
   his head buried in my lap in between my legs and his butt in the air.
   This is slightly unnerving for me as one bad dream and my life would be
   ruined :P
2. I have read up on the net and it looks like Arrow is going through
   an "adolescent stage", he is a lot more stubborn and makes noises which
   i can only describe as growling (more of a strop than aggression), i
   have been pining him and he is a lot better, still does it but a whole
   lot less, im not worried atm by this and im confident dealing with him. I
   pin him till the grumpy noise stops then i release him and call him
   over for a cuddle and play and he is fine.
   
   
3. in view of the above, what i find weird is that i assume the
   grumpy new behavior is down to dominance from what i have read. What is
   weird is that when im walking him outside he never ever growls or is
   grumpy, this "new" behavior is only happening in the house.
   
   
4. When he is in the front yard fenced in, he barks and follow ONE
   particular dog up and down the fence when he walks past, doesnt do with
   any other dog.... Thailand has a lot of strays.. When he is walking with
   me on leash he doesn't even bark or acknowledge this dog... why would
   this be?
5. if the grumpiness again is a dominance pushing his luck kinda move
   how come when im walking him, if we are approached by other dogs, he
   stands BEHIND me as if to say your the boss deal with him, where as id
   expect him to think it was his job to protect me... When he has been
   snapped at i have lets say, discouraged the other dogs with my stick
   
   
6. firstly let me say i DONT want an aggressive dog, but when
   approached by other stray dogs why is it that he doesn't stand his
   ground and goes into timid mode, he either runs behind me or lies on the
   floor or stands, tail between legs.?
7. I use two vets, one he is fine and calm in, the second one as soon
   as we walk in the door he goes into full on crazy mode.... not
   aggressive, i mean super super excited, panting, drooling, tail wagging
   etc.. he is treated no difference so not sure why... just more mental bt
   behavior lol
8. next one is a medical one, he has one testes not dropped, the vet
   said that she recommends removal which im happy with but she reckons
   this should be done at 12 months and then he should be neutered at
   18months to make sure no long term effects. I may be wrong but surely it
   would be better to only open him up once??
9. I play with him for say 30 mins twice a day and we have a walk for
   about 90 mins which he enjoys, sometimes with a swim, other than this
   he is very chilled and sleeps a lot in that he isn't what i here read 
   on other posts about their bully being into everything and energetic non
   stop. It is warm here and he actually gives me evil looks if i wake him
   but is it just that my bully is a sleeper or that he is pooped from
   the exercises.

Sorry for the list but im learning new things every day with him and i
love it, just dont know whats normal lol, the list could be even longer
lol

swbaggies

Oh and whats the strangest thing your BT has found/caught?

I have seen him catch a cockroach and eat it before i could get to it, ive seen him hold a ghecko by the tail before letting it go and the other day i saw him pawing something and went outside to see a black scorpion in his food bowl which i swiftly disposed of... 

we have grass snakes and rarely cobras here so i have to watch him playing even in the garden,

As a Brit, living here i can assure you i am far more scared of these things than he is!!

Jbird

Mine is pretty gutsy when it comes to other dogs. She's not scared, and wants to play with them all (even the nasty ones). She does hide behind me when we go running in the forest, especially when she doesn't know what's around the corner. Today she was very fearful of a garbage bin we had to walk past. Other times she had been fearful of boats on trailers parked in people's yards or driveways.

Jbird

I've been to Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket), and I saw hundreds of stray dogs and cats. The poor little darlings were never healthy looking. I also saw a fair few strange defects, like forked tails (2 tails), or Nobby tails, or deformed ears, and a hell of a lot of mange and flea infestations. I wouldn't want my dog interacting with them.

Neil

Thailand sounds a lot like Bali.

I go there from West Australia 2 or 3 times a year.

There are lots of stray packs over there. Usually all mangy looking and probably with rabies.

I did hear that the Balinese gov. have started to round them up and shoot them as they were starting to overrun the place.

 swbaggies I'm also an expat. First 26 years in South Yorkshire. Next 26 years in Perth, West Oz.

I live directly opposite a national park with a lake full of Tiger snakes and Dugites.

My young bully likes to catch and eat lizards and frogs and cockroaches and grasshoppers and anything else that moves that he can fit in his mouth. (much to my wifes disgust)

 I don't walk my dog off the leash if we are in the bush...the weather here is starting to warm up and the snakes are coming out to play, which is a bit of a p i t a.

Neil

  swbaggies

......The folks in here who have a lot more knowledge than me are all probably tucked up in bed.

I just copied this and wondered if it had anything to do with your dogs grumpy new behaviour ?

..........

By 7 months of age, if only one testicle has descended then it is very unlikely that the other one will. It is still possible, but in my experience if the second one does not drop by 5 months then it usually doesn't come down at all.

There is no way to assist the testicle to drop.

You definitely want to have him neutered. There are a few reasons for this. First, the testicle that hasn't dropped is likely sitting in his abdomen. This causes it to be at a higher temperature than the testicle that is outside of the body in the scrotum. This increase in temperature can cause several things:

• An increase in testosterone production - this can lead to increased aggression, urinating on things, mounting things.
• Cancer - A testicle that is inside the abdomen has a very high chance of becoming cancerous later on in life.
• Prostate problems - Many prostate problems are brought on by high levels of testosterone.

Now for your next question...Would he be able to breed? Well yes, he can breed but he should not be bred. The reason for this is that cryptorchidism (not having two descended testicles) is a genetic condition. This means that any male pups he fathers are likely to have the same problem.

I hope this answers your question. Please have him neutered soon!

Dr. Marie

Neil

Oops...my bad. Here's the bit that's too dark to see.

........................

• An increase in testosterone production - this can lead to increased aggression, urinating on things, mounting things.
• Cancer - A testicle that is inside the abdomen has a very high chance of becoming cancerous later on in life.
• Prostate problems - Many prostate problems are brought on by high levels of testosterone.

Neil

hah!.. i give up. 

swbaggies

Thank you for going to the trouble... i 100% had no intention of breeding him, he is my pet but i think it would be irresponsible to pass on some of the things that have come to light.

I will def get his testicle removed, my question was surely it is better for the dog to do at the same time as neautering rather than opening him up twice as suggested by vet

Neil

Well, if i was your dog....I definitely would not want to go for the chop twice.

swbaggies

Neil.... I used the word grumpy rather than aggression because he isnt, its more of a grumpy strop than a growl i just didnt know how else to discribe it

Neil

haha..he sounds just like a typical young bull terrier.

Mine is 5 months old and every now and again he likes to see just how far he can go before i get grumpy.

swbaggies

@Jbird your right in your description of the local street dogs which is why i am reluctant to let him mingle with even the calmer ones, its just unfortunate that he doesnt get much social time with other dogs, means he is very much a daddy's dog lol