Apollo, the life of a spoiled English Bull Terrier puppy

usmc46153

Well, it has been just over a week since we picked up our Little Big Guy Apollo from Bullies of NC and he is doing great. Besides his stubbornness, he is still learning so much and growing like a weed. I have a feeling he is going to be an Ox just like his daddy. Apollo loves his rope and his soccer ball. He had a pig that oinked, but he killed it already. (deflated it and broke the oinker) He has brought so much joy to this household, and we are looking forward to the many years to come. Here are some photos. 

bigbear

He is adorable how old is he .

philsergeant

Spoiling is just so easy when they are so adorable.... I can't help feeling we spoiled ours just a little too much from weeks 8 to 11.... They were so quaint and precious we let them get away with a bit much. One is certainly easier than two puppies ( except for the fact that you don't have to find someone for them to play with), but he will start to test the strength of his will against yours. But joy and pleasure he will bring, big time. Thanks for sharing the photos, please keep posting more and all info/ observations. I don't know it you are doing it already but keep a weekly record of his weight, so you can monitor ( and share) the gain. Oh! When you're out at the store sales, see if you can find an extra heart... Yours is gone now.!! :-))

xchairity_casex

He sure is adorable! glad he is doing well!

usmc46153

He is 9 weeks old now and weighs in at 13.5 lbs. He is very active when he is awake. He sleeps a lot, probably cause we are always playing with him. He definitely is a cuddle monster.

usmc46153

Didn't attach on last comment.

philsergeant

Yes, our little baby looked like that " a few days " ago... Now he weighs 52lbs.
13.5 lbs is a perfect weight for 9 weeks, in my estimation.

[Deleted User]

The markings on Apollo is perfect. Just like his father rocky

Zerlett

gorgeous fat thick little pup!

usmc46153

Well, Apollo is now 10 weeks old and he is progressing nicely. Although very stubborn, he is learning quickly and getting big. He now weighs 18 lbs. We taped his ears for two days and they both ears were up. He loves to play but also loves to just lay on our lap and snuggle. He brought Melissa a trophy the other day in the form of a baby snake he found in the woods. I thought of the stories you told me Steve, about Buck I believe, doing the same thing and I started to laugh. All in all, he is getting big and we love the Hell out of him. Here is a photo I took this morning after he calmed down from his morning romp!

philsergeant

That's 4.5 lbs in one week!!! I think you've gotta start removing some of the concrete from his food mix!!! Don't let the experience get you to believe they are better than real kids... it might be true... but don't believe it anyway
:O

apollosmama

Here's a pic of our bud from yesterday is his favorite spot, behind the pillows on the bed.

philsergeant

Apollo is just disgustingly beautiful!

BulliesofNC

What a perfect photo. You can look at a nice clear photo of a beautiful Bullie pup without saying "Damn, I want to hug that little guy."  Even when us Bullie fanatics really know that Apollo is saying "Ya dude, I'll wrestle with you!!!"  )

apollosmama

Philsergeant, It is so hard to yell at him because he is SO stinkin cute!! 2 days ago he tried to attack the dust mop and all we could do was laugh! Steve, I love hugging him!!!! Sometimes I get a nip saying "let me down woman I want to play" and then other times he rolls over for a bully rub! Love love love this pup!

apollosmama

LOL, *belly rub

philsergeant

Oh Golly! There goes another human being, falling hook-line-and-sinker in love with a member of the superior race!!!!  Love it!

apollosmama

Oh yeah, we're hooked!

BONC_Jacksonville

Apollo looks great.  I tried to take him when I would come by but Steve always counted the puppies.

apollosmama

Craig, thems fightin' words. LOL, just kidding!

BONC_Jacksonville

8-X

apollosmama

11 weeks, 18 pounds and right at home!

Leslie

He's at home alright what a big booda!!!!

philsergeant

Snap!

apollosmama

We are all cracking up!! They sleep so funny! You posted those pics the other day and I was laughing because Apollo sleeps the same way!!! EBT' s are just too funny for words.

Leslie

Too funny indeed;)

apollosmama

Leslie, he just ate and I think he had a food Buzz on top of a fat belly. ) he's such a smart boy too. He'll sit, come, go down and will stay even with a treat in front of him. He can only do this in the house though. I plan on working in outside activities this week to work on that. Does anyone have any ideas to help me with leash training? I've bought a vest that hooks the leash in the back but he still does the alligator death roll. I've tried throwing treats ahead of me and he will walk with me to get it, but No treats + leash = devil puppy.

Leslie

Have you tried a prong collar?? Start holding backon the treats for longer and longer Itervals inbetween the death rolls. You may have to wait him out and treat when he starts walking again... with cleo I would speed up when I felt her start to fizzle as she would just lay down on me.. and treat with lots of praise. One good thing with a bt they work for food!!!!

Leslie

Never treat to stop the death roll as this will encourage it.....

philsergeant

@leslie... I noticed your kid has the "fifth" nail... Our Bullies have always had like a " nail shaped" bald spot.. Where the fifth nail used to be... I wonder if anyone knows the significance , or lack thereof... Would be interesting...
@Apollosmom... The walking thing is a big bully problem... They are just stubborn to do what they don't want to do... Unless you turn it into something they want to do.. you're screwed.
So take him somewhere interesting, or take some neighbors dog that's interesting to him along with you.
Our kids hate street walking ( pardon the pun)... But we only have to go 1/2 mile and we're in the wild... And they are in their element .. Won't stop running, and jumping for joy... Wears an ole fart like me out.!!

Leslie

Yes she does it would be interesting to know why... she also has corns on her feet and HATES her feet messed with, you put the dremel in your hand she is GONE. she turnes into a bucking bronco and man is She strong. Any fixes to that problem anyone??? She gets so worked up she won't even take a treat ^#(^

BulliesofNC

"fifth" nail, bald spot? I'm still trying to figure out what exactly you're referring to.

@Leslie - When you can figure out a way of getting your Bullie to allow you to clip her nails let me know. Most Bull Terriers just get used to it and let you clip on them all you want but there are some that have a phobia about it and no matter how much time you spend trying to get them to overcome their fear and see that it won't hurt them they seem to only get worse. I know exactly what you're talking about though because I have a couple Bullies that don't enjoy getting their nails cut but I can manage to get the job done. However, you couldn't get 10 body builders to hold down Rocky if you grabbed a nail trimmer and attempted to gently raise a paw. I should take a video of it because most people would never believe it. With Rocky there isn't anything else I can even think of that will phase him but you show him nail trimmers he knows it's time to become the most belligerent beast that walks the earth.
The only thing that I can suggest is whenever you have her teeth cleaned, and she sedated, have the Vet cut her nails as short as possible. Due to the fact that's she's sedated it will be easy and they can concentrate on exactly were the quick is in order to get them short as possible until her next visit.

Leslie

I would love to see a video and I do believe it!!! I took her to the vet the last time and I do a better job than they do exept my arms feel like noodles and I'm exhausted when I'm done:/ I have even had my husband hold her and it makes her struggle harder. Guess she feels ganged up on!! I literally layed on top of her last time but I got it done dam it!!!! For a little dog she packs a punch when it comes to her feet!!!!

Leslie

Yup steve I am sitting here thinking about it and the last time her nails looked nice was when she had her exploratory. ......freakish strength and I've never so much as pinched a quick!!!! Tell Rocky Cleo feels his pain!!!

apollosmama

Leslie, is a prong collar like a pinching collar? I'm not too sure about that. Usually when he death rolls, I snatch his collar and we have a stare down until he mellows. That will calm him down because he does NOT like when I yell at him. It really hurts his feelings. Phil, I try, as of now, to just let him lead me me without realizing he's lead in me. I maintain control by stopping at some points, and makin him sit then treat. Even if it's 60 seconds with no death roll. I need to work on outdoor recall asap. The neighbors let their 3 dogs run the street. I don't know them or even knowing these dogs are up to date on shots. The dogs don't seem to be aggressive in anyway, but I'm not willing to take the chance. There are too many dangers out there. Apollo has also just learned we have a drainage pipe in the front yard. (The one that runs under a driveway.) My husband had to pull him out of it this morning. He sees that thing and stubborn bullie comes out. I swear I can hear him say "oh, you don't want me to go in there? Ok, I'll be back in five minutes''. LOL!!!! Kind of like Rocky and Deuce saying "you don't want me to cross the creek? Watch this!!". Hahaha!!!! As for the nails he is going good for now. I cut or file them every Friday. But for the first week I constantly played with his feet. I had a female shepherd and when I tried to cut her nails it looked like we were both having seizures. I swore, I would not let that happen again. Sedation isn't a bad idea if she's really bad. Some dogs just don't like their feet messed with.

philsergeant

Steve, The "fifth nail" on Leslies doggy is like the "thumb", here I took a close up.... But I can't remember seeing a Bully with "thumbs"... maybe I'm just not observant.... the second picture is what our Bullies have , where the thumb WAS... like a bald spot....

bigbear

My sophie has fifth nail to through it was a dew claw .

Leslie

yes a prong is a pinch collar and I found it to be very effective in leash training them. Instead of the stardown I would hold the lead firm as to not allow the head to go down and wait him out. holding the leash for like this will do two things it will make it nearly impossible for him to death roll and will give you control. I would treat anytime he's in the correct position to walk and when he does walk I would treat him again and I would treat is often is it tookto maintain his focus sometimes this will be like every 5 seconds or so and gradually start reducingthe amount of treats. I hope this helps;)

BulliesofNC

Phil - The "5th nail" as you call it is the Dew Claw. With many breeds the dew claw can be problematic. I guess you could compare them to wisdom teeth. Some prefer to have them removed and some don't. On many dogs the dew claws hangs loosely and kind of flops around making it easier to get caught on things and become a burden for dogs. Some dogs will even bite on their dew claws if they are bothering them.

To be honest it's rare that I see people removing the dew claws on a Bull Terrier. Your Bull Terrier had the Dew Claws removed as a puppy and what you're seeing now is the scar left behind from the surgery.

apollosmama

I knew it was a dew claw, but just thought maybe it was called something else on EBT s. ) Steve, are there rules for showing with their dews attached? I never thought about this. Leslie, I think I'm going to hold off on that collar. He so stinking smart on so many levels, I have to remember he is only 11 weeks old. I am just the one who is overly excited to start taking him on walks. He'll get it soon, I hope. I'm sure Steve heard us out there earlier.... GOOD BOY!!! YAAAAAAY APOLLO! COME, GOOD BOOOOOY!! )

bigbear

Most people and we have in the past removed them when they r on the back legs as they cause more of a problem there bigger for a start and very floppy and can be easily caught and ripped off causing a lot of pain and bleeding so weve always had them removed but the front r not as floppy so not causing as much problems as the back .

BulliesofNC

Dogs aren't normally born with dew claws on their rear paws. However, it can happen but it would be very rare to see a dew claw on a rear paw especially on a Bull Terrier.

BulliesofNC

Melissa - You can show a Bull Terrier with or without dew claws because they make no mention of it in the breed standards. There's only a couple breeds that I know of that mandate the dew claw to be present on conformation shows. To be honest though, it's very rare that I see a Bull Terrier with the dew claws removed.

apollosmama

Thank you! I had the bull terrier standards saved on my computer and didn't remember any mention of dews. Wasn't sure if it was a hidden rule. For all the issues with the leash, I can believe how incredibly smart he is. He is leaps and bounds ahead in most training in our 5 week training program. You breed smart puppies!!!!

[Deleted User]

@apollosmama update us with a recent picture please

apollosmama

I did post one yesterday but you can't see him too well since he's on his back. When he wakes up from his nap I will taken some good ones.

apollosmama

After his nap, still a little tired. Not tired enough to run on in the front yard and into the drainage pipe..... LOL

apollosmama

He's a good boy....kind of.   O:-)

bigbear

Lol he is awesome he looks black in your profile picture lol what a lovely boy x

philsergeant

I think you should have called him Romeo!

apollosmama

Bigbear, that was my camera settings. I couldn't get it just right. That's why I enjoy outside photos. I am one of the few people who actually enjoy those glum overcast skies. Hahaha!! Phil, I wanted something a bit more "redneck" like Rufus. The hubs was stuck on the Greek God Apollo. One of his traits was a healer. I made a comment that Apollo would heal our hearts after the death of our shepherd, so that was it. It also might have something to do with his sire' s name being Rocky. ( I'll give you a hint. We're originally from the City of Brotherly Love. Da Da - Da Da Da - Da Da - Da Da Da!!! The other eye of the tiger) OK maybe more than 1 hint.