Will a Bully get along with our Frenchie?

wannabull

I would like a Bull Terrier very much, but have heard they have a tendency to be dog aggressive. Our family owns a male French Bulldog and I need to know if I bring a BT into my home am I asking for trouble? I would only consider a female so I would not have to worry about same sex dominance. I would appreciate anyones advice who has a multi-dog home with a BT.  FYI,Our Frenchie does fine with other dogs. 

Thanks

Brody

Zerlett

if you get a puppy and raise them together and teach them to be respectful of each other you will be fine. Always keep high value items away (only in kennels bones, food ect) and always crate when your not home because you never know what can happen while your gone and its the best prevention you can have.

BulliesofNC

I concur with Danielle. If they're raised together they'll do fine and become best buddies.

 

 

Zerlett

Even my most aggressive bull terrier was raised with a chihuahua and he loved her and would never hurt her, I was strict with him and growing up when he was little he was never allowed to make her yipe or I would reprimand him. He would lay on his back and let her chew on his face.

wannabull

Thanks for the encouraging advice.  Zerlett, could you please explain what you mean by keeping valuable items away(only in kennels, bones, food). Do you mean their toys should not be left out? That they should only be allowed to eat and play with toys separately? 

Zerlett

In my experience high value items, such as food and bones are the biggest concern or cause for fights to occur. Bull Terriers are possessive by nature, tend to guard whats theirs, and just to keep problems at bay, I only give those things in the crate on there own. Not everyone has to do that, or does it, it's just the way i do things, I had a really brutal fight break out over a rawhide once, and never again do i risk it. I never EVER EVER leave my dogs together home alone unattended, I used to work for a vet, and I learned many things from my job that taught me what not to do.

An emergency came in once, it was an american bull dog, she had several bite wounds all over her neck, you could see the veins in her neck. The people said they went to the store, came home and found both of their dogs bleeding. The dogs grew up together, never had a single problem, but this one time they did, and no one was home to stop it, and this dog did die. I would never want to risk the one time the dogs have a problem and no one is home to end it, the people were devastated.

I never leave my dogs at home alone either, after hearing of how many surgeries bull terriers have from eating things, i don't risk it.

wannabull

Do they play with toys together? Our Frenchie loves his squeaky toys. Fetch and tug o war are his favorite games. Do you play with your dogs with these items or do you only play with them separately?

BulliesofNC

Wannabull - If you raise a Bull Terrier puppy with another breed of dog that possesses a good temperament and character you shouldn't have any problems with them growing up together and able to play with each other. I'm confident they'll become best friends. Many of the people who have purchased puppies from us over the years have brought their Bull Terrier puppy into a family that already had a dog or cat. We have yet to hear from any of them with any problems. Actually we've received several updated photos of them together playing and get along as they should.

My recommendation to you is to concentrate your energy on researching the proper Bull Terrier to purchase that has the desired temperament and character that you expect from a quality bloodline. No two dogs are going to be the same and my best advice to you is get familiar with the breeders dogs and ensure they have the temperament and character you're looking for. I'd hate to tell you that if you purchase a Bull Terrier puppy it will do fine being raised around another dog when the certain puppy you choose came from a litter where one or both parents had an aggression problem or disorder.

Zerlett

i allow my dogs to play with toys together supervised, i dont allow any growling at all.

wannabull

Steve,

Do you temperament test your dogs? How do you manage to breed dog aggression out of your lines? Do you do this through selective breeding, or do you only acquire foundation dogs from lines that are known to be less DA?

I was on another Bull Terrier forum from the UK. It seemed that most of the people on the forum had dealt with DA in one way or another, and many adapted their lifestyles greatly in a multi-BT home to keep the peace. The constant supervision in play was also a common recommendation from them-which is inline with what Zerlett suggested. 

So understand my confusion trying to sift through these claims. Are European Bull Terriers more Sharp than American lines? That is something one person suggested in a PM to me on another forum. 

 Correct me if I am wrong but even if BT's are no more DA than other breeds, the real difference seems to be that if a dispute does begin the BT will finish it, just as most Bully breeds once bred for fighting will. This is where the danger lies. Otherwise you would not need a stun gun just in case. 

BulliesofNC

There's really no true test that can be conducted for temperament. Again, the key would be to know the bloodline and meet the parents of the litter. Any Bull Terrier, along with many other canine breeds, has the capabilities of developing DA if they aren't socialized properly. With this said you could have two dogs from the same litter mature as adults with different temperaments based on how they were raised. Additionally, I've met some Bull Terriers that were great with other dogs until they experienced an encounter with an aggressive and dominating dog that attacked them. Often this kind of experience has a lasting effect and can easily change the temperament with other dogs.

There are so many variables on this subject and the true answer is that nobody could ever guarantee the temperament of any puppy because much of the development on a puppy depends highly on how they're raised, socialized, and cared for on a daily basis. However, your decision on finding an EBT with a well-balanced character and temperament should start with knowing the litter parents and the reputation of the breeders' bloodlines.

In general I would have to agree that European Bull Terriers have a calmer disposition than many American lines. However, I'm only basing this off two European bloodlines I'm familiar with that a few of my Bullies possess - Kilacabar and Penbray.

However, there are many American lines like Ann-Dee's and Lionheart that have had a long history of Bull Terriers with excellent temperaments.

Each Bull Terrier is going to have their own personality no matter what. How well you socialize them with other dogs will be the key factor for the development of their character and temperament. Some EBT's don't have a lick of dog aggression and might very well get bossed around by any dog even a small Frechie. I have a 74 pound brindle male named Rocky that I think would come booking back in the house if a squirrel growled at him.

On the other hand, Maximus gets along great with other dogs but if another male dog shows domanance or aggression he'll entertain the challenge.

 

wannabull

Well Said. Could you tell me about your bloodlines? 

BTW, I love the name of that line-Kilacabar. The name just fits a BT.LOL

BulliesofNC

Our lines mostly originated from:

• Penbray
• Lionheart
• Ann-Dee's
• Kilacabar
• Quintinhill
• Moonflower
  
• Butterfly Fields
• Comopolitan
• Bullover's
• and a few others

The pedigree of all our Bullies is actually listed on our website for each Bull Terrier.

 

MALES  and  Females

 

 

 

Zerlett

An important way of telling if your going to have a bull terrier with problems is meeting the parents, how do the parents act? Bowzer my most aggressive trouble making bull terrier (neutered) came from a dad who was very sweet and a mother with a bad attitude, and he has, a bad attitude him self, i never met the mom, and was told later on that she was a jerk, and thats why i didnt meet her. Bowzer also had many negative experiences with dogs in his early puppy hood, and hes down right intolerable, selective and defensive. Steve is right, if the bull terrier grows up with bad experiences they can become aggressive or defensive. Some may never though, often times you can train and train and do everything right but genetics will always play a part. People who breed dogs from heavy shows lines breed more of a laid back, less aggressive bull terrier, this was told because it would help remove the chances of owners returning puppies or not able to control them. I have seen more lean, skinnier faced bull terriers (pet or low quality) have more dog aggression. Lack of socialization, training, leadership and environment all play a major role. I would honestly say though that the bull terrier DOES take extra work to keep dog aggression at bay, I would say less work than a pit bull, but much more work than maybe a Labrador. I am always the boss of my dogs, with me being leader the other dogs dont need to seek one out amongst themselves, i control everything, food, toys, playtime ect. There is no growling, no snapping and my dogs are not allowed to bully each other or i will step in. I dont normally let me dogs "teach eachother" or discipline each other unless its a very young and an adult i trust very well to do it without losing there temper. Bull terriers generally arent good at just reprimanding another dog or puppy without taking it too far. Most of my bull terriers were raised with a VERY SOUND pit bull x english pointer mix that was and is (lives with my sister now) at training all my dogs what was too much or too rough or unacceptable, she was always better than the bull terriers ever were at teaching each other.

Bowzer at around 7 months old was sniffing the ground at the dog park, when a VERY big saint bernard mix grabbed him by the scruff and shook him like a toy. The dog attacked him over "ball envy" Bowzer was not neutered than, and that dog had been neutered shortly before he attacked him. It was around this time with a few other incidents that caused him to turn into a tolerable dog to a much less tolerable dog, defensive and selective about what dogs he would put up with. He gets a long with females much more than males, but he will fight a female too if she goes at him. When raised with a dogs as puppies, he is fine, thats his pack. He lives with an old greyhound mix and he loves him, licks his face all the time and the dog is very calm and submissive and he does flawless with bowzer, even with the old dog would push into Bowzer for a ball, and try to get it from him Bowzer never reacts. 

Zahra my pit bull mix that raised most of my bull terriers, the best teacher ever, the co pilot, i always told her she is second in command!!







my naughty boy bowzer eating a child (lol)



zahra with a pup from my first litter



Zahra was spayed at around 4 months and never had puppies, but her genetically fantastic personality never changed. When Claxxton tried to play with scarlett (my red bull terrier female) and was nipping her, she got on top of him and growled, and would take it too far, while Zahra will quickly reprimand a pup in a stern but serious way and than go about her day no grudges no further problems.



never met a more solid personality than Zahra. As a pit mix so many told me she would change, shes as solid as they come. Shes done therapy work as well. A free dog offline, shes not a bull terrier but shes the most all around dog. Electra is awesome with puppies, shes also very good at teaching and very tolerable. She is from Ann-Dees.

iwouldbenick

I have a 4 year old frenchie names Saki.  As i picked up more hours from work i decided it was time to get my baby girl a friend.  Getting a bull terrier was probably the best choice.  The love each other probably more than my sister and I.  They play together, do laps together and believe it or not, won't even drink water without each other.  They have to sleep on the same side of the bed as each other or else saki will sleep with one paw inside his cage.  They of course fight over bones, but they have enough that the one that is boneless gets the hint and grabs a new one.  The only downfall is that they are both jealous breeds.  show them equal love and discipline and you shouldn't have an issue, just a lot of joy from the best pets ever!

BulliesofNC

Trent

I have four Bullies and two Jack Russells . It took alittle while for everyone to get used to each other but now there great together.

philsergeant

Four BTs and two JRs....!?,!?? Come on now, we've gotta see a family photo!!