English Bulls again - calling EastKent!!

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sonjafoers

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Hi,

I posted a while ago about getting an English Bull to go with my 2 rotties. EastKent gave me some very good info so I am hoping she is on here to advise me again.

If you are EastKent, we have been asked to re-home an 8 month old spayed bitch by a friend of ours who used to breed. She is his dog and comes from a very loving home but is constantly being attacked by his staffie and he therefore has to re-home one and he can't re-home the staff, for obvious reasons.

She has been brought up with children, has shown no dog aggression, is very loving and has no skin or health issues

Do you think it is worth considering taking her on? He is prepared to bring her down for a weekend & stay in a B&B so she can be introduced to our dogs very gradually over the weekend to see if they can all get on. If not he will take her home again & return her to the breeder.

My concern is that at 8 months old she may be pretty set in her ways and may not learn from our dogs with regards to how to behave when out on the moors, around livestock & our horses etc. We also have a cat and the only contact she has had with cats is being apparently chased by the one next door to her.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated :)
 
Go carefully but give it a try.Use a puppy type crate so she gets used to the CAT without giving chase.As to livestock,well carefully carefully,use a lunge line and gradually lengthen it.What you must accept with these is that if she dislikes anything and wants in that is very hard to alter,if at all possible.They are great dogs,BUT,like all terriers ,once they focus on an obsession it is virtually impossible to change it.
Also do remember ,if they fight /attack a cat/sheep it ain`t just a quick skirmish and walk away and forget it;whilst I obviously do avoidence training with all the misfit bullies that come in on Welfare that is done on lead.I would`nt trust those off lead.So many bullies get into fixes because they are allowed to,it is a breed for responsible forward thinking owners only! Don`t be put off by all the cons I`ve put forward..there are lots of pro`s!

Basically what I am trying to put accross is that they are unlike any other dog,it took me quite a while to learn that..and to accept what they are.

The BEST bits are hate rain/don`t smell even when wet/cuddly/ tactile/extremely funny and love to be laughed at/very good at training their owners!:D
 
Ok thank you. We have always had rotties so are used to a breed not for 1st time owners but I do understand EBT are very different and I want to make sure we do the right thing.

It took a long time for my husband & I to decide we wanted one, but I imagined a young pup which we could bring up from scratch and not an 8 month old one. I think the lunge line is a great idea and hopefully in time she will be able to run with our dogs lead free. My main concern is the cat - do you think it's ok to put her in a crate when the other 2 dogs aren't in one, will it cause any type of issues between the dogs?

She has come from a very loving home and my husband has met her plenty of times (although I haven't) so hopefully she shouldn't have any psychological issues due to a bad upbringing. I guess like you say we can give it a try and see what happens.
 
I think she sounds lovely, might be perfect, especially if you can have her for a weekend & see how you get on.

I would be concerned if she has had to be defensive, in case she has had to be aggressive to stick up for herself, but you'll know by how she reacts to your 2. You just may need to watch her with staffies when she's older.

Mine have always been fantastic with other dogs. The least sociable tend to ignore other dogs if they don't like them. The more sociable are just like any other dog, just sometimes unaware of their own strength.

Never had an issue with recall or training, just treated them like any other dog, but most of mine have hated being told off, I tend to chivvy them & encourage them - especially the bitches.

Hope your rotties don't mind sacrificing the rug in front of the fire, & seeing a stupid dog curled up on your lap, you may think you're getting a proper dog, in reality you'll be getting a big soft lapdog.

How is the bitch bred? Some bloodlines are sharper than others.
 
I have been told that siennamum, I think the only problem will be me finding a space in bed or on the settee! Both of mine are lapdogs and my big male thinks I can't sleep unless he is glued to my side in bed with his head on my pillow - it's ok when my husband is away but a bit of a squeeze when he is home. I'm not sure how we will all fit on if she decides to sleep on the bed too!

EastKent made me laugh in my original thread about getting one, I said I wanted a cuddly dog who would play with mine when out & paddle in the river - she thought the river bit could be a bit of a problem as hers won't even put their feet in puddles!

I think we will definately try her and see what happens, we are both prepared to work hard to make it work for all animals involved ( great of my husband to say that when he works abroad 8 months a year ) so fingers crossed we will be able to re-home her.

She won't come down until the end of November so I will let you know how it goes.
 
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