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Welcome
to the ranks of Bull Terrier owners! You now have in your care a
unique and wonderful breed of dog. May you
share many years of love and companionship!
It is hoped that this information will help
you to keep your dog as healthy as
possible. Included is a brief description of some traits and
health problems which sometimes occur in Bull Terriers and are not
always quickly
recognized by veterinarians unfamiliar with the breed.
RECORD
KEEPING
First, it makes good sense to set up a file folder just for your Bull
Terrier's records. This folder is primarily
for health records, but if you keep
his/her AKC registration and pedigree here also, then all the records
will be in one place and easy to find when
needed. If you ever breed your dog,
you will also need to keep careful breeding records.
PERMANENT IDENTIFICATION
You should also place several sharp color photos of your dog in his
folder.
Adult photos will be most useful to have in
case your dog is ever lost or stolen.
Of course, the best identification is a skin tattoo usually done inside
your dog's right thigh. You should contact a tattoo registry, such as
the National Dog Registry or Tattoo-A-Pet,
and arrange to have your dog
tattooed. The number tattooed on your dog will be assigned by the tattoo
registry. All Bull Terriers should be
tattooed and registered. Ask your veterinarian
to do it when your dog is spayed or neutered. Or take advantage
of tattoo clinics often offered by regional Bull Terrier clubs or by
your local all-breed dog club. There
are also other means of identification such as
coded microchips which are implanted under your dog's skin. However, at
this time, many veterinary clinics, dog
pounds and humane shelters do not have
the scanners necessary to read these chips. Anyone should be able to see
a tattoo!
ONE
OF YOUR DOG'S BEST FRIENDS:
THE VETERINARIAN
Try
to find a veterinarian who likes Bull Terriers! He or she may never have
seen one in the flesh, but you can tell
whether or not the vet likes your dog!
A good veterinarian is treasured by all responsible dog owners. It is
well worth asking other dog people where
they take their animals and making an
effort to find the best animal care in your part of the world. Know
where
24 hour emergency care is available and write the phone number on the
front of your folder. You may never
have a medical emergency at 2:00 a.m. or on Christmas
day, but one never knows, and it's best to be prepared. Whenever
you
take your Bull Terrier to the veterinarian, you'll receive a computer
printout which tells you exactly which
vaccines your dog received or what tests
and procedures were done. File all these receipts in the health folder
for they form your dog's medical history. If you move either out of
state or within your own state and
have to find another veterinarian, you will have a complete
record for his new doctor.
FEEDING
There is a great deal of information available on dog nutrition. The
simplest
way to feed your dog well is to find a
quality dry dog food which your dog seems
to enjoy, and stick with that brand. Cheap dog food is no bargain!
Without sufficient quantities of all
required nutrients, your Bull Terrier may
never grow to his/her full potential and may develop various ailments
associated with poor nutrition. For example, the expense involved in
trying to clear up skin and coat
problems related to lack of certain fats and fatty acids
in the diet quickly uses up the dollars saved by purchasing poor
quality food. Some Bull Terrier
owners prefer to feed a natural diet which they
concoct themselves. If this is carefully done, the results are
excellent. But the owner has to have the time and dedication to do it
right!
As a rule, Bull Terriers are good eaters.
In fact, some are gluttons! Try not
to let your dog become too heavy. If you are unfortunate enough to
have a picky eater, first make sure that
there is no medical reason for his/her
disinterest in food. For instance, tooth problems may make a dog reluctant
to eat hard food such as kibble. If there is no medical explanation,
your Bully is probably holding out for whatever his human family is
having for dinner! You simply have to be more stubborn than he is. Keep
giving him his quality dog food, and
hopefully, he'll soon get the message.
Keep plenty of fresh water available for your dog at all times.
TOYS
There are few, if any, commercially made dog toys which are Bull Terrier
proof. Hard rubber balls and similar toys
are fine for you to toss for your dog
to chase and retrieve. But when the game is over, take the toy away and
put it where it's out of reach. If allowed
to chew on rubber or plastic toys, your
Bull Terrier will eventually gnaw off chunks and swallow them with
potentially serious results. NEVER GIVE A BULL TERRIER RAWHIDE! They
chew the rawhide until it's a slimy
mess and then swallow it or try to swallow it. Bull
Terriers have choked to death on chew toys made of rawhide. Large
"Nylabones"
are good for chewing.
Please
copy the following and ask your veterinarian to place them in your
dog's
hospital file.
HEALTH PROBLEMS IN BULL TERRIERS
Of
course, Bull Terriers are subject to the same ailments and health
problems as are other breeds of
dogs. However, there are a few health problems which seem
to occur more frequently in Bull Terriers or are almost unique to Bull
Terriers.
Gastro-Intestinal
Blockage
Bull
Terriers, both as puppies and as adults, will swallow just about
anything. Being rather stoic dogs, they may
not appear very ill for a few days.
But a depressed, lethargic, vomiting BT very likely has foreign objects
in its gut. Sadly, many bull Terriers are
lost because surgical intervention comes
too late. Chunks of blanket, socks, underwear, various forms of plastic
(particularly plastic toys), rubber, metal screening, and stones are a
few of the items which have been
removed from BT's. Delay can be fatal, so get your dog
to your vet fast!
Kidney
Disease
For
many years it has been recognized that the Bull Terrier breed has a
tendency to develop kidney problems,
sometimes at a very early age. In some lines,
the kidneys are very small and undeveloped. In others, glomerular
nephritis
(malfunction of tiny filters in the kidney) causes kidney failure
before age three. Sometimes affected dogs
make it to age 6-8 before dying from
renal failure. In an attempt to try to decrease the incidence of kidney
disease in the breed or to get treatment
for animals in early stages of disease,
it is recommended that a simple urine test called the urine
protein/urine creatinine ratio be done annually - particularly on all
breeding stock - beginning at about 18
months to 2 years of age. Breeders are asked
not to breed animals with an abnormal UP/UC ratio. An abnormal ratio
indicates too much protein in the urine.
Such dogs are more likely to develop kidney
disease themselves or to produce puppies with kidney problems.
Acrodermatitis
(an immune problem associated with Zinc deficiency)
This
appears to be peculiar to the Bull Terrier breed. The disorder is
recognizable in young puppies who are
sometimes referred to as "Zinkies". Some
die shortly after birth because they are too lethargic to nurse. Others
do fairly well until weaning. When they are
no longer receiving antibodies from
their mothers, they tend to develop skin lesions, particularly between
the toes and on the muzzle. Some also have
difficulty eating solid foods because
the roof of the mouth is domed and has deeper than normal ridges. The
food gets stuck, so puppies have to be hand
fed a finely ground, gruel-type
food.
Their growth rate slows so that they become runty looking compared to
their litter mates. In some pups there may
be what seem to be neurologic peculiarities
such as abnormal gait (hindquarters particularly) or inability to
wag the tail. Nasty, rage-like temperaments may been seen in these
puppies. Changes in coat color occur, with
black coat or black patches
tending
to turn brownish. If not put down, these puppies usually succumb to
infection. Affected pups are thought to
have inherited a pair of recessive genes
for this trait. This means that both parents carry the gene.
Skin
Diseases
Some
Bull Terriers, particularly white Bull Terriers, may suffer from severe
skin problems. Possibly there is a
connection between faults with the immune system
and this severe dermatitis. Some dogs respond well to dietary changes
to more natural-type foods with few or no
chemical additives. Others may require
long-term treatment with antibiotics and/or steroids.
Neurological/Behavioral
Peculiarities
Some
Bull Terriers chase their tails. In the mild form, this seems to be
related to boredom or to stress of some
kind. Some spin around in circles a few
times when they are excited. Usually this is not a serious problem and
can
be remedied by removing the cause of the boredom and stress.
Spinning
A
much more serious form of tail chasing is called spinning. This usually
begins at about 6 months of age. The dog is
obsessed by its tail and may circle
for hours. It loses interest in food and water. All attempts to get
the dog to stop this behavior fail.
Sometimes the dog yelps while spinning and
may even attempt to bite its interfering owner. In the past, most of
these spinners were eventually put down. Even amputating the tail does
not help! Over the past few years, a
research project at Tufts University School of
Veterinary Medicine suggests that spinning is form of seizure. Most
spinning dogs respond to treatment with
phenobarbital either alone or in conjunction
with other medications. Some of the less severe cases do well on
anti-obsessive
drugs such as Anafranil or Prozak. It is interesting that treatment
of spinning Bull Terriers has been more successful in females than
males.
Rage
Incidents
of unexplained aggression toward human members of its own family by
a dog which usually behaves normally may
signify rage. A Bull Terrier with rage
is an extremely frightening and dangerous dog. The episodes are usually
unpredictable. Some owners claim that the
dog gets a glazed look in its eyes before
a "spell". Rage is presently considered to be another
seizure-type disorder. Some of the
severe spinners develop rage-like symptoms as the spinning
becomes worse. Prognosis is poor. It
is important not to confuse dominance
aggression with rage. Whereas dominance aggression is a behavioral
problem
which can often be overcome by correct training and proper handling,
rage is apparently a neurological dysfunction
which does not seem to respond to
training.
Epilepsy
A
few Bull Terriers develop grand mal type epileptic seizures. If a dog
has
the form of epilepsy which seems to be
inherited, seizures usually begin between
the ages of 6 to 18 months. Although the seizures may be controlled
somewhat by medication, the prognosis is
not good. Affected Bull Terriers seem
to survive only a year or two after onset of the disease. Also, prolonged
dosage with the drug phenobarbital may cause severe liver damage which
is fatal.
Heart
Disease
Some
bull Terriers have heart problems which may be hereditary. There are
various kinds of heart murmurs caused by
different structural problems in the heart.
Some are more serious than others and are roughly graded from grade 1
to
grade 6. The veterinarian may detect a heart murmur in a puppy. Often,
puppies outgrow minor murmurs such as a
grade 1. However, if the murmur is more
serious or if a minor murmur becomes worse, the veterinarian may recommend
further diagnostic tests such as cardiac ultrasound. Defects in heart
structure and function are potentially life threatening, although some
BT's live with their heart murmurs for many
years. Needless to say, dogs with heart
defects should not be bred.
Deafness
Hereditary
deafness in Bull Terriers may have entered the breed from crosses
of the 19th century dogs with the now
extinct White English Terrier. Or years ago
there may have been crosses with Dalmatians which today seem to have the
highest
incidence of hereditary deafness. It is not yet clear exactly how
deafness is inherited. It was once thought
to be caused by a simple recessive gene,
but more likely there are several pairs of genes involved, some of
which may be dominant genes. All
Bull Terrier puppies should be tested for deafness
by the BAER test. A veterinarian or your Bull Terrier club should be
able to help you find the nearest BAER
testing facility (your closest
veterinary
school or clinics held by the BTCA or your regional club). Each ear
is tested separately. Most BT's have normal hearing in both ears. Some
whites are deaf in both ears (bilaterally
deaf) while some whites AND COLOREDS
are deaf in one ear (unilaterally deaf). Until recently, it was not
understood that colored BT's could be
unilaterally deaf. It is unlikely that
a
colored will be bilaterally deaf since there seems to be a linkage with
genes for white color, whereas a colored BT
has only one gene for white or, if a
solid colored BT, no white gene. Even animals with normal hearing can
produce puppies which are deaf in one ear
if there are deaf BT's among their ancestors.
Bull Terriers which are deaf in one ear seem to lead fairly normal
lives. The most obvious difference from a
normal dog is their difficulty in determining
the direction of sound. A unilaterally deaf pup may seem bewildered
as he tries to figure out where a sound is coming from. No doubt such
puppies have been in the breed for many years. The BAER test makes their
identification possible. This is an
electronic test which measures the electrical
activity along the nerves connecting the ear with the brain. If there
is no electrical activity, no sound is getting through. The letters
BAER
stand for "brainstem auditory evoked response."
References:
Interpretation
of Urine Protein-Creatinine Ratios in Dogs With Glomerular and
Nonglomerular Disorders: Compendium on Continuing Education for The
Practicing Veterinarian; Vol 12, No. 1, January, 1990.
Seizure-related Disorders: Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Tufts University School
of
Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Rd., N. Grafton, MA 01536.
Lethal Acrodermatitis in Bull Terriers; Jezyk, PF et al.; J Am Vet Med
Assoc.
1986, 188:833-839.
BAER Testing: George M. Strain, Ph.D., School of Veterinary Medicine,
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-8420.
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