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My two treasured canine companions |
My most treasured canine companions out of
all the dogs I have ever had the honour of living with.
Ali was one of
the last real German Shepherd dogs with a super wonderful temperament. Even
physically he was one of the last GSDs' with a straight back, saber tail and a
large square head. All traits that the GSD Breeders only dream of. He was
my best friend and mentor for all of 14 years. I still miss him to
this day.
Ayla was also my
mentor (if such a thing can be said of a Bull Terrier) and my best friend for 13
and a half years. It is because of her that we have a dog training school. When
I acquired her we went about training and socialization as any other dog owner
would but none of the dog schools wanted a Bullie in their schools for fear that
there would be aggression. Thankfully one school accepted us and Ayla has turned
out beautifully. It was only when we started with Agility that heads really
turned as Agility requires the dog to do all obstacles off collar and off leash.
The control and bond you need with your dog to achieve this has to be very
strong. Ayla was trustworthy and very well socialised due to starting her
training and socialising at 8 weeks of age, and did she turn heads. Soon people
with GSDs', Labradors, other Bullies, came up to us and asked for help as they
were struggling to train their dogs and as I had managed to train one of the
most untraineable breeds, surely I could help them. And this is how our dog
school came into existence.
Ayla's achievements list as follows:
| Canine Good Citizen test = 25 March 2001. |
| Obedience = overall average score of 94% |
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Agility = overall average score of 95 % with three first places (clear round in Agility 1, 27/04/2005, 1st place in Agility 1 24/07/2005 & 1st place in Agility 1 01/05/2008 at age of 10 years) Ayla features in the short film "21st Street" which was filmed 6 December 2009 and she was 12 years old at that time. |
| Capable of doing an out of sight stay outside of shop fronts without being tied down & ignoring all distractions. |
Ayla proved over and over again that with the correct training &
socialization, beginning as early as 8 weeks of age and using the correct
methods, even the most stubborn breed can be successfully trained.
HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING ABOUT THE PROPERLY BRED ENGLISH BULL TERRIER:
Although the BT can be perfectly social towards other dogs they do not, as a rule, share their humans with other family dogs! It is best to keep them as single dogs.
BT are not human aggressive, ever, and they make terrible guard dogs!
BT are theeee most man-made breed bred and have very very special needs unlike other dog breeds! They are very high maintenance dogs.
The BT may not be left alone at home for more than 4 hours a day!
The BT requires constant physical, mental & social stimulation!
The BT is difficult to train due to their high level of intelligence and their very short concentration span. When you give up on them they take over! Gaining their respect, patience & love will help train your Bullie.
The BT is non-confrontational towards humans and also other dogs and would rather avoid aggression at all times!
The true BT behaves as described above and if it does not then there is something seriously wrong with it - either bred incorrectly, brought up incorreclty or even trained or encouraged to behave aggressively.