On June 7th, we received an email that included the following: “I am in desperate need of help. I need to rehome my puppy. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of breeding my older 3 y/o female…she had a singleton pup & I really wanted to keep her. She is now a healthy 17 week old fully vaccinated puppy. However, my older dog (the mom) is really aggressive towards her. She’s bit her badly twice requiring emergency vet visits. It’s come to the point where I have to keep her in her kennel for her own safety while I’m at work…I am a nurse, often working 12 hour shifts. But, this is not the life I want for her after all she’s just a puppy. Please let me know if you can do anything to help me.”.
We are sharing the excerpt from the message in the hopes that it is a lesson for others. Once we spoke with the owner, we found out that her original intent was to breed her girl and sell the puppies. There had been no health testing done, temperament of the parents wasn’t considered and there was a lot that the human involved didn’t know about whelping and after care. We do want to make it clear that we greatly appreciate how honest the owner has been with us. Regardless if an answer to a question would not necessarily shine the best light on her, she provided responses to us that were truthful. She ended up trying to sell this puppy several weeks ago but realized that anyone who was interested either was going to use her for breeding or was not properly equipped to have a bull terrier puppy. It was a turning point for her, a point where she realized that she truly cared what happened to this puppy and that she should not have tried breeding her dog. Shortly after, the bull terrier mom started to show aggression towards the pup. It was then that the owner knew she had to reach out to a rescue for help, so here we are. Yesterday with the help of some great volunteers, this now 18 week old pup, Eloise, made her way from the Chicago area to Ohio where she will be fostered so that she can be properly socialized and learn how to be a good citizen. Some people may think we are too picky with our placements but we don’t ever want to set up our bullies for failure. When it comes to months old bull terrier’s we are even more cautious as they are at a critical time in their life where who is raising them can impact the rest of their life, positively or negatively. They need to be with someone who knows how to not let them push boundaries, where they learn from other doggies about social cues and where they are exposed to lots of different situations, sounds and people. While this pup’s life could have had a very different outcome, she now has a chance to grow up and shine as a member of a family without worry of being used as a breeding machine or in a home with someone who doesn’t understand the breed. Since going to her foster home yesterday, Eloise has been able to act like a pup, playing with other dogs, exploring all sorts of new smells and not being kenneled for the majority of the day.
If you have considered breeding your bull terrier or miniature bull terrier, please do it for the right reasons, the betterment of the breed. Educate yourself and find a mentor through the Bull Terrier Club of America or the Miniature Bull Terrier Club of America. If you are unsure how to find a mentor, you can reach out to us and we will direct you to someone who can help. As we have stated previously, we exist because of backyard breeders, we would love to not have a reason to exist and, as volunteers, go back to our real lives where we don’t neglect everything else for the sake of helping bull terriers and miniature bull terriers in need. The breeders who are members of the national clubs are responsible, know the breed standards, do proper health testing and socialization, breed with temperament in mind, take their dogs back if there is an issue and work with the owners to help resolve issues. Please take time to think about all of this, it makes a difference in the lives of dogs and humans.
You can like and follow Eloise’s adventure’s on her page, Say Cheese Eloise.
