Terrier University: Miniature Bull Terrier: The Breed

Miniature Bull Terrier The Breed | Terrier University (AKC Terrier Group)

The Miniature Bull Terrier is in every way – except size – exactly like the Bull Terrier. Bull Terriers were first meant to be rough, tough fighting dogs but now exhibit a much gentler, playful personality. As a matter of fact, the jovial nature and the distinctive egg-shaped head of the Bull Terrier made it an apt choice for Target ads and Anhauser Busch’s popular "Spuds McKenzie" ad campaign. The breed can be solid white or colored.

Miniature Bull Terrier AKC Breed Standards

General Appearance
The Miniature Bull Terrier must be strongly built, symmetrical and active, with a keen, determined and intelligent expression. He should be full of fire, having a courageous, even temperament and be amenable to discipline.
Size, Proportion, Substance
Height 10 inches to 14 inches. Dogs outside these limits should be faulted. Weight in proportion to height. In proportion, the Miniature Bull Terrier should give the appearance of being square.

Head
The head should be long, strong and deep, right to the end of the muzzle, but not coarse. The full face should be oval in outline and be filled completely up, giving the impression of fullness with a surface devoid of hollows or indentations, i.e., egg shaped. The profile should curve gently downwards from the top of the skull to the tip of the nose. The forehead should be flat across from ear to ear. The distance from the tip of the nose to the eyes should be perceptibly greater than that from the eyes to the top of the skull. The underjaw should be deep and well defined.
To achieve a keen, determined and intelligent expression, the eyes should be well sunken and as dark as possible with a piercing glint. They should be small, triangular and obliquely placed, set near together and high up on the dog's head. The ears should be small, thin and placed close together, capable of being held stiffly erect when they point upwards. The nose should be black, with well developed nostrils bent downwards at the tip. The lips should be clean and tight. The teeth should meet in either a level or scissor bite. In the scissor bite, the top teeth should fit in front of and closely against the lower teeth. The teeth should be sound, strong and perfectly regular.

Neck, Topline, Body
The neck should be very muscular, long, and arched; tapering from the shoulders to the head, it should be free from loose skin. The back should be short and strong with a slight arch over the loin. Behind the shoulders there should be no slackness or dip at the withers. The body should be well rounded with marked spring of rib. The back ribs deep. The chest should be broad when viewed from in front. There should be great depth from withers to brisket, so that the latter is nearer to the ground than the belly. The underline, from the brisket to the belly, should form a graceful upward curve. The tail should be short, set on low, fine, and should be carried horizontally. It should be thick where it joins the body, and should taper to a fine point.
Forequarters
The shoulders should be strong and muscular, but without heaviness. The shoulder blades should be wide and flat and there should be a very pronounced backward slope from the bottom edge of the blade to the top edge. The legs should be big boned but not to the point of coarseness. The forelegs should be of moderate length, perfectly straight, and the dog must stand firmly up on them. The elbows must turn neither in nor out, and the pasterns should be strong and upright.
Hindquarters
The hind legs should be parallel when viewed from behind. The thighs are very muscular with hocks well let down. The stifle joint is well bent with a well developed second thigh. The hind pasterns should be short and upright.
Feet - The feet are round and compact with well arched toes like a cat.
Coat - The coat should be short, flat and harsh to the touch with a fine gloss. The dog's skin should fit tightly.

Color - For white, pure white coat. Markings on head and skin pigmentation are not to be penalized. For colored, any color to predominate.
Gait - The dog shall move smoothly, covering the ground with free, easy strides. Fore and hind legs should move parallel to each other when viewed from in front or behind, with the forelegs reaching out well and the hind legs moving smoothly at the hip and flexing well at the stifle and hock. The dog should move compactly and in one piece but with a typical jaunty air that suggests agility and power.
Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points shall be considered a fault, and the seriousness of the fault shall be in exact proportion to its degree.
Approved May 14, 1991
Effective January 1, 1992

Miniature Bull Terrier Health Issues

Miniature Bull Terriers are generally quite healthy, but there are hearing, eye, skin, kidney, heart and knee problems in some dogs:
Deafness occurs in both coloured and white Bull Terrier (Miniature). Puppies can be born unilaterally deaf (deaf in one ear) or bilaterally (deaf in both ears.) Deaf dogs should not be bred due to deafness being hereditary. BEAP (or BAER) testing is done on puppies prior to sale to discover which puppies have hearing problems.

Bull Terrier (Miniature) are also susceptible to having luxating patellas. This is a knee problem common in small dogs. It can be treated by surgery.
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and Bull Terrier hereditary nephritis (BTHN) are autosomal dominant diseases. PKD is diagnosed by Ultrasonic scan by a specialist veterinarian. BTHN is diagnosed by a UPC test. Dogs with a score of .3 or below are considered clear of the disease. Clearing breeding stock prior to use ensures that progeny are not affected with the disease.
Miniature Bull Terriers are also susceptible to eye problems such as primary lens luxation. PLL is a late onset disease which typically affects dogs between the ages of 3 and 7. Younger and older cases are known. During September 2009 a definitive DNA test was released by the Animal Health Trust. This test gives three results: Clear, Carrier, Affected.
Aortic valve stenosis and mitral valve dysplasia are heart diseases. Diagnosis is made by colour doppler echocardiography scanning by a specialist veterinarian.
The skin of a Miniature can be a problem. Pyotraumatic dermatitis (hot spots), allergic reactions, and hives can be problematic. This is typically due to feeding a processed diet high in grains. Breeders with experience find that changing the dogs diet to unprocessed raw foods eliminates skin problems in the breed.

Miniature Bull Terrier Temperament

Like the Bull Terriers, Minis are loving and, like many terrier breeds, can be stubborn at times; but despite this they make great dogs for people with limited space.
Miniature Bull Terriers are known to be stubborn and courageous. They do not seem to realize their size, however, because even if confronting an enormous dog they will not back down. However, with the right training, confrontations can be avoided. They are very energetic and playful. They love people, but often do not get along with other pets. They are variable around other dogs, and young children must be warned to treat them carefully. The temperament should be full of fire and courageous, but even and amenable to discipline.

Did You Know?

There used to be three types of Bull Terrier: Toy, Miniature, and Standard. The toy dog, however, fell out of favor and there are now only Miniature and Standard size Bull Terriers.
The Miniature Bull Terrier originated in England.
The Miniature Bull Terrier was accepted in Miscellaneous Class in 1963 and accepted as a breed in 1991.
The Miniature Bull Terrier is AKC’s 133rd breed.
In early 19th century the Bulldog & now the extinct White English Terrier were interbred to produce the "Bull and Terrier" later known as the Bull Terrier.
These dogs have a high activity level, they are smart and creative, indeed they are independent thinkers.

Miniature Bull Terrier History

The Miniature Bull Terrier is no newcomer to the world of purebred dogs. As a matter of fact, for over eighty years he has been highly prized as a distinctive small dog noted, among other things, for tenacity and remarkable courage. He is a sturdy chap, muscular, active, and full of fire but withal good tempered and amenable to discipline.
Miniature beginnings date back to the early 19th century when the Bulldog and the now extinct White English Terrier were interbred to produce the "Bull and Terrier" later known as the Bull Terrier.
Possessed of such a heritage, it is small wonder that the earliest specimens came in a wide range of sizes. There were Toys that weighed from four to seven pounds, medium sized ones of some fifteen and sixteen pounds, as well as the more usual sort resembling the full-sized Bull Terrier of this day. The small dog came in various colors; some black-patched, a few blue, and others pure white.
The Toys were exhibited abroad up to about 1914, but they elicited scant response from the fanciers because their type was poor. Dogs of medium or miniature size fared better since particularly in eyes and foreface they more closely approximated the type desired. This has been exactly what the fanciers have been aiming for, namely, a down-faced, smaller dog weighing around sixteen pounds and identical in make and shape and every single feature to the full-sized Bull Terrier.
The Miniature Bull Terrier became eligible to be shown in the Miscellaneous Class in 1963, and was accepted as a breed in 1991.