If you’re considering adding American Bully puppies to the family, or are looking to learn more about them such as their history, personality traits including their temperament and physical characteristics you’re right where you need to be.
In this article, we’ll do our best to make sure that you know all there is to know about them.
Introduction To The American Bully
The American Bully dog breed, not to be confused with the American Pitbull Terrier, was first seen sometime in the 1990’s and was created with the intent to be one of the best companion dogs around.
High-quality dog breeders created the American Bully by mixing an American Pit Bull Terrier [1] parent and an American Staffordshire Terrier [2] parent.
The key though is to try to combine specific traits that are found in each of the two parents.
While most breeders will want you to believe they can, not any dog breeder can breed for the specific traits that are found in a true American Bully.
Other Names
- American Bully Pit
- Bully Pit
- Bullypit
- Bully Pit Bull
- Bully Pitbull
- Pitbull Bully
Recognition
This breed is recognized by the following associations:
- American Bully Kennel Club (ABKC) [3]
- American Canine Association (ACA)
- Backwoods Bulldog Club (BBC)
- Dog Registry of America (DRA)
- European Bully Kennel Club (EBKC)
- United Canine Association (UCA)
- United Kennel Club (UKC)
Appearance
Head & Face
Head: They have a deep-looking head of medium length and a fairly broad skull
Ears: Their ears are tiny ears that are usually pointing upwards when they’ve been cropped. Some don’t have their ears cropped, and that’s perfectly fine.
Eyes: Their eyes are oval-like eyes that are significantly far away from one another and that come in a very wide variety of colors, including every color except albino color.
Nose: Their noses can come in all sorts of colors, much depending on the color of its coat.
Body
The standard is one of the most muscular, athletic and very-well defined bodies among dog breeds.
Coat: They have a glossy coat that’s beautiful to look at, and is a relatively short.
If you were to touch it, you’d notice that it feels fairly stiff. All coat colors are acceptable with this dog breed except the Merle color.
Shoulders: This dog is a very strong and muscular dog, which is very apparent in its fairly wide shoulder blades.
Back: Their back is shorter-than-average, which is one of their most unique and distinctive features
Chest: This dog’s chest is a fairly wide and deep one, going hand in hand with its overall muscular look and physique. Their ribs appear to be rounded instead of flat.
Size, Height & Weight
On average, the classic American Bully dog can weigh anywhere from 70-120 lbs and stand anywhere from 13-21 inches in height.
These numbers can be exact or can be way off since they come in a wide variety of different sizes, ranging from extremely small sized dogs to extremely large sized dogs.
They are commonly described in four sizes: Pocket, Standard, Classic and XL.
Temperament
In general, American Bullies are full of life, happy, playful and friendly dogs.
However, they do have their own confident personality and will not be easily intimidated by anyone/anything.
Confidence in this dog’s personality should never be mistaken for aggression though, as these two are very different things.
When it comes to the people nearest and dearest to them, American Bullies will show all the love, affection and loyalty in the world to these people.
Training
They are known to be a very obedient dog that does extremely well in following directions and doing a great job when it comes to training.
You’ll find that this dog is happiest when you’re happy with them, and they’ll do all they can to make you happy and ensure you’re satisfied.
Given the American Bully’s big self-esteem and high confidence levels, you must be aware of a few things before training them and interacting with them.
First off, a dog with such high levels of self confidence will only listen to and follow the orders of a person that acts in a similar confident and calm demeanor.
You must also stay fairly firm when training them (but not get aggressive, as getting aggressive will only do harm to the whole training process and to your relationship with them).
If you don’t stay firm, calm, and confident your dog will gradually stop following your orders and you’ll lose them in training.
It is also key to be consistent through the training process. Dog treats can be an effective way to reward your dog while training.
An American Bully loves to be lead by someone they feel is more authoritative than them, someone who puts the rules, knows exactly what they want, and accepts nothing but for them to be followed.
If you manage to establish yourself as the leader in the relationship you’ve already won 80% of the battle.
Although this dog is a very affectionate and loving creature, it does indeed thrive in relationships where boundaries are drawn, they know exactly what is expected of them and they know that they must do what is expected of them.
Things To Avoid When Training & Bonding With Your Bully
- Not being confident or being unsure
- Being easily intimidated
- Being inconsistent
- Losing Control and being frustrated easily
- Don’t believe in yourself
They will clearly sense these things and you will see this affect the way they behave. This is important as this will lay the foundation for your whole relationship.
Guard Dog
If you’re looking for a guard dog for your home, then the American Bully is a very good choice given the fact that it has one of the most courageous personalities among dog breeds ever.
This dog is one of the most protective dogs when it comes to its owner and family members that it loves, and will hold nothing back at fighting anyone and anything that threatens their safety and well-being.
If this dog deems that any of its loved ones are being subject to any threat, it will intervene and take things into its own hands.
Being extremely tolerant to physical pain, this dog’s family or property is the last thing you’ll want to mess around with.
Aggression
As we already established, and despite its very muscular physique and strong physical capabilities, the American Bully is a loving, outgoing and very affectionate dog with the people that treat it right.
If properly socialized when at a very young age, you won’t have to worry about this dog growing up and inappropriately use its great strength. This is why it is important to train it correctly from an early age as puppy.
However, those who go around intimidating it and abusing it, this dog will gladly strike back, which is something that ties hand in hand with its strong and confident personality when the need arises.
Preferred Living Conditions
A properly trained and well socialized American Bully is a perfect addition to a house with a family in it, as this dog is notorious for its love for young kids and playing around with them.
All in all, this dog is a perfect companion dog for you and your family members.
If you plan on getting one and keeping it somewhere like an apartment with limited space, that won’t necessarily be a problem if you give them adequate amounts of exercise and physical activity they need during the day.
If you don’t give them the exercise levels they need or don’t have a large space like a backyard where they can go out and get decent amounts of physical activity under their belt on their own, that’s where things become problematic.
As a bare minimum level of physical activity, American Bullies must be given at least 1-2 daily walks.
As for the weather they usually do better in warmer climates than they do in colder climates.
What Is The Typical Life Span of an American Bully?
On average an American Bully is expected to live for around 8-12 years. [4]
The list below discusses some of the most common health problems that you have to be aware of if you’re looking to get a new American Bully dog, or already have one at home.
– Rabies: The American Bully is more prone than other dogs to suffer from rabies, which is why it’s very important to make sure that they get all their vaccinations in time and due manner.
Whether you have a full grown dog or a young puppy, please don’t try to do this task on your own, and let a professional veterinarian take care of it instead.
– Worms: Just like rabies, American Bullies are more prone than other dog breeds to suffer from problems with worms in their system.
This is why it’s also important to make sure that you have them regularly checked on by a veterinarian that will be able to tell you whether or not they need to be de-wormed.
Watch this video to learn how to tell if your dog has worms:
When searching for an American Bully to add to your family, be very careful of the breeders you do business with.
A trend among breeders that breed for this specific dog is using illegal drugs such as steroids to increase the muscle mass of these dogs and give them that buff look that everyone is after.
So, before you buy any American Bully from any breeder, make sure you inquire about all of this stuff and that you’re 100% positive that the dog breeder you’re doing business with only follows ethical practices.
American Bully Care
When it comes to grooming you should know that they are relatively low-shedders (mostly because the short coat we talked about earlier), which means that they don’t need as much frequent brushing as other heavy shedding dogs may need.
You should only need to brush them 2-3 times every week.
The only thing you should take note of is that it’s probably best if you brush their coat with a bristle brush.
As for bathing, only give them a bath when the needed.
And when you do give them a bath you might consider using dry shampoo since they typically aren’t bothered by it sense they don’t normally have sensitive skin.
American Pit Bull Terrier Compared To An American Bully
With the American Bully becoming an increasingly popular dog breed around the world, many people are falling in the fallacy of confusing the American Bully with the American Pit Bull Terrier.
These two dog breeds are not the same, and each of these 2 dogs is now its own breed.
Here are a few physical differences that will go a long way in helping you differentiate between the two dogs.
– Muscular Physique: American Bullies have much more visibly muscular physiques and broader features (such as wider chests and broader shoulders) than American Pit Bull Terriers.
– Size & Weight: On average, an American Bully weighs around 2 times more than an American Pitbull Terrier.
If you enjoyed this article you might find our Gator Mouth Pitbulls Guide an interesting read.
Resources
1. American Pitbull Terrier https://www.ukcdogs.com/american-pit-bull-terrier
2. American Staffordshire Terrier https://www.britannica.com/animal/American-Staffordshire-terrier
3. American Bully Kennel Club http://theabkcdogs.org/
4. Life Expectancy American Bully https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/dog-life-expectancy-american-bully
Thankyou for sharing your knowledge. about Bullies. I rescued a five year old bully yesterday from a garage, where it had been for four months in the dark. His ears have been butchered to the skull. 150lb brindle in color. solid as a rock. When he came into the house, my new kitten rushed him like an old friend. The dog responded like he had just been reunited by a lost love. As I text this, they are asleep together on the floor. I also have two adult cats and a chocolate lab that’s pretty happy about this. Just need a name. Thought you might like the story PEACE
Greg – thanks for sharing. That’s great.