Resources and Bookstore

Madcap Bull Terriers

Agility—Obedience-Conformation

Resources and Bookstore

Here is my reading list for anyone who is interested in buying, training, or showing a Bull Terrier. The page is organized into sections, so you can scroll to the topic that interests you.

My strong suggestion is that anyone considering acquiring a Bull Terrier read the books and sites listed in the “General Training” “Bull Terrier Training” and “Behavior” sections and find a good positive trainer BEFORE bringing their puppy home. All puppies are cute, but a rambunctious, adolescent Bull Terrier is more than most people can take. Taking advantage of the resources on this page will improve the odds that you will have a long and happy relationship with your Bull Terrier!

Four Books Any Bull Terrier Owner Should Read

There is a lot of good reading listed here, and you may not be able to get to all of it. In order to simplify things, I have picked out four books that will at least reasonably prepare you for the challenge and joy of having a Bull Terrier. Click on the title to order from Dogwise!

Scroll to the section that interests you:

Four Things Any Bull Terrier Owner Should Read

General Training

Bull Terrier Training

Bull Terrier General Information

Dog Behavior Essential Reading

General Training

What is Positive Training, Anyway?

Positive training is a type of operant conditioning, where the dog gets something good for the desired behavior and something bad for failing to offer the desired behavior. This is actually the exact way that every dog training method works. The success or failure of any dog training method lies in how precisely and accurately you manipulate the consequences of the dog's action. The main difference between positive training and traditional training lies in the types of reinforcement and punishment that are used. Positive trainers use only Positive Reinforcement - giving the dog something good for doing what you want. For instance, giving a treat for sitting, and Negative Punishment - Taking something good away for not doing what you want. For instance, putting the dog in his crate for a time-out (depriving him of his liberty) if he runs off or ignores you while you are training him.

I have complied a list of resources that will help you to understand more about dog behavior and training and I invite you to learn more about this fascinating science!

by my obedience trainer, Pam Dennison . A great practical guide to training your pet dog, written in a non-technical style that is easy to follow. Also has the distinction of featuring several pictures of my dogs Nicky and Cherry . You can visit Pam's website at www.positivedogs.com.

by Jean Donaldson. This book deals with how to prevent, counter-condition, and train away resource guarding. Bull Terriers are very assertive and almost all of them will try to resource guard something sometime, from another dog or person, so it is essential that you buy and read this book even if you just have an eight week old puppy. Unfortunately, there is a lot of dangerous and bad information out there about how to “dominate” a dog who resource guards, and that bad information leads to people being hurt and dogs being put to sleep. The preventive section in MINE is the best piece on this subject I have seen—very clear and easy to follow. About 50% of the problems that people ask me about could have been prevented if people had just followed the protocol in this book!

by Turrid Rugas. Video or book. If you own a dog you need to get the book and the video and review them many times. Many of the problems between dogs and people arise from just plain lack of understanding of dog's body language. You owe it to yourself and your dog to read this book and see the video. It is worth the price of the video to see a big, rambunctious dog calming down before your eyes, just by the owner offering some calming signals he understands.

Positively BTS A discussion list dedicated to training Bull Terriers. This is absolutely the best place to get a good idea of what to expect and how to handle it. (Terri Bright and Jane Killion, moderators)

Excel-erated Learning By Pam Ried. Fantastic and very easy to read, this book delivers on it’s promise of being an explanation of how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Pam has taken the daunting and jargon-filled discipline of learning theory and presented it in a clear and concise fashion that you will enjoy reading.

Clicker Magic Video By Karen Pryor. Video with small booklet - a really nice illustration of how to clicker train. Most impressive are the recalcitrant mule being clicker trained before your eyes to go into a wash stall and the cat being trained to do an agility course.

Stacy’s Waggin Train: An Animal Trainer's Introduction To Operant and Classical Conditioning This is a truly great page that explains in simple detail what positive training is and how it works. A must-read site.

Clicker Training : Karen Pryor is the mother of all clicker trainers and this is her incredible site. There are many excellent how-to articles and you can buy clickers and books here, as well.

Clicker Solutions : Another wonderful site that includes great articles and a mailing list. There is an extensive list of recommended reading that you might want to browse, as well as a very good list of NOT recommended reading.

Bull Terrier Training

Positively BTs : (Terri Bright and Jane Killion, moderators) A chat list about how to train your bull terrier in day-to-day behaviors like housetraining, leash-walking, etc., using methods which teach the dog to work for a reward rather than to avoid reproof.

Team Bull Terrier: (Jane Killion and Terri Bright, moderators) The only chat list devoted to Bull Terriers in performance sports. All performance sports are discussed, including obedience, agility, tracking, flyball, earth dog, and whatever other sport anyone can get their Bullie into!

First Lessons : A video by esteemed Bull Terrier trainers and breeders, Mary Remer and Winke Mackay-Smith. First lessons takes you through a Bull Terrier Puppy's first lessons. Great resource because the entire video is specifically devoted to Bull Terriers.

Bull Terrier General Information

The New Bull Terrier By John Remer. A wonderful all-around book, including chapters written by some of the greatest Bull Terrier breeders of all time. Probably the best all around book to find out more about the breed. The training material is dated, as is some of the puppy rearing advice, but overall this is a fantastic book and a must-have.

Bull Terriers Today By Dr David O. Harris. This is an enormously successful follow-up to Dr Harris's first book, Full Circle, a privately published history of the colored Bull Terrier. Bull Terriers Today looks at the breed all over the world and discusses its roots and its progress. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of "Full Circle" contact David Harris directly through the email link at his name.

by T.W. Hogarth. This is a reprinted version of an older English book and a marvelous opportunity to look at the breed as it was. Be sure to look for some of the names that may be way back in your own dogs' pedigrees. There are many other wonderful books now out of print. Be on the lookout for the Raymond Oppenheimer titles, "After Bar Sinister" and "McGuffin and Company", as well as Gladys Adlam's "Forty Years of Bull Terriers" and Winkie Mackay-Smith's "From James To Jim".

Dog Behavior Essential Reading

by Patricia McConnell. Ms. McConnell is not only a primate and canine behaviorsit, but an incredible writer, as well. Her stories are entertaining as well as instructive. Even though I have had dogs my whole life, I saw my relationship with them in a different light after reading this book.

Culture Clash: By Jean Donaldson. An insightful and profound book about how dogs think, how dogs learn, and how we can effectively communicate with them. Like Patricia McConnell’s book, it is well written and very interesting to read. This is not a dry dog training book!

by Turrid Rugas. Video or book. If you own a dog you need to get the book and the video and review them many times. Many of the problems between dogs and people arise from just plain lack of understanding of dog's body language. You owe it to yourself and your dog to read this book and see the video. It is worth the price of the video to see a big, rambunctious dog calming down before your eyes, just by the owner offering some calming signals he understands.