General Bull Terrier toy information

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Here is some general Bull Terrier toy information about sizes and other facts worth to consider

General Bull Terrier toy information - Mila with her Kong soft toy
Mila is playing with her Kong soft toy

Be prepared to spend some money on toys for your pooch, because English Bull Terriers need diversion or pretty soon they will be up to mischief. If you own a Bull Terrier for the first time, it will not take you long to find out that although they need plenty of exercise, just walking them will not be what can really please or exhaust this breed. In fact, many English Bull Terriers do not even like walking very much.

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Chasing after a ball until they drop – well, that’s a whole different story.

Also many of them are (excessive) chewers. This is why you can’t just give them any toy. You will have to make wise decisions and likely have to look for toys in the upper price range.
In general, and this is especially true, if you have a dog with a dismembering habit or a puppy, you should never leave your dog completely unattended and without the possibility of your immediate help (for example in case of choking) while it is playing with toys. Also with most toys ingestion of larger pieces could cause trouble to the point os surgery. Therefore ingestion is something we want to avoid as owners.

Many Bullies love balls to the point of addiction. Their entire way of playing is passionate, sometimes just crazy. I believe that is not the only characteristic letting them stand out from some other breeds.
But honestly, who am I to know, I am not very familiar with other breeds. This is more like a gut feeling, but because of this feeling, the balls are number one on my recommendation list as English Bull Terrier toys.
I have prepared a tiny collection of balls I find suitable for English Bull Terriers as Bull Terrier toy recommendations for you. I fact, I use many of them myself for Mila.
Besides balls, there is also a range of other toys, which I also recommend and explain on this website.

Toy size

As a rule of thumb English Bull Terrier toys should always be larger than what your dog is able to fit into their mouth in whole and swallow.

General Bull Terrier toy information to make the right choices - Mila and the tiger
Mila playing with the tiger

In case of doubt I would always recommend to got with the larger size. Even if this may fell too big or too heavy for your dog, trust me, if it likes the toy, your English Bull Terrier will find its way to play with it.

In my opinion there is only one exception from this rule and it requires the utmost caution:

Mila also has a dental malocclusion and I have been trying to use this ball to treat it.

General Bull Terrier toy information to make the right choices - ChuckIt Dog Ball
ChuckIt Dog Ball

Dental malocclusions are a common thing not only among English Bull Terriers, but dogs in general. You will find some more information about this in the  “Health” section about teeth.
In Djamila’s case the malocclusion concerns her corner teeth. These are tilted inwards, only mild and the malocclusion was discovered at an early age while the second set of teeth is still growing and aligning. According to our vet a ball therapy may be a fun way to relieve and treat it.
This is also something you should discuss with your vet, but I will introduce the principle of it here:

In this special case the dog will get a ball which it CAN completely hold in its mouth, so the ball presses against the teeth from inside the mouth, when the dog closes the jaw to hold it.
This, of course, increases the risk of swallowing, so you should NEVER let your dog play with this kind of ball unattended.
The goal is to have your dog hold the ball like this as often as possible so it will finally force to the growing teeth to “make room for it” by shifting slightly outwards.

General Bull Terrier toy information - Dog teeth malocclusion
The left image shows the correct bite.The image in the middle shows abnormal occlusion: Lower corner tooth is tilted inwards, puncturing gums. The third image shows the therapy: Ball frequently held in mouth should force corner teeth outwards.
General Bull Terrier toy information to make the right choices - Milas puppy teeth
Milas puppy teeth. If malocclusions become a problem this will likely be with the permanent (second) set of teeth.

The pull strap is very handy and allows me to play tug of war with her while she carries the ball in her mouth. However, this tactic is only set up for success, IF your dog actually likes to carry the ball around IN her mouth or play tug of war with it as described. Because in any other case the ball will not be able to do a lot. This is what happens in Mila’s case. She just does not really like to play like this with that tiny ball although she loves the ball itself. She will rather have it for herself and throw it around to chase it. So we did not achieve much so far with that therapy, although I do not feel that it is useless at all. Right now Mila does not seem to experience any problems with her teeth and I will try to find a better ball for her while she is still a puppy and her teeth are still growing and shifting.

Softness in toys

As I already mentioned in the ball-section, English Bull Terrier toys should not be too soft.
I will also cover plush toys, but let me just leave a few general words of advice here.
The average dog toy doll will not resist your English Bull Terrier. It will be shredded to pieces within minutes and likely the fillings will also be tasted – which means swallowed.
The fillings will then pose an actual threat to your English Bull Terrier, because they can obstruct his intestines and lead to life threatening conditions, which are only curable by surgery – that is IF there is enough time to save the dog this way!

Therefore you should always use common sense over buying a bargain when it comes to buying toys for your English Bull Terrier.

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