- Dogs suitable for experienced owners
- Extra training required
- Need to be aware of potential health issues
- Enjoys active walks
- Enjoys one to two hours of walking a day
- Medium dog
- Minimum drool
- Requires grooming every other day
- Chatty and vocal dog
- Barks and alerts to visitors/anything unusual
- Might not like other dogs
- May need additional training to live with other pets
- May need additional supervision to live with children
- Needs a small garden
- Can happily live in the city
- Can be left occasionally with training
Deafness is the most common health problem within the breed, most frequently encountered in white Bull Terriers.
Other problems that this breed can develop include:
- Lethal acrodermatitis, which is a condition that only affects white English Bull Terriers and is a inherited disease which can cause serious skin and growth problems.
- Primary lens luxation which is a condition where the lens moves from it's normal position in the eye which will result in vision loss and can cause pain.
- Polycystic kidney disease where cysts develop in the kidneys and which can stop them from working.
- Heart problems including mitral dysplasia which is where the heart valves become diseased and don't work properly.
- Patellar luxation.
Priority Kennel Club health schemes and testing:
- DNA test for primary lens luxation which tests whether or not a dog has the potential to be affected by this condition.
- Eye screening scheme.
Key Facts
Lifespan: | 11 – 14 years |
Weight: | 11 – 15kg |
Height: | 35.5cm and under |
Colours: | The coat is short and smooth and comes in a variety of colours and markings. Solid coloured, with or without white markings around neck, head, feet, belly and tail, white with coloured patches which include black, brindle, red fawn and tricolour and solid white. See the Kennel Club breed standard for full details. |
Size: | Small |
UK Kennel Club Groups: | Terrier |
Ratings
Family-friendly: | 5/5 |
Exercise needs: | 5/5 |
Easy to train: | 5/5 |
Tolerates being alone: | 2/5 |
Likes other pets: | 4/5 |
Energy level: | 4/5 |
Grooming needs: | 3/5 |
Shedding: | 3/5 |

Personality
Full of fun and brimming with enthusiasm for life, the Miniature Bull Terrier is exuberant and joyous in all activities, particularly those involving family and people in general.
Although they have a reputation for being stubborn, the reality is that this is an independent terrier in a very robust, strong body and you simply will not get what you want without some negotiation on your part!
Like their larger relatives, the Mini Bull Terrier is bold, energetic and not inclined to back down if challenged, this means thorough socialisation is necessary, with an owner willing to put in some effort to motivate their dog to work with them as well as some good management.

History and Origins
Country of origin: England
The Miniature Bull Terrier is these days a show dog and companion breed, fiercely loved by their owners and breeders for their appearance and character. In the early 1800’s however, the Miniature Bull Terrier began life as a ratting terrier, put into pits to kill rats as a gambling activity and spectator sport, and they were bred down from the larger Bull Terrier whose original purpose was to fight other Bull Terriers for ‘sport’.
As these activities thankfully became illegal, the neat, economical to keep and exuberantly friendly to humankind Bull Terriers and their Miniature relatives found themselves well placed to become companion dogs, and so the breeds survived. The larger Bully was the more popular for some time and lack of interest in the Mini Bull Terrier resulted in their being removed by the Kennel Club from the breed register in 1918. Fortunately thanks to dedicated breeders and breed enthusiasts, the breed survives today with the breed club being formed in 1938.

Did you Know?
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Mini Bull Terriers almost became Toy Bull Terriers - their size becoming so small and light that deformities began to appear and the breed fell out of favour for some years.
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Whilst its likely many Miniature Bull Terriers have appeared in literature, cartoons and film, they are almost always erroneously listed as being ‘Bull Terriers’ as many people were and some still are, unaware that the Miniature exists as a separate type to the larger Bull Terrier. Bullseye, the dog in the original film of Oliver Twist, was a Bull Terrier - and it is difficult to be sure if he was a small Bull Terrier or a large Miniature Bull Terrier but in most stage adaptations, the past is taken by a Mini for space reasons.