STANDARD

ORIGINS

Great Britain

USE

Terrier

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I.

Gruppo 3 Terrier. Section 3 Bull Terrier. Work test optional.

BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTE

It was a certain James Hinks who first drew up the breed standard in 1850, selecting the egg-shaped head. The breed was first exhibited in its current form in Birmingham in 1862. The Bull Terrier Club was founded in 1887. The really interesting thing about the breed is that the standard states precisely: “there are no limits or weight nor in height, but there should be the impression of maximum substance in the size of the dog, taking into account the quality and sex. The dog must always be proportionate.” Smaller Bull Terrier specimens had been known since the 19th century but fell out of popularity before the First World War and were removed from the Kennel Club Breed Register in 1918. In 1938, a group of enthusiasts, led by Colonel Richard Glyn, founded the Miniature Bull Terrier Club with the aim of bringing the breed back to life. The standard is the same as that of the Bull Terrier, with the exception of the height limit.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

Strongly built, muscular, well proportioned and active with a sharp, determined and intelligent expression. . It is unique for its egg-shaped head with descending nasal bridge. Regardless of size, males should appear masculine and females feminine.

BEHAVIOR - TEMPERAMENT

Courageous, full of liveliness, with a lovable and joyful character. With a calm temperament, he is easy to handle. Although stubborn, he is particularly kind to people.

HEAD

Long, strong and full of substance to the end of the muzzle, but not coarse. Seen from the front, it has an egg shape and is very full, with the surface free of cavities or depressions. In profile it shows a gentle downward curve from the top of the skull to the nose.

CRANIAL REGION

Skull: The top of the skull is rather flat between one ear and the other.

MUZZLE REGION

Black truffle: at the end it is inclined downwards. Well developed nostrils.

Lips: Clean-cut, close-fitting

Jaws/Teeth The lower jaw is strong and deep. The teeth are healthy, clean, strong, of good size and regularly implanted. They have a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. with the upper incisors overlapping, in close contact, the lower ones and are implanted perpendicularly to the jaws.

Eyes: they appear narrow and triangular, placed obliquely, black or as dark a brown as possible so as to appear almost black; with a penetrating gaze. The distance between the tip of the nose and the eyes is visibly greater than that from the eyes to the apex of the skull. Completely or partially blue eyes are undesirable.

Ears: small, fine and placed close together. The dog should be able to hold them rigidly erect when they point forward.

NECK

Very muscular, long, with an arched upper profile; it tapers from shoulders to head and has no dewlap .

BODY

Well rounded, with marked circle of ribs and great depth from the withers to the sternum, so that the latter is closer to the ground than the belly. Back: short, strong. The top line is horizontal after the withers. Draw an arcuate or slightly convex line on the kidneys. Loins: large, well muscled.

Chest: Broad when viewed from the front.

Underline and belly: From the sternum to the belly, it curves upwards in an elegant line.

TAIL

Short, set low and carried horizontally. Thick at the base, tapering to a fine point.

ARTS
FRONT

General appearance: the dog should rest solidly on its limbs, perfectly parallel. In the adult dog the length of the forelimbs should be almost equal to the height of the chest. Shoulders strong and muscular without being heavy. Shoulder blades broad, flat and held close to the chest; they have a pronounced backward inclination of the anterior edge, from bottom to top, forming an almost right angle with the arm.

Elbows held straight and strong.

Forearm: The forelimbs have the strongest type of round, quality bone .

Metacarpals upright.

Front feet. round and compact with well arched toes .

REAR

General appearance: Hindquarters parallel when viewed from behind .

Muscular thighs

Knee well angulated

Well developed legs

Well angulated hock

Metatarsals with short and strong bone

Hind feet round and compact with well arched toes

GAIT

In movement the dog gives the impression of being very compact, covering the ground with easy, loose strides, with a typical lively air. At the trot, the limbs move while remaining parallel (viewed from front and rear), converging towards the center line only at a greater speed. The front legs have good reach and the hind legs, due to their regular movement at the hips, and the good flexion of the knees and hocks, give strong push.

SKIN

Tightly fitting throughout the body .

COAT
HAIR

Short, flat, uniform and hard to the touch, with a good shine. In winter there may be a softly textured undercoat. COLOR In white Bull Terriers, the coat is pure white. Skin pigmentation and spots on the head are not to be considered a defect. For colored Bull Terriers, the color should predominate over white. With equal quality for the rest, the brindle must have preference. Black brindle, red, fawn and tricolor coat are allowed. White musket or trout coat is undesirable. The blue coat and the liver (brown) coat are highly undesirable.

SIZE AND WEIGHT

There are no weight or size limits. The dog must give the impression of having maximum substance for its size, taking into account the quality of the subject and the sex.

MINIATURE BULL TERRIER

The Standard of the Miniature Bull Terrier is the same as the Bull Terrier, except for the following:

SIZE AND WEIGHT

The height at the withers must not exceed 35.5 cm. The dog must give the impression of having substance in relation to its size. . There are no weight limits. In any case, the dog must always be well proportioned.

DIFETTI

Qualsiasi deviazione da quanto sopra deve essere considerato come difetto e la severità con cui questo difetto sarà penalizzato deve essere proporzionata alla sua gravità e agli effetti sulla salute e il benessere del cane.

ELIMINATING DEFECTS

Aggressive or excessively shy individual

Any dog ​​that clearly presents physical or behavioral anomalies will be disqualified.

N.B. Males must have two apparently normal testes fully descended into the scrotum.