Every breeder does things differently.  Be sure to ask about the parents, why the choice was made to breed those two dogs together, the different temperaments in the litter, and why the breeder might think that the particular puppy might meet the needs of your family.  Ask the breeder why they breed American Bullies and what their goals are for their program.

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I cannot explain to you about ---nor will I critique---another breeder’s program.  I can only tell you what is true about  program.

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In short, our breeding goal is to breed healthy American Bullies with great temperament and nice structure, that excel in the show ring and delight as a pet in the home. 

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1.        We believe that showing our American Bullies is important.  The show ring is where your breeding stock is examined by (hopefully) an impartial judge.  We show in BRC, UKC, ABKC, ICBR, and IABCA.

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2.       We are breeding to the breed standard.  We only breed registered American Bullies and only allow our studs to be used with other registered American Bullies. 

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3.       We health test our dogs.  We check for murmurs in puppies during vet exam at 8 to 10 weeks.  We check heart again when our puppy goes in for rabies.  We do OFA Basic Cardiac at 1 year old.  If anything seems abnormal, we will follow up with a cardiologist for an advanced cardiac.  Our vet checks hips and elbows before breeding.   Although we do OFA on our hips and elbows, we have not found positioning that we are 100% excited about and continue to look for a better option.  

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4.       American Bullies have a long way to go in health.  We attacked heart head on - 60% of our first dogs failed heart and we lost several the first year we had bullies.  As it is such a painful experience, we are zero tolerance for any heart abnormality -and it was our first issue to work on.  As the majority of American Bullies have fair to mild hips, that is where we begin.  We do not go forward with moderate or severe hips.  We feel the loss of the diversity of the gene pool outweighs the need to attack everything at once.  As always, we use health results as a tool and one piece of the puzzle.  We look at the whole dog and what the dog has to offer.  The old adage "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water" applies.  

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Currently:

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414 hips tested:  54% normal

383 elbows tested:  59% normal

162 hearts tested advanced cardiac:  78% normal

117 hearts tested basic cardiac:  96% normal

(from OFA database)

Note:  as most people do not send in bad results, the percentages are generous.

 

That said, we have guarantees in our contract and we will stand behind our puppies so that the puppy and the owner are happy, whatever their goals.

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4.       Each breeding is carefully planned.  We do not just throw two dogs together and hope for the best.  I have been involved in AKC activities for 47 years and produced all-breed Best in Show, multiple Best in Specialty Shows on multiple dogs, multiple group placers, and 12 years of Top 20 dogs (sometimes 2 or 3 per year).  I waited a long time before starting my breeding program and I had a very clear picture of how I wanted to proceed with it.  I'm very excited to bring my lifetime of dog experience to the adventure of American Bullies.  While a dog is a dog, American Bullies are quite challenging due to 20+ years of little health testing.  I fell so hard in love with this great breed that I wanted to jump into the fray and see if I could put together a program to better the breed.  Every dog in my program is there for a purpose.  Every breeding I do has a reason.  I can tell you what I like about my program, and I can tell you what I am trying to improve. 

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5.       Our puppies are born and raised in our home and are part of my family.  We do Puppy Culture.  They grow up with our 3 kids loving on them in a stimulating environment.  They begin a deworming program at 2 weeks and a vaccination program at starting with Neopar at 3 1/2 weeks and 5 weeks, then combination vaccines at 7 weeks, 9 weeks, 11 weeks, and with the rabies shot.  I start puppies on heartworm preventative at 12 weeks.

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6.       Regarding price.  You will find pit puppies on Craigslist for $50 and certain American Bullies selling for $1 million plus..  Most hobby breeders sell show puppies for $3500-$10000 depending on pedigree, and pet puppies for $1500-2500.  The most I have ever paid for a show American Bully is $10,000.  Price does not indicate quality, but a caring breeder who is in it for the right reasons who has carefully chosen sire & dam, who has breeding goals, who has taken care of their puppies the right way from day one is worth their weight in gold.  In many ways in this breed “You get what you pay for,” within reason (we are not going to charge you a million dollars!)   Ask questions.  If it keeps coming back to the dollar, it’s not a hobby breeder.  That said, a breeder who is doing everything right has a LOT of expenses, and they shouldn’t be (and aren’t) selling $50 (or even $500) puppies.  At this time, our show puppies are $3500 and our pet puppies are $1500.

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