At the start of this month (February), the government pushed through its new rules and regulations relating to XL bully breeds, making it an offence to own or possess one of these dogs in England and Wales unless you have a valid certificate of exemption in place.
It is also now an offence to sell, abandon or let an XL bully dog stray, with restrictions also in place for breeding or giving these dogs away. Owners must also ensure their dogs are always on the lead and wearing a muzzle when out in public.
Naturally, these new rules have caused a lot of upset among the dog-owning community and there are sure to be many people out there concerned for the welfare of their pups.
If you are worried and want to make sure that your dog is properly under control when out and about, focusing on training is the best way to go about this (as it is with any breed of dog, of course).
Bully breeds are intelligent and loyal, as well as being eager to please, and you’re sure to find that they pick things up very quickly as long as you’re patient and consistent… and as long as there are treats involved!
Clicker training works really well and you can use clicks to signal that they’ve done something right, followed up with a tasty snack. Ensure that your timing of the click is exact, however, to avoid confusing your dog as to which behaviour is the desired one.
For muzzle training, it’s important not to rush the process. Start by playing some muzzle games at home before you go out, getting your dog to run into it and treat it as a toy at first.
From there, you can start putting some treats in the muzzle so they associate it with something positive. Over time, you should be able to take your pup out wearing the muzzle very happily indeed.
And finally, it can be very useful to hire a professional and experienced dog trainer to help you get to grips with everything, particularly if you’re anxious about it as your dog will pick up on this energy. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with me today to see how I can help.