BULL TERRIER STANDARD

The Bull Terrier must be strongly built, muscular, symmetrical and active, with a keen, determined and intelligent expression, full of fire but of sweet disposition and amenable to discipline.

The Head:

should be long, strong and deep right to the muzzle, but not coarse. Full face it should be oval in outline and be filled completely up, giving the impression of an egg- shape. In profile it should curve gently downwards from the top of the skull to the tip of the nose. The Forehead

should be flat across from ear to ear. The distance from the tip of the nose to the eyes should be perceptibly greater than that from the eyes to the tope of the skull. The underjaw should be deep and well-defined.
The LIPS

should be clean and tight.
The TEETH

should meet in either a level or a scissors bite. In the scissors bite the upper teeth should fit in front of and closely against the lower teeth and they should be sound, strong and perfectly regular.
The EARS

should be small, strong and thin and placed close together. They should be capable of being held stiffly erect, when they should point upwards.
The EYES

should be well-sunken and as dark as possible, with a piercing glint and they should be small, triangular and obliquely placed; set near together and high up on the dog's head. Blue eyes are a disqualification.
The NOSE

should be black, with well-developed nostrils bent downward at the tip.
The CHEST

should be broad when viewed from in front, and there should be great depth from the withers to brisket, so that the latter is nearer the ground than the belly. (The underline from the brisket to the belly should form a graceful upward curve.)
The BODY

should be well rounded with a marked spring of rib.
The BACK

should be short and strong. The back ribs deep. Slightly arched over the loin.
The SHOULDERS

should be strong and muscular but without heaviness. The shoulder blades should be wide and flat and there should be a very pronounced backward slope from the bottom edge of the blade to the top edge. Behind the shoulders there should be no slackness or dip at the withers.
The NECK

should be very muscular, long, arched and clean, tapering from the shoulders to the head and it should be free of loose skin.
The LEGS

should be big-boned but not to the point of coarseness; the forelegs should be of moderate length, perfectly straight, and the dog must stand firmly upon them. The ELBOWS must turn neither in nor out, and the pasterns should be strong and upright. The HIND LEGS

should be parallel viewed from behind. The thighs very muscular with hocks well let down. Hind pasterns short and upright. The stifle joint should be well bent with a well-developed second thigh.
The FEET

round and compact with well-arched toes like a cat. The TAIL should be short, set on low, fine and ideally should be carried horizontally. It should be thick where it joins the body, and should taper to a fine point
The COAT

should be short, flat harsh to the touch with a fine gloss. The dog's skin should fit tightly.
The COLOR

is white though markings on the dog's head are permissible. Any markings elsewhere are to be severely faulted. Skin pigmentation is not to be penalized. Merle not accepted.
MOVEMENT--

The dog shall move smoothly, covering the ground with free, easy strides, fore and hind legs should move parallel to each other when viewed from in front or behind. The forelegs reaching out well and the hind legs moving smoothly at the hip and flexing well at the stifle and hock. The dog should move compactly and in one piece but with a typical jaunty air that suggests agility and power.
FAULTS--

"Any departure from the foregoing points shall be considered a fault, and the seriousness of the fault shall be in exact proportion to its degree, i.e., a very crooked front is a very bad fault; a rather crooked front is a rather bad fault; and a slightly bad front is a slight fault."
DISQUALIFICATION

Blue eyes