Owners of Miniature Bull Terriers have described their breed as a“ Three-year-old child in a clown suit!”  The breed is notorious for their comical shenanigans and enthusiasm for life, and they’re are so stinking cute that, as is noted on the AKC breed page, “owners sometimes ignore indiscretions that would land other dogs in the doghouse.”

If you think Miniature Bull Terriers are a recent creation, think again. England’s Kennel Club accepted the Miniature Bull Terrier in 1938 (by today’s standards, the very first Bull Terrier champion in England would be considered a miniature). Smaller Bull Terriers were exhibited even before that (around 1914), but because their type was regarded to be rather poor (you remember what we’ve told you about type, right?) fanciers were less than enthralled with them. It was a renowned Bull Terrier breeder and #AKC judge, Dr. E.S. Montgomery, who was among the first to import and breed the minis, and by 1963, the breed was shown in the miscellaneous class at AKC shows. In the 1980s, an infusion of British dogs made a hugely positive impact on the breed, and in 1992, the dogs made the move into the Terrier class.

We’d love to hear your experiences with the breed if you live with a Mini Bull Terrier! 

Image: Postcards for Ants is an on-going project by South African artist, Lorraine Loots, who has been created a miniature painting every day since 2013. The paintings are incredibly detailed, each about the size of a coin (including the Bull Terrier in this picture). She works with fine tipped brushed, pencils and a magnifying glass. To see more of her amazing work, go here.