Pocket-size American Bullies are a new branch of the American Bully breed that is gaining popularity rapidly. However, the name is a bit misleading as you cannot fit this Bully into your pocket.
It is perfect for small families with little children living in small apartments. Let’s talk about this breed in detail.
What is a Pocket Bully?
Pocket Bully is the result of an experiment to try and create a smaller version of American Bully, and it worked. Pocket-sized American Bully is a product of crossbreeding American Bully with a Patterdale Terrier.
Breeders began to cross the American Pitbull Terrier with the American Bulldog, Staffordshire Terrier, and other Bully breeds in the 1980s to produce American Bully.
Pocket Bully is a small dog with a strong muscular body, a wide head, a large neck, and short legs. Usually, they have floppy ears that look trim with a solid build and medium-length tail.
Pocket Bully is the smallest among all the official American Bully classes. They have a pristine single-layer coat, short hair, and a smooth and glossy look.
Let’s talk about its characteristics.
Characteristics of Pocket Bully
Pocket Bullies are bursting with personality cause of their loyalty, friendliness, and intelligence. A Pockey Bully will make an amazing family pet, but it’s also a perfect companion dog for older owners.
When you consider all the features, you will hardly find a more loving pet that likes nothing more than sharing time with you, whether it’s going on a walk, playing in a park, or just sitting on the couch and watching movies.
Size
The ABKC has set the standards for Pocket Bully height, which states that a Pocket Bully should not be smaller than 14 inches and should not be taller than 17 inches. They are medium-sized dogs making them bigger than pocket-sized dogs such as Teacup Poodle, which has a height of only 10 inches.
Female Pocket Bullies are usually an inch shorter and stand about 13 to 16 inches. Females are also lighter in weight than males.
Pocket Bullies may not fit into your pockets or bags; they are convenient for people who cannot have a large American Bully.
Weight
Despite being smaller than Standard Bullies, Pocket Bullies weigh closely to them. A standard Bully weighs 50 to 70 pounds, whereas an adult Pocket Bully weighs 20 to 50 pounds.
This is a lot of weight, considering Pocket Bullies only grow up to 17 inches. Female Pocket Bullies weigh less than males at about 45 pounds.
Here is a size and weight comparison between all the classes of American Bully.
| Class | Female Height | Male Height | Female weight | Male Weight |
| Pocket Bully | 13-16 inches | 14-17 inches | 20-45 pounds | 20-50 pounds |
| Standard Bully | 16-19 inches | 17-20 inches | 45-65 pounds | 50-80 pounds |
| Classic Bully | 16-19 inches | 17-20 inches | 35-60 pounds | 45-70 pounds |
| XL Bully | 19- 23 inches | 20-24inches | 75-120 pounds | 80-130 pounds |
Coat and Colors
Pocket Bullies have short and smooth coat that comes in almost every color and combination, just like their American Bully parent. There is so much variety of color combinations that each puppy is unique. No Pocket Bully puppy will be exactly alike.
Usually, the Pocket Bully has one solid coat color with white markings found over their chest, face, and legs. The type of marking and pattern they inherit is unique to the puppy.
Pocket Bullies can come in the following colors:
Blue: A Pocket American Bully is not blue; it is silver-gray and looks blue. The Blue shade is the result of a recessive dilution gene that is present in Pocket Bullies. Also, note that not all Blue Pocket Bullies will look the same, as the intensity of the color differs from puppy to puppy.
Blue Fawn: A blue fawn pocket bully usually has a combination of light brown and light to dark blue coats. Some of them may also have some brindle makings.
Black: A Black Pocket Bully features a shiny black coat on most of his body. A Black Pocket Bully commonly has white markings on its face, chest, and paws. The Black Bully coat is the result of excessive eumelanin that is present in his skin. Excess eumelanin is responsible for producing black pigment.
Black and White: A black and white Pocket Bully has only two colors, black and white. Not all Pocket Bullies will look the same; some Bullies have a higher proportion of white, whereas others have less white scattered around their bodies.
White: A white Pocket Bully has a primarily white coat with some markings of black and tan. Some have spots of different colors on their body, usually called piebald white Bullies, and others have albinism.
Brown: An American Brown Pocket Bully has a light brown or dark brown primary coat with white markings on the face, chest, and legs.
Fawn: A fawn Pocket Bully could be described as having a light cream to reddish-brown coat, resulting from agouti and black genes.
Grey: Grey Pocket Bully is distinguished by having a lighter shade of black for the base coat and a few other color patches, such as white and tan.
Chocolate: A chocolate American Pocket Bully can exhibit a dark brown chocolate coat or a chocolate fawn coat. Chocolate Pocket Bullies are uncommon and are highly sought after by American Bully lovers.
Red Pocket Bully: A red Pocket Bully has a reddish to copper rust shade coat color. They will also have white patches on the face, chest, and other body parts.
Tan Pocket Bully: Unlike the chocolate Pocket Bully, a tan Pocket Bully has a light brown shade with white markings on the legs, chest, and neck.
Champagne Pocket Bully: A champagne Pocket Bully is distinguished by a recessive red gene mutation that causes the coat to be in the color range of cream, pearl, and light yellow. Nose color could be blue to red, depending on the total genotype.
Lilac Pocket Bully: A Lilac American Pocket Bully has a faded-looking coat. It is a diluted black; hence, it looks faded. What makes an American Bully Pocket lilac unique is that a lilac Pocket Bully puppy has twice the dilution of the color black, almost like diluted chocolate. Thus, the coat looks faded black to purplish or grayish.
Tri-Colored Pocket Bully: A tri-colored Pocket Bully is one of the remarkable color variations of the pocket Bully dog breed. A Tri Pocket Bully has three colors on a coat that are easily set apart, not mixed like a merle. Tri-colored Pocket Bullies have many color combinations with any of these colors as base coats: Blue, Black, Lilac, and Chocolate.
Lilac Tri Pocket Bully: Among the tri colors of Pocket Bullies, the lilac Tri Pocket Bully is the rarest. Those with this coat color have a solid lilac base color with markings of tan on the ears, legs, snout, and paws. The white markings are normally seen around their necks.
Head and Facial Features
Despite the varying size, the general appearance of these dogs remains uniform in that they should be medium-sized dogs with compact, muscular bodies and blocky heads. The head is proportionate to the rest of the dog’s body and free of overstatement.
In addition, Pocket Bullies feature a broad skull, heavy bone structure, and pronounced cheek muscles with pointed ears. The head of the Pocket Bully is broad and thick with well-developed cheeks and a prominent stop.
Their muzzle is square and shorter than their skull, only taking up around one-quarter of the head. The nose is large, and their nares are not underdeveloped. Any nose color is accepted. Their eyes are well-spaced apart and should not be overly large with any color.
The Bully’s erect ears make him look alert and curious. While most breed members will crop their Bully’s ears, this is optional, and thankfully the practice is largely falling out of favor.
The shoulders and back are wide and strong, and the hips narrow. The Pocket Bully has a slim tail that reaches down to the hock. The feet look short compared to the rest of the body.
Pocket Bullies walk confidently and boldly. As a result, the dogs radiate interest and a sense of adventure. When running, the animals look athletic. Physical exercise usually succeeds the Bullies effortlessly.
Pocket Bully’s Temperament and Behavior
Just like inheriting the looks of an American Bully, the Pocket Bully has also inherited temperament, behavior, and intelligence. With proper training, this muscular, willful, and headstrong puppy will be a great family pet.
By default, Pocket Bullies do not have any aggression, and with appropriate training by a responsible owner will loosen up even more and become the best family dog.
Adequately socialized Pocket Bullies make perfect nanny dogs for small children, and their patience makes them perfect play partners. Pocket Bully is tolerant of other dogs as well when adequately trained.
Pocket Bully is a better choice for someone that wants a strong, small-sized, and intelligent dog.
What is the Cost of Pocket Bully?
If you are bent on buying a Pocket Bully, you must prepare your pocket because a Pocket size Bully puppy is not cheap.
If you are wondering how much is a Pocket American Bully puppy, well, among the four classifications of the American Bully, the Pocket Bully is the most expensive. A typical Pocket Bully puppy’s price range is between $3,000 and $8,000.
A Pocket Bully puppy price is so high because there is a high demand for that American Bully size. The other factors that affect the Pocket American Bully price are bloodline, breeder’s reputation, and color.
If your budget prevents you from getting a puppy, get an adult dog from a rescue or adoption site. Most likely, the Pocket American Bully price in these centers is between $200 and $800, which is way less than the Pocket Bully cost you’d get from a breeder.
As for colors, a Merle Pocket Bully could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 or even more. If you are attracted to an Exotic Pocket Bully, you’d better be ready to shell out a huge amount because an Exotic Pocket Bully price is around $5,000.
If a so-called breeder offers an Exotic Pocket Bully price of $500 to $1,000, don’t be seduced because these dogs are likely not from good bloodlines. The same applies to Tri-colored Pocket Bullies because a Tri-color Pocket Bully price range is $8,000 or more.
Now if you think those prices are expensive, better think again. For your information, the most expensive Pocket Bully is the Venomline Pocket Bullies. The Venom Pocket Bully puppies sell for $10,000 each and up.
The Lifespan of Pocket Bully
Some say that Pocket bullies are not worth the investment as they do not live for that long. Well, as it turns out, Pocket Bullies have a lifespan of 13 to 15 years, which is more than most medium-sized dogs.
Pocket Bullies will be happy and healthy if you properly care for them. Often owners neglect their Bullies to the point that they become aggressive and develop health issues. That is horrible and inhumane.
Factors Affecting Their Lifespan
The factors affecting a Pocket Bully’s lifespan are health issues, diet, and exercise.
Health Issues
All dog breeds tend to develop health issues; some might affect your Pocket Bully more than others. But any health issues will have some adverse effects no matter what.
The health issues to which the Pocket Bully is prone are:
Hyp dysplasia: Hyp and elbow dysplasia is a bone malformation that typically troubles larger breeds of dogs. When the hip joints develop, a mutation occurs in their DNA, making joints not fit correctly. Hyp dysplasia is not evident in young Pocket Bullies, but you should always let your vet check for it.
Hypothyroidism: Hypothyroidism is a common condition in Pocket Bullies, where the thyroid is not as active as it should be. If untreated, a Bully with this condition will gain weight and have a lot of trouble losing weight. Thyroid issues are treatable, and you should ask your vet to take a look.
Heart disease: Heart disease in any breed, or even humans, can shorten the lifespan. When the heart malfunctions, the dog stops living everyday life leading to other health problems. If you can detect several heart diseases early and with proper treatment, you can keep your furry little friend around for years.
Eye Conditions: Pocket Bullies are vulnerable to many eye issues leading down the same path toward blindness. Blind Bullies usually have a shorter lifespan because they cannot be active without putting themselves in danger.
Allergies: Allergies can weaken a Pocket Bully drastically, leaving him vulnerable to other diseases and shortening the dog’s lifespan. Get your Pocket Bully checked for allergies and avoid the allergens that trigger these allergies. Cooperate with your vet every step of the way.
Diet & Food for Pocket Bully
Proteins
You want one or more whole meats as the first ingredients in pet food, so check the ingredients label. Pocket Bullies love whole meats like a lamb, fish (salmon is common in Bully diets), beef, or chicken.
Some premium dog foods, like this grain-free kibble made by Fromm, are made with the wild game bird. Note how duck, peas, and turkey are the first three ingredients. The ingredients listed first on your puppy’s feed are the most prominent in the meal.
Greens
Plant-based proteins. Instead of using cheap fillers, look for premium plant proteins to round out the protein list. Examples that don’t provoke an allergy in your dog include vegan protein sources like lentils and peas.
These are hypoallergenic, vegetarian proteins that a Pocket Bully’s sensitive digestive system can easily break down and digest. For example, Nulo’s grain-free food for Bullies has plant proteins from whole peas, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, lentils, and dried fruit.
Fats
Healthy fats. Omega-3s keep your Bully’s coat and skin glossy and healthy. Examples include fish oil and coconut oil. If you’re feeding a Pocket Bully puppy, your vet may recommend a food containing an essential fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
While I’ve used all of the above foods, my current choice is Taste of the Wild’s salmon food. Its first two ingredients are salmon and ocean fish, rich in essential fatty acids to keep my puppy healthy, with a gleaming, soft fawn coat.
Vitamins & Minerals
Ensure your Pocket Bully’s diet includes necessary vitamins such as Vitamin A, B complex, C, and D. All these vitamins are essential to keep your puppy’s skin, hair, bones, and healthy.
The diet must also include calcium, iron, and potassium minerals. You can ensure these minerals are present in the food by reading the ingredients on the packaging.
Top Dog Foods for Pocket Bully
These are the best dog foods suitable for all sorts of Pocket Bullies.
- Wellness CORE Senior Dry Dog Food
- ORIJEN Puppy Large Grain-Free Dry Puppy Food
- Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food
- Nulo Freestyle Salmon & Peas Recipe Dry Dog Food
- ACANA Singles Limited Ingredient Diet Dry Dog Food
- NutroLimited Ingredient Diet Premium Canned Dog Food
- NomNom Now Fresh Dog Food
- Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete Dry Dog Food
- Stella & Chewy’s Stella’s Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food
Pros and Cons of Having a Pocket Bully
Here are some pros and cons you should know before getting a Pocket Bully:
Pros
- Pocket Bullies have charming, unique personalities. Pockets are playful, affectionate, friendly, lively, and alert.
- Pocket Bullies have adorable, smushed faces that you cannot resist.
- Pocket Bullies make for great companions. Pockets are one of the best breeds for companionship.
- Bullies love to cuddle. So, if you’re looking for a dog that will lay in bed with you all day watching TV, then stop looking any further than the Pocket Bully. They’re huge couch potatoes!
- Loyal Pockets adore their owners and want to always be by their side. Sure, they may show love to others, but they will always run back to your lap.
- While Pockets are no geniuses, they are some of the smartest “bully” breeds. Their intelligence ranks somewhere in the middle compared to all other dog breeds.
- Pocket Bullies’ hilarious and quirky personalities will keep you entertained for hours. They always somehow get into mischief or do something goofy.
- Pocket Bullies are great around children. Bullies are the perfect size for kids. They also have a friendly nature and will get along with anybody!
- Pocket Bully’s short coats make them extremely easy to groom; a quick bath every week will keep them looking sharp!
- Pocket Bullies are great apartment dogs.
- Don’t bark a lot. This is another reason Bullies make such great apartment dogs.
Cons
- Farting is the worst downside to owning a Pocket Bully. There’s nothing worse than having your beautiful Pocket fart right in your face when you’re hanging out on the couch. To make issues worse, they have some of the stinkiest farts I’ve ever experienced.
- Pocket Bullies are Prone to separation anxiety and clinginess. Separation anxiety is one of the most common behavioral issues in Pocket Bullies.
- Another con of Pocket Bullies is their health issues. It’s not hidden that Bullies can suffer from different health issues. You can minimize the chance of your Pocket Bullies having health issues by buying from a reputable, experienced breeder. Common health issues include cherry eye, allergies, hip dysplasia, brachycephalic airway syndrome, elongated soft palate, and stenotic nares (pinched nostrils).
- Pocket Bullies are expensive. A purebred Bully ranges from $4,500 to $20,000. While $20,000 is certainly on the higher end of the spectrum, it’s common to see Pockets for $5,000, depending on the breeder.
- Pocket Bullies are stubborn. Part of the Bullies’ personalities is their free-minded, stubborn nature. It can be frustrating when your Bullies literally couldn’t care less about your thoughts.
- Bullies are very needy & high maintenance. Pocket Bullies can be clingy and have many other needs that you must meet.
- Bullies are high-maintenance because
- They always want attention
- They shed quite a bit
- Bullies overheat easily and can have breathing issues on intense exertion.
- Pocket Bullies need special care to protect their joints (like using puppy stairs)
- Pocket Bullies have low heat and cold intolerance: Bullies often struggle to regulate their body temperature due to their brachycephalic nature.
- Pocket Bullies shed a lot due to their coat color being caused by recessive genes. It surprises me how much my Bully sheds, especially as she has such a short coat!
- Snoring, snorting & snarling: Bullies often snore loudly because of their smushed faces and a brachycephalic syndrome.
- Pulling on the leash: Bullies are notorious for dragging on their leashes. Bully by the water on a leash. Not only is leash-pulling annoying for us Bullies owners, but it also puts a lot of strain on your Bullies’ neck/spine.
Tips for Taking Care of Your Pocket Bully
You must understand that despite being a low-maintenance breed, the Pocket Bully still requires some looking after. You cannot just completely leave it on its own.
Here are a few tips to help you take care of your Pocket Bully:
Give It a Proper Diet
Don’t be alarmed by proper diet. A good diet does not mean you have to give your Pocket Bullies some fancy and expensive brand food. Still, instead, it means the diet must contain the nutrients the Pocket Bullies require to help grow and maintain their muscle body and proportions.
This means they need a high protein diet, and you must start with this type of diet from a younger age, as this is when they begin to form those muscle structures for adulthood.
The main food should also contain a substantial amount of fat, and the best option for this is a dry kibble diet made especially for Bully. You can supplement kibbles with some wet food. While buying kibbles, make sure the first at least 3 ingredients are meats such as chicken, beef, lamb, or fish.
It should also mention the percentage of protein to be at 30% and fat at 20% minimum. In addition to these, you should also give them calcium supplements, but that should be when you are vaccinating them, so ask your vet for that.
Remember to make them eat as much food as possible while young. Give your Pocket Bullies food at least 3 times a day and sometimes even leave food out for them all day. However, this must change when they become full adults.
Keep up With Their Healthcare
As I have said, Pocket Bullies is a fairly healthy dog breed, but you can still care for your Pocket Bullies. The bare minimum you can do and should do is treat your dog for fleas and worms and ensure they have all the relevant vaccinations right from when they are still puppies.
Start worming your Pocket Bullies at 4 months of age; that is when they should be treated for heartworm and tapeworm. It would help if you repeated this treatment as often as the vet recommends, once every month.
Flea treatment may also be started along with worming and should be done monthly in spring and summer and once every 3 months in fall/autumn and winter. Fleas may not be a big health issue; they can cause blood conditions and be incredibly irritating if they infest your home.
Vaccinations start at a much younger age of around 5 weeks and may be done before your Pocket Bullies can go outside to play. Pocket Bullies will be given 5 rounds of vaccination at three weeks intervals. They are given a 7-way shot that should cover them for all common conditions.
In addition, make sure your dog gets a rabies vaccine at 6 months of age that will last for 3 years. Rabies, as you know, is a very lethal and dangerous condition, and that should be the last thing you want your dog to catch if you want to keep it for a long time.
Exercise for Proper Development
Exercise is absolutely important for any dog, particularly when they are puppies. Bullies should get exercise every day to keep those muscles in motion and healthy. But make sure to vaccinate them first.
At least 30 minutes of exercise is the absolute minimum that you must give your dog, simply because Pocket Bullies are an energetic breed, and they love to play. If you can go out for a walk once a day, that would be amazing.
Just make sure you are on the lookout for any signs of overheating, as Bullies are easily overheated if made to exert too much. Your pup might want to play fetch with you, which is perfect for building trust, obedience, and discipline.
Please ensure the toys you buy are big enough not to be swallowed. Also, purchase sturdy toys because Pocket Bullies, like any other dog breed, love to chew toys, so you might want something that will last longer and plan for when they are adults.
Obedience and Discipline Training
If you want your puppy to live longer, you don’t only want it to be healthy but also obedient and disciplined. A well-mannered dog will not get into trouble; that way, he can avoid many accidents that would otherwise endanger its life. This is one of the most suitable ways to care for your Pocket Bullies.
This should be started as early as possible and around 8 weeks of age. At this early age, grooming will ensure they don’t act out with other people and dogs. Pocket Bullies are a very intelligent breed and can learn every trick.
You can use treats as motivation and make them eat more this way. Occasionally, take your Pocket Bullies to a training class where they can interact with other dogs to become socialized and be generally friendly.
What to Watch For
Any abnormal symptom could be a sign of a serious disease, or it could just be a minor or temporary problem.
The essential thing is to be able to tell when to seek veterinary help and how urgently. Many diseases cause dogs to have a characteristic combination of symptoms, which together can be a clear signal that your Bully needs help.
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
What Two Dogs Make a Pocket Bully?
Pocket Bully is produced by mixing American Bully with Patterdale Terrier together. By mixing these two, the breeders have kept the characteristics and temperament of an American Bully in combination with the height and enthusiasm of the Patterdale Terrier.
How Much Will a Pocket Bully Weigh?
At the age of 12 months, when a Pocket Bully becomes an adult, it should weigh between 20 to 30 pounds. At the fullest, the Pocket Bully should weigh up to 50 pounds for a male, and a female should weigh up to 45 pounds.
What Type of Body Does a Pocket Bully Have?
A Pocket Bully will have the same muscular and strong body as a Standard American Bully but in a smaller size. The muscles are well built and traceable, the head is wide and wedge-like, and the chest is broad yet deep and overall, the typical look of an American Bully.
The height of a Pocket Bully is 14 to 17 inches for a male and 13 to 16 inches for a female Bully.
What is the Origin of The Pocket Bully?
The Pocket Bully originated in the 1990s when breeders tried to get an even smaller version of the new and cooler Pitbull, the American Bully.
The breeders mixed the American Bully with the Patterdale Terrier and got the Pocket Bully, the same replica of an American Bully but smaller.
What is the Rarest Pocket Bully?
Lilac is the rarest color among Bully breeds, and a Pocket Bully with this color is the rarest. Simply put, it is a purple Bully that looks amazing and takes your breath away.
Conclusion
Pocket Bullies are perfect for families, especially with little children. If you want a small family dog, I suggest choosing the Pocket Bully. Pocket Bullies were specifically bred to be family dogs by eliminating unwanted aggressive traits.
They are also fairly healthy thanks to selective breeding among different breeds. But remember that Pocket Bullies need a lot of exercise, and you must keep up. If you cannot handle that, you should look for another dog matching your daily routine.
