How To Get Your American Bully To Grow Thicker

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The American Bully was recognized as a distinct breed because of its stockier build. Its build is easily differentiated from the build of its parent breed, the pit bull. This breed of dogs is genetically engineered to put on muscle and get thicker. 

If your want your American Bully to grow thicker, follow these tips:

1. Give your American Bully 30–60 minutes of exercise a day.
2. Plan your pet’s diet and nutrition.

In this article, I’ll go over the different ways you can exercise your American Bully. I’ll also discuss what kind of diet you could feed your dog, including what works for my XL American Bully.

1. Give Your American Bully 30–60 Minutes of Exercise a Day

Like people, exercise is essential for animals to develop muscle, which is true for American Bullies.

With proper nutrition, the breed quickly puts on muscle no matter what, meaning your American Bully can get thicker someday. But you can give your dog some exercises to help it achieve that quicker.

Exercise Will Help Your Bully Build Muscle

Setting aside about 30 minutes of your day to play with your dog is a great way to help your pet build muscle. 

Better than tennis balls or sticks, I recommend trying to play fetch with your dog with a simple frisbee like this one, better than flying discs made for dog and easy for you to throw pretty far away many times.

To help the process along, some people play with weights or have your dog pull weights as well.

Some people and bully breeders will recommend a flirt pole, which is also a great way to get a good amount of exercise in minimum time. My dog however is obsessed with the frisbee but some may prefer flirt poles.

Climbing and Jumping Are Great for Building Muscles and Stability

Climbing up and down is a great way to help your American Bully develop core stability and build the propelling muscles. These exercises can be done easily on a staircase and increase in difficulty with the height of each step. 

Jumping is another activity that activates the legs and core but is more impactful than climbing up and down a staircase. 

As with all exercises, ensure that your dog can do it with effort but without pain. If the exercises are too easy for your American Bully, you need to amp up the intensity, but if your pup is struggling, you need to ease up on the weights. 

If your dog is injured, consult with your vet before starting any climbing or jumping exercises, especially if it’s a back injury. 

Your Dog Can Benefit From Walks and Runs on Sand or in Water 

Adding complexity to your walks and runs is a great way to get in some much-needed cardio exercise for your American Bully. 

Switch up your walks and make them more challenging for your dog is to have your dog walk or run on sand or in water, both of which can be found at the beach if you have access to one. 

Combine climbing and walking by going on a trek with your dog so you can walk both uphill and downhill with your dog and engage all the major muscles in his body.

If you believe your dog is strong enough, you can make this activity harder by having your dog drag a weight uphill by attaching it to his harness or leash (never use weights before they are fully grown please)

If you can’t go outside for walks, you can also walk your American Bully on a treadmill and adjust the slope, speed, and intensity of the walk on the machine to suit your dog’s needs.

Your Dog Can Play Tug of War With You or Alone

Tug of war is a great game that dogs love because it caters to their instincts and helps them build muscle at the same time. You can use a tough piece of rope or a tug toy such as the QT Dog Buffalo Horn Chew Toy.

You could also build a flirt pole for your dog, which you play with regularly, and attach that to a permanent fixture like a tree so they can play tug of war on their own, even when you’re not around. Just ensure the toy at the end of the flirt pole has no sharp bits which could hurt your pup. 

Rest and Recovery Ensure Muscle Healing

Rest and recovery are essential elements of exercise. Let your American Bully rest during your exercise reps and after the full routine. Resting will help the micro-tears in the muscles heal and allow the muscles to grow thicker and stronger. 

2. Plan Your Pet’s Diet and Nutrition

Exercise is only one part of the work you need to put in to help your American Bully grow thicker. The second part is nutrition.

American bully Nutrition is essential to help with muscle growth, and according to a study, sufficient nutrition also supports more efficiency in exercise. 

When it comes to diet and nutrition, you need to ensure that the diet suits your dog’s particular protein and carbohydrate needs.

My American Bully has a lot of allergies and does well on a grain-free lamb-based kibble such as the ACANA Red Meat Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog Food.

Many canine allergies tend to be attributed to an excess of grain in their meals, so keep that in mind when designing your dog’s diet.

Diets that focus on protein and fat are perfect for building muscle. Proteins contain essential muscle-building amino acids. Also, dogs tend to process digestible fats more efficiently than human beings and need fats for peak performance. 

It’s Important To Maintain Meal Timings and Intervals

Exercise affects digestion since the blood flow gets redirected from the gastrointestinal tract to the muscles, leading to indigestion, bloating gas, and vomiting. 

A rule of thumb is to only feed your dog heavy meals about 8–12 hours before exercise, depending on the intensity. Such a long interval between eating and exercise will decrease stress on your dog’s gastrointestinal tract and allow its body to focus on building muscle.

By giving your dog a diet that’s rich in protein and fat, you’ll ensure that it uses the fat for energy and reserves the protein for muscle building during recovery.

Dog Vet-Approved Supplements Are Recommended

I’ll begin this with a caveat that you shouldn’t feed your dog any supplements without checking in with a trained canine nutritionist.

Most dogs on a well-balanced diet with proteins and fats get the vitamins and minerals they need directly from their food. Adding supplements without checking for deficiencies could lead to toxicity.

However, there are common deficiencies that you can test for if the combination of diet and exercise isn’t working. 

Calcium and Vitamin D are common deficiencies among dogs, especially if bones aren’t a regular part of your pup’s diet. You could also test for Vitamin A, and Vitamin B complex deficiencies since these govern muscular development.

Final Thoughts

To get your American Bully to grow thicker, you have to develop an exercise regimen and diet that meets your dog’s needs. All regular activities of your dog can be made more challenging by adding weights on the ankles, as a vest, or in the collar.

The diet should be protein and fat-heavy, and avoid grains if your dog has allergies. You should also ensure you’re feeding meals well before exercising to ensure good muscle growth.