Alexiss Guillory and her fiance Wayne Mason with their son Cortez are the proud owners of Vice-Grip (or just Vice), a bull terrier who came all way from Oklahoma from a breeder. "We found him on the internet and there are no dogs like this anywhere in Washington State," Guillory said. Vice is only four months old.

They feed him Blue Buffalo dog food and ham hock bones are his favorite treat. "They get his jaw muscles in shape."

Guillory described his personality by saying, "Vice thinks Cortez is his brother and he thinks I am his mommy so he only comes to me and at night he only lets me feed him."

Even though he's only 120 days old, they almost lost him recently. "He's very very greedy," she said," and he got into some pills." Mason said, "When I was back in Iraq I had trouble with my sciatica nerve and they prescribed pills for the pain. We moved to Seattle a couple of months ago and he got into one of the boxes and got those pills. He was wobbly and looked like he was having a seizure so we rushed him to the vet." The doctor there pumped his stomach but it was touch and go. "He was there for a couple of days."

Mason and family moved here because he was accepted at Seattle Pacific University and is on track for his Phd. in Clinical Psychology.

Mason said that Vice is "A very energetic dog and pretty friendly. His name comes from the shape of his head, it's shaped like a vice so we call him 'Vice-Grip the pig' "

Both Guillory and Mason say that Vice can jump pretty high for his size, and that he loves chasing balls, but doesn't quite yet bring them back and drop them off. "He's only four months old."

They don't have plans for obedience training at this point and prefer to work on socializing him, bringing him to the park and out for walks.

Vice likes cats and has made friends with one next door. "That cat is called Kit Kat and they play around all the time. They look the wierdest together but they get along really well. They eat each other's food."

Mason talked about the breed. "They were used for bull baiting.They're a mix between an English Terrier and and old English Bulldog. So they are in the pit family. They have aggressive tendencies and they are an aggressive energetic dog."

They wanted a dog like this because,"They have a distinctive look," said Mason, and they got him as companion for Cortez.

"Everywhere we go," Guillory said people stop us and ask about the dog. He gets a lot of attention. I want him to be in a commercial. He looks like the Target dog."

Even though as Mason said these dogs can be aggressive they haven't had any issues and as he gets older it's becoming easier for him to get along with other animals. "I think we have him on the right track. His socialization skills are growing."

"He's my little Vice-Grip the pig," said Guillory.
"He's a fun loving, energetic family pet," said Mason.