Okay, I realize this one might be a smidge unrealistic, but strangely I think we have found the perfect dog for berlin niebuhr and Mrs. N. I have a book called Owning the Right Dog, which goes through the plusses and minuses of all types of dogs, plus a lot about feeding and grooming. The bulldog has plenty of plusses and minuses. They are courageous, intelligent, good tempered, easy to groom (duh), and they love children. However...there are minuses too, of course. They snore, for one. But I hear that berlin niebuhr sleeps with ear plugs, anyway, so that's not a problem! Here's the other minus: "not built for strenuous exercise." That's a minus??? That's perfect! So...with that said...let's go to our own plus-minus list...
Positives
-- Not built for strenuous exercise!
-- You can't look at them without laughing.
-- The mascot of the alma mater of berlin niebuhr (and Mrs. N) was a bulldog...it's fate!
-- Their son really likes them...though he still can't really explain why.
-- They are kind and courageous. That counts for something, right?
-- You can dress them up in Star Wars gear, and their expression doesn't change!
(Courtesy of this Costume Dogs collection. I cannot tell you how hard we laughed at this series of photos.)Negatives
Yeah, there are one or two.
-- Their funny nose actually can cause some respiratory problems.
-- They require daily care (brushing their teeth and cleaning the wrinkles in their face to avoid infections). Can't imagine that would go over well in the niebuhr household.
-- Snoring and sleep apnea. Seriously, they're just like an overweight human.
-- They don't do strenuous exercise, but an unexercised bulldog "will exhibit destructive behaviour even as an adult," according to Wikipedia. So you do have to let them run around a little bit.
And through our in-depth viewing of the Westminster Dog Show this week (it was on HDTV, and we have proven that we will watch absolutely anything on HD), we discovered what is actually a more realistic and palatable version of the bulldog: the French Bulldog. All the plusses of the bulldog, except without the snoring and the largeness (you do have to occasionally put petroleum jelly in its facial creases, but that's not as bad as brushing its teeth daily).
Come on...you know you want me...
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