The Bulldog

As a kid I had lots of dogs, serially, as pets. I don't as an adult because I never learned to raise dogs or any four legged animal as an animal with all its shortcomings. I want them to act like a human (although I'm not sure we've shown ourselves as anything too great through the ages). But I ran across this story in the NYTimes about the bulldog, a big brutish looking pussy cat of an animal. I had an history with what we called in my kid days an English Bull. My neighbor guy was a former marine who I remember fondly. This was after the big war WWII. He was the first man on the block to have a television. He would allow me to spend as much time as I wanted, along with his daughters, watching Super Circus, Howdy Doody and other kid shows. But I remember the dog. He was a big strong looking animal who drooled. But he would allow me to pretend to ride him like a horse. He never made a protest. But it looks like the breed is in trouble. I'm sorry to hear it.