BullSmarts

Dave Saunders, on Monday March 8, 1999, writes in an article, published by the Oregonian Newspaper, titled, "Reality bites: There's no such thing as dog love," says in part, "The yelping, tail-wagging and licking that dog owners think are signs of affection are only conditioned responses. To a dog, its owner is simply another animal that provides food. It does not "know" what a human is. It does not "know" anything. Its behavior is raspberries_cedric.jpg (10203 bytes)

governed by instinct and conditioning. A dog may be useful as a sheep or cattle herder or in police work, but a household pet is useless and, therefore, worthless." The Mr. Saunders later in the article goes on to say, "Let's stop attributing to dogs and cats the ability to think. Their brains aren't made for thinking, only for survival. Let's see them for what they are -- filthy, unpredictable, dangerous animals." This page is dedicated as a reply to people who really believe this nonsense and we say "Ah! Raspberries!" to you.

Well let's see what other Bulldoggers have to say about their family Bullies....... You decide. Do they show intelligence? Ask yourself, "When you see a Bulldog do something for the first time, that is really ingenious, how can it be a trained response? Training takes time and repetition. Personally I believe it shows a solid thought process and intelligence." Sheila

"Maxx" by Kris

The other day I was running a few minutes behind the normal time I leave for the hospital for work and I still had to put Maxx out to go potty before I left. I put him out and of course he knows that I am leaving soon so he goes out on the deck and just stands there. After some persuading he gets off the deck and walks around and around in the yard trying to find the perfect spot. He finally goes and now I have to get him to come back inside. He is walking soooo sloooow. Everytime a bird flies by him, he has to look up at it. I yelled out to him "can you walk any slower" and of course he now stops completely. I then said to him "I guess you can." It took him over 10 minutes to go potty. The neighbors must think I am crazy talking to him like he was a little kid.

"Samson" by Sheila

We are having a beautiful warm Spring day and all the bullies want to lay in the sun, with the cool Spring breeze dancing across their bodies. So each was let out to enjoy the day. I went out to check their water bowl and Samson could not be found! PANIC!!! My beautiful, sweet and playful Samson CAN'T BE FOUND!
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I searched all the acres and the field of our neighbors acreage. Still no Samson. I called the neighbors to see if this silly Houdini of a Bulldog found (or made) a hole in the fence and went to visit. No one had seen him and most know him. I looked behind the out building, in the barn, everywhere he is know to play hide and seek near. PANIC!!! Where is Samson! All these stories of stolen and missing bulldogs echo in my mind and I go crazy looking for Samson.
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Then my grand daughter, who had been taking her afternoon nap came outside rubbing her sleepy eyes because my calls for Samson woke her up. She says "I thought Sammy had a bath yesterday." I said "yes, but what does that have to do with him missing now?" She smiles and tells me she saw him in the bathtub sleeping.
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Sure enough, Samson wasn't missing, he just jumped into the bath tub to snooze on the cool enamel finish of the tub, all safe and sound. I felt so silly and relieved at the same time. I never dreamed to look for him in the bath tub, but that's where he was, snoozing comfortably and safe.

"Turtle" by Janis

I think all bully owners have gone into panic mode at one time or another when their little angels don't come when called.
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When one of my girls was about 4 months old she played the hiding game with me. I had let her and all of her litter mates out to play. They had been out for about 20 minutes when I asked my daughter to check on them. Well she came running in screaming that she couldn't find "Turtle" (there is another story to go with that name). Well we looked all over the back yard, I was panicking, screaming and calling her. I checked the inside of the house even though I knew she couldn't be inside. I got in the car and drove all over and couldn't find my baby. I kept up the frantic search until about 1:00 in the morning when I had to face my fears, someone had gotten into the backyard and STOLEN her. I even started calling members of our bulldog club so that they could be watching out for her.That night I went to bed crying and fearing the worst. I knew she would not understand why she was not with her brothers and sisters. I cried all night long and prayed that whoever had her would take good care of her and love her like we did. The next morning I got up early so I could drive around looking for her before leaving for work. When I came back from my search, still crying, my daughter came into to tell me that she thought she heard something in the spare bedroom. I went in there and in the corner of the room there was a big pile of stuffed animals and sure enough, if you looked real hard you could see this little bulldog head sticking out. Turtle had managed to get into this pile of stuffed animals and was snuggled up just as cozy as could be sleeping away. It looked just like the closet scene in ET. I was so glad to have her "back". To this day I don't know how she managed to get into the house and into a room whose door is always closed. She still likes to hide whenever possible, she can scare you to death by not coming when called and hiding. When you find her, you are so relived that she is safe but at the same time you want to hang her out to dry for almost giving you heart failure.
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Life is always interesting when you own bulldogs!

"Spike, A Real Mentor" by The Baney Family

We've been enjoying our bulldog for about three years now. His name is "Spike". The whole family loves him even the grand parents think he's another grandchild. We think he is very smart he doesn't bark much but lets just say he "vocalizes" a lot. He knows how to let you know exactly what he wants. If he's in front of the refrigerator and talks he would like an ice cube. If he's in front of the door he wants out. If you say "car ride" he's at the car door before you get your keys. If you say "want to take a bath" he's in the tub waiting for you to "just add water". If a crumb of food or some snow in the winter gets on the floor it is immediately cleaned up showing his ability to keep a clean and tidy house. If my son Alex is playing a little too rough with him Spike immediately goes and gets a toy they can play with so he doesn't accidentally bite him. My wife Lorrie will sit on the floor and Spike will attempt to sit on her lap so he knows how to show affection. And if you say "the pizza mans coming" he knows to go sit and wait by the door. So it is our conclusion that he seems to be smarter than some humans are :)

Table of Contents... Just click on Bulldog name.
Maxx	Samson	Turtle
Spike	Martha