Happy Birthday to Bob-A Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop Post

 Today is the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop hosted by Two Little Cavaliers, Life with Dogs, and Confessions of Plume.  If you look above you see lots of adorable blogs to follow

 It is also a big day for us:

The baby of the family is a baby no more, Bob celebrates his fourth birthday today.  Time has passed so fast.  Four years ago when we brought him home from his wonderful breeder at Red Brick Bulldogs  he was so small that he almost fit into the palm of my husbands hand.  Our breeder picked Bob out for us after interviewing us and introducing us to her dogs and for me it was love at first sight.  He truly was the cutest puppy ever (here is the photographic evidence)

Bob at 8 weeks old on a bench in central park

Bob in his crate on his first night with us, surrounded by his new toys

I had always wanted a bulldog and driving him home from PA was one of the happiest days in my life.  Here is a picture I took of Bob and his Dad at a rest stop between PA and NYC

Bob and his dad at the rest stop between PA and NYC

We were still living in Manhattan, in the process of moving to our new house in Jersey City, when Bob first came to live with us.   He was a big hit in the city and attracted many admirers.  Here are some pictures we took at an outdoor cafe we used to frequent

Bob and Tubby at cafe Bacio on the Upper East Side of Manhattan

Again at Cafe Baccio

Bob adjusted to our home very well, even amidst all the chaos of moving.  He was a good boy from the get go

Since I made a list for  his brother Tubby's 10th birthday here is a list of four fun facts about Bob.

1) Bob is very smart.  He must not have read Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs  (the dreadful book rates bulldogs as lowest on the intelligence scale)  because he picks things up very quickly.   Bob knows play dead, shake, spin, jump, high five, go to your place, and crawl.  I am sure he would no many more tricks if I was a better and more diligent trainer.  

2) He hasn't read all of the articles or listened to the media hype about bulldogs being lazy and sickly.   He wrestles with his brother Norbert daily and loves long walks and racing around our small yard.   Of course, he also loves a snooze on the couch.    Bob has also been (knock on wood) very healthy despite the many dire predictions I heard regarding bulldog health.  In my opinion when they are bred responsibly bulldogs can be as healthy and happy as other breeds.  Here is a shot of him running in the snow

Bob running in the snow at Lincoln Park in Jersey City

3) He can be a bit of a scaredy cat.  Bob's a big guy, 60 lbs, with a deep bark he rarely  uses.   Still Bob's not really a tough guy.   The list of things that make him a bit nervous include: plastic bags, boxes, my husbands folding bicycle, and passing buses.   Bob is also afraid of sleeping near the edge of the bed, when he sleeps in our  bed (some nights he stays on the couch) he insists on sleeping squarely in the middle with his bulldog head facing the bottom of the bed and his bulldog bottom facing the top of the bed. 

4) He is a Daddy's boy

Bob swimming with his Dad in my friend Sara's pool in Batavia New York

But even more of a momma's boy

Bob and his me in our Manhattan apartment.

And he LOVES his brother Norbert

Bob and Norbert napping on the living room floor in our house in Jersey City

Over all Bob is a family man

Bob on his third birthday

Bob may be getting older but he will always be our baby.