Butch the bulldog was quite a big eater.  It used to surprise us on how much food this dog would consume on a daily basis.  We would always have a bowl of kibble which would be devoured each day when we came home from work.  He would even be given table scraps from mealtimes which would be eaten in what seemed like seconds, than he’d be back for more.

While we were eating at the dinner table the family would all pitch in and give Butch lots of goodies.  Pieces of steak, hamburger, and even pasta were given to him and he always seemed like this bottomless pit.  Don’t get me wrong Butch was a very hardy sized dog to say the least.  He was solid muscle and you really had to put some effort into lifting him.  Regardless, however we always found he ate an abnormal amount.

One particular evening we had run out of kibble.  My husband had it on the shopping list and was bringing it home with him after work.  Butch hadn’t had much to eat that day since my husband was bringing home the grocery order for us humans as well.  While we still had salad and fruit, Butch isn’t much of a fruit and veggie kind of guy, so he would simply look up at us with a dirty stare and walk away.

My husband was later than usual so we simply sat in the living room and watched some television until he arrived home.  Because of the late hour he was going to be bringing home a pizza, one of Butch’s favourite foods, for supper so we would not have to cook that evening.

As we watched television we kept hearing a digging sound coming from behind the loveseat in the far corner of the room.  We could see Butch’s rear wiggling as he struggled with whatever he was trying to reach.  Finally, he backed out from behind the loveseat with something in his mouth.  At first thought we assumed it was a bone he had lost and finally remembered he had.  As he trotted up to us, as proud as can be, we come to realize it was actually a dried up old hot dog!

Disgusted we began to wonder what else he may have stashed under the loveseat.  We moved it away from the wall to see a variety of foods from the dinners we’d had over the past week.  He had pizza, steak and some hamburger all stashed there for safe keeping.

We have now come to really watch where Butch goes with the table scraps we give him.  As many dogs do, trying to bury and hide food items around the house is quite a disgusting habit.  If you find your dog tends to disappear when you pass him some table scraps then you might want to consider he is stashing the food within your house.  Take note of where he heads and do a good sweep of the room he seems to run to with his treasures.  The last thing you want in your home is nasty rotting food under your furniture, we learned that lesson the hard way!

With the ability to chose from the French, American, and English bulldog it is a wonder how you make a decision. All are unique and wonderful family members of the bulldog breed and all have the ability to keep your heart strings pulled tight. Each has their own way of communicating to their owner with just a deep glance into those droopy eyes and with just a slight blink. Many also love to think they are just a small little lap dog that needs your companionship, when it fact it often is the owner who needs the breed. The lick of that slobbery tongue can speak volumes to any owner, who is fluent in puppy dog translations. Either way you look at it this breed is quickly carving out their path into the top five favorite pure breeds in America, according to the AKC. With its placement inching into number eight in 2008 of the AKC top ten pure breeds, it is sure to keep climbing.