Bulldogs are very outcome oriented. Once they know what they want, they are on a mission. Brutus was very good at demonstrating this quality. Brutus loved tennis balls. Not the nice clean ones I would buy at the store, he liked the dirty ones that other dogs in the neighborhood would leave behind. We would go for walks, and he could spot these balls a mile away. He would inch toward the balls and then pounce on them, put them in his mouth and immediately head for home, where he would love to take the old tennis balls and roll them all over the clean carpet. I soon grew tired of this, and if I could see a ball in the grass, I would try and get Brutus to walk on another part of the street.
One particular day, I know that he and I spotted a ball at the same time. I changed our direction, and Brutus went with me, but I know he made a mental note that there was a ball in the field. We got home from our walk, and about 10 minutes later, Brutus acted like he had to go outside again. We went outside, and this time, he was very determined to head out in the direction of the ball. I changed the course, and we went back inside. 5 minutes later, he came to get me again, with this calm yet determined energy that is very powerful in a kind way. By this time, I really admired his ability to focus on the outcome and not give up, so I gave in. We went outside and I took him to the ball trying to maintain any Alpha Parent qualities that I may have had left. He grabbed the ball, turned for home and spent a good 5 minutes rolling the ball on the clean carpet.
Knowing your outcome and doing whatever it takes is something most people understand. The difference with bulldogs is that they go about it with the type of energy that is sustain-a- bull (sorry, I couldn't help myself). You don't have to be like the Tasmanian Devil when pursuing your goals, you can just take the next smallest step and keep moving in the direction of your dreams, using that same type of calm determination. This way, you don't burn any bridges with the people around you, and more importantly, you have enough energy to enjoy the prize when you bring it home.
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