I almost forgot to honor my special girl Rosie (aka "My Little Red Rose Bud, CGC, CD, CDX")...she is the one who started my path to bullydom & fame and I can never forget her (and neither can much of the world as her canine clownings were seen on international TV!).





Born Aug. 1st, 1989, she was from a litter of ELEVEN pups (and ALL survived!) My family and I were part of a missions organization called YWAM in Lakeside, MT, when I saw an ad for bulldog pups. It had been my dream to own a bulldog (I had formerly had pugs), but I knew there was no way a poor missionary family could afford the price tag on one of these cuties. I decided to go and just "look".



(...one of my favorite pix with 3 mo. old Rosie having a "heart to heart" with Micah, then 2)


I did go see the three pups left in the litter--two red brindle girls, and the white male that was the breeders keeper--and left having gotten my temporary "fix". A couple days later I received a call from Rosie's breeder (I had NOT given her my phone # BTW--she only knew my name and that we were on staff at the YWAM base in Lakeside). She suggested that I come and take one of the girls on a co-ownership with no money down, and that we would split the first litter (something I had mentioned to her in passing).

When I went to pick up my Rosie and I felt God told me to "take my second choice". The other girl had more even markings and was actually a prettier dog, but Rosie sat back and watched me, cocking her head, before coming up to greet me. She was the one who came home with me--my "second choice" She had one speckled ear that flopped forward in button fashion--the ideal stress reliever to rub between my fingers.


Rosie proceeded to clown her way into our hearts and learned incredibly quickly. I was home with four young sons, so she was with me constantly. Within a couple days she had learned to close the door when she came inside from pottying (which she picked up quickly as well), she would climb onto things and wave...and she used her paws like "hands", curling her dewclaw to grasp like a "thumb" I quickly taught her to grasp her kennel door and open it, then go inside and pull it shut behind her. She copied anything her "brothers" did, including riding their skateboard and at 11 wks, shortly after she came to live with us, she scooted it around the house like a pro! She loved to climb the slide and go shooting down to the bottom



(Rosie and 5 mo. old daughter, Babe--Sitting Bull's Shoo Fly Pie)


When Rosie was about 6 mos old I wondered what she would do if I put the kid's rockinghorse in front of her as she loved to climb on top of things...she immediately mounted it, straddling it with both hind legs. It took me two days to teach her how to progress to placing her paws on the handles and "gripping" them, while she followed my food lure to rock the horse on her own power. This trick was her most unique and amazing (nearly all of my bullies have taken to the skateboard with ease) and won her the opportunity to take 2nd place on the comedy show, America's Funniest People (earning us a trip to Hollywood and the $3000 prize).





Rosie LOVED to perform and was a true canine commedienne. She would often slip off her horse and continue to roll over onto her back, "laughing" as she did so, huffing air through her teeth and smiling! You couldn't help but laugh to see her. Even in her old age, nearly blind and deaf, she would run over to climb onto her horse when a crowd gathered (like company for dinner!). At 11 yrs of age Rosie was the national video winner for the Purina Beggin' Strips Stupid Dog Trick contest.

Rosie was my first obedience competition dog and my "learning" dog as well. We couldn't afford classes, but she and I were a great team, consistently placing in the mid-190's and most of the time placing at the top of the class in all-breed shows. Our first time out in the Novice A ring we earned an amazing 196.5 score (and we were only the 3rd place winner--our class winner went on to a run-off for HIT--an incredible group of Novice A dogs!)

Rosie was such an incredible learner that I even taught her to read words...she learned to recognize the words, "eat", "walk", and "brush" and could either bring me the item associated with the word I showed her (a bowl, leash or brush) or bring the word when shown the item. She was truly amazing! Don't let anyone ever tell you bulldogs aren't smart...most of the time they are smarter than their owners!


Rosie has been gone 6 years now, which seems unbelievable. Somehow she will always be alive in our hearts. You can watch her in action at this link:

http://www.sittingbullies.com/videos.html


Rosie was the namesake for our kennel and this post explains why I have the little rocking Rosie logo at the bottom of my posts. I miss you Rosie girl, and I'll never forget you! RIP.