KOTATSU (Staying Warm in Japan)

[Yo_Mama]

30. She's an Alpahaha Blue

That's a type of bulldog that is more akin to the "old" English bulldog. They can get quite large. When she's slimmed down to her optimal state, she tips the scales at 92. For a female she's a large specimen. This is pretty much what she looks like:


Her coloration is white with a few brown spots, but otherwise she looks a lot like this one at a UK breeder:
http://www.alapahabluebloodbulldog.co.uk/eljay.htm

In our area the best ones are the not registered breeds, but the dogs still being bred on the farms as working/hunting/herding/children-herding utility dogs, because they are purely selected for temperamental characteristics, endurance. strength and good health.

They are very loyal and companionable, very affectionate and gentle with humans (although not with animals), exceedingly social and intelligent, and wish to be masters of their universe. Unlike most bulldog breeds they have a lot of endurance and agility. Mine set up an obstacle course for herself on the farm when she was young and used to run it for fun in quite hot weather.

For GA, they are great - they are far more heat tolerant than the standard English bulldogs. They have sometimes been used as stock dogs, and some of them have the herding instinct, and use it to try to herd people. They widen their eyes and stare straight into yours, which really startles people because it's a human trait. Almost all of them are very manipulative in a way similar to golden retrievers. It takes them years to finish growing - mine did not grow fully into her ribcage and muzzle until after she was three.

And good Lord, they are bossy. She likes the temps to be between 68 and 72, and informs you if her temperature range deviates indoors. She will wander around with a blanket draped over her back all day if it's chilly inside and then go out and roll in the snow if she's in the north, or lie around panting artistically alternating with coming up and woefully staring at you because it's 75, and then trot outside and sunbathe when it's in the 90s. The insistence on a certain temperature range indoors is purely harassment.