When I read Oscar’s story
I knew I had to paint him!
Oscar is an American Bulldog.
” My American Bulldog Oscar, recently turned 9. I rescued Oscar through the Animal Welfare Society in West Kennebunk, Maine. They told me he was a stray. I really feel like I hit the jackpot. He’s such a happy-go-lucky guy who loves people, other dogs, even cats. Once he’s inside, all he wants to do is snuggle on the couch, or s;eep on his back with all 4 paws up in the air.
I adopted him when I was a bachelor in my 20’s. And along the way he’s lived with me in Maine, New Hampshire and now Boston with my wife – who he might like more than me. He’s explored all over New York City, camped in Vermont and hiked Mount Washington. I really can’t imagine my life without him, he is my best friend!”
5 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AMERICAN BULLDOG
- The American Bulldog is loyal, reliable, brave and determined. Not a hostile dog. Alert and self-confident, this breed genuinely loves children.
- The American Bulldog will do okay in an apartment if it is sufficiently exercised. They are relatively inactive indoors and will do best with at least an average-sized yard.
- Thanks to the efforts of John D. Johnson of Summerville, Georgia, the American Bulldog exists today. After Johnson returned from WWII he was disappointed to find that, like the English Mastiff, it was almost completely extinct. He then decided to gather the best specimens he could find from all across the rural South in an effort to bring the American Bulldog back from the brink of extinction. He has been breeding these dogs longer than anyone else in the world and his father bred them before him. He is an old man now and these dogs have always existed in his family. He is the sole reason why they exist today. If it were not for his efforts they surely would be extinct. He has been breeding them nonstop since then.
4. A variety of ear types are acceptable including cropped, rose, half-pricked and forward flap.
5. The coat is smooth and short, and comes in all shades of brindle including red brindle, varying degrees of white, red, brown, tan, fawn and piebald.
“No matter how close we are to another person, few human relationships are as free from strife, disagreement, and frustration as is the relationship you have with a good dog. Few human beings give of themselves to another as a dog gives of itself. I also suspect that we cherish dogs because their unblemished souls make us wish – consciously or unconsciously – that we were as innocent as they are, and make us yearn for a place where innocence is universal and where the meanness, the betrayals, and the cruelties of this world are unknown.”
DEAN KOONTZ