The Bulldog Factor

My sister got a French bulldog puppy a few years ago.  She named him Lolek (dimunitive of Karol).  He's seven now.

He's not the most attractive of dogs but he's super good with children and really protective.  In fact, we credit him with potty training my niece Emilia.  Poles, like the Chinese, begin potty traning children rather early.  Emilia began the process at a tender age of eight months.  My sister would put her down on the potty a few times a day.  Emilia would naturally get bored out of her mind so Lolek started keeping her company.  He'd sit down next to her and would remain there unless the ear tugging got too painful.  His tail was safe since he doesn't have one (Grover's tail, on the other hand, provided hours of entertainment when we visited a couple of years ago).

Emilia stopped wearing diapers by about two and hasn't looked back.  Lolek, however, still keeps her company.  She even "reads" to him from time to time and shows him her drawings and new toys.  Sadly though I think she's begun to realize that he doesn't understand human speech (she used to ask him questions and would say things like "You know, Lolek, this is what it looks like to swim in the sea"--this after she returned from her first seaside vacation three years ago and plopped belly down on the kitchen linoleum).  Before she ever spoke her first words, Emilia imitated Lolek's snore-like breathing and growls (French bulldogs don't breath silently or easily, snoring instead like old men with nasal issues).