Bull's Eye

Dear Dog Lady,

I got a $25 Target gift card for Christmas. My boss gave it to me. Geez, I wasn’t too thrilled with the cheap token. I don’t know why he didn’t spring for $50 or $100. Even though it’s a discount store, $25 won’t get me much. Regardless of the stinginess, I am enchanted with the picture on the card of a white dog with red circles around its eye. I enjoy looking at the dog’s mug more than I enjoy thinking about how to spend the gift money. In fact, I might not bother and just keep the card. Do you know the name of the Target dog? And what kind of dog is it?

Marcella, Des Moines, IA

Marcella, first off, I must say your boss sounds like a swell fella. He could have given you nada, nothing, zip. That $25 will get you a Michael Graves 14” frosted wall clock at Target for $19.99. Be grateful your boss remembered you.

Even if you think your boss didn’t hit the bull’s eye, Dog Lady applauds you for noticing the adorable bull’s eye. That English bull terrier and star of Target’s “Portrait Of A Puppy” gift card campaign (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/601-1733658-9969720?asin=B000182NPG) is reportedly named Ariela.

Without the red circles around their eyes, English bull terriers look like muscular little canine tanks with feisty personalities and lots of jaw power. Dog Lady wouldn't advise painting their faces. Aside from selling Target, bull terriers have been the target of less than flattering news coverage lately. Princess Anne's bull terriers have been wreaking havoc across the Pond.

The Princess' bull terrier, Florence, attacked and killed one of the Queen Elizabeth's beloved corgis over Christmas. Florence later took a leg chunk out of a palace maid. Even before these incidents, another of Anne's bull terriers, Dottie, had bitten two children. The Princess was fined after that incident. She could have gone to jail. Instead, she hired a trainer who declared Dottie tamed.

'Tis the Princess who's dotty, surrounded as she is by yes-yes dog trainers and other sycophants. No responsible dog owner can allow such criminal misbehavior by a bull terrier -- or any domestic animal -- to continue.

The lesson here, Marcella? Never look a gift card dog in the mouth.

Posted by Dog Lady at December 30, 2003 09:31 AM