Love Story

By Camp Bow Wow Staff

Burly Bulldog Brings

Sunshine

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a love story. But rather than the traditional boy meets girl romantic comedy, our story is how a girl meets her doggy love.

Last February Christa Dyer was in a low place. The grind of juggling the responsibilities of home, work, and tween and toddler sons as the pandemic dragged on was wearing her down. Even her job was stressful.

For years she had longed to have a dog, a pleasure she hadn’t experienced since she was a child. And something about the English Bulldog breed captured her heart. One day in early March Christa came across a post on Craigslist. A New Braunfels family was moving out of the country and couldn’t take their pup. Would she be interested in rehoming him? Christa’s heart leapt! “His photo was the cutest,” she enthused. “I saw Gordo and thought, ‘This is what I need.’” Christa loaded up her boys and headed to a meet at the dog park. Twenty minutes later, the family and their new 65-lb bulldog were headed to the pet store for supplies. “His smile just melted my heart,” she added.

Gordo immediately assumed the role of Christa’s chief cuddler and loyal companion. The two watch the news on the couch together every morning while the boys eat breakfast, she reports. His loving presence so encouraged her she gained the confidence to leave her stressful job and now enjoys working from home.

“Having Gordo has been a complete game changer,” she added. “He’s with me every day and sits on the floor at my feet while I work. He gives the unconditional love only a dog can give.” The two take walks together in the afternoon, and once a week Christa takes him to Camp Bow Wow to socialize. Having Gordo in her life has opened

to Busy Mom

the door to new opportunities. Christa’s become involved in the local English Bulldog community, where she’s met other owners and enabled Gordo to play with doggy peers. She took him to see Santa and loves dressing him up in matching outfits. Gordo even has his own Instagram page, @gordo_beefy_dyer.

An English Bulldog Facebook page provides answers when she has questions about Gordo’s care, as the breed requires some extra TLC. “If it’s over 80 degrees we can ‘t leave him outside more than 10 minutes because his smooshed face makes it hard for him to breathe,” she said, and his ropy face wrinkles need daily cleaning.

Although Christa’s husband jokes that she treats Gordo better than her own kids, the Dyers have all grown to love their furry family member. Their three-year-old especially loves to feed him “cookies” and help with Gordo’s bedtime blanket tuck-in routine.

“Gordo’s my Valentine, my sunshine,” Christa said. “He makes me smile and brought me back to life.”