Handsome Dan Finalist Mugsy

April 21, 2005

Dog's Name: Magnificent Mugsy Rangoon

Owner's Name: Robert Sansone

Gender: Male

From Owner Robert Sansone:

Why indeed would Magnificent Mugsy Rangoon (Mugsy) make a great Handsome Dan? Let me count the ways- sorry I just tend towax a bit poetic when talking about my bulldog. Anyone who has ever owned one knows of what I speak. Mugsy is a show stopper and crowd pleaser wherever and whenever I take him out in public which is quite often. Comments from admirers always seem to range from, "He's so cute!" to "What a great example of the breed." Mugsy loves a crowd and revels in the attention and adulation of those who gather to admire him- especially children. He bears their pokes, pats, and sometimes rough pets with a toothy smile, and contented purrs, and often sits at their feet ostensibly to allay any hesitation they might have about approaching him or perhaps merely to facilitate shorter petters. Recently when Mugsy and I walked through Christo's Gates in Central Park, Mugsy, totally unabashed by the massive crowds, quickly and easily captivated by whomever he passed or whoever passed him.

Perfectly proportioned and a fine example of the breed standard (both A.K.C and Bulldog Club of America) Mugsy, a large bulldog with a magnificent head, will constitute a grand, easily visible presence as he proudly struts the sidelines. His deep red brindle and white markings add bulldog panache to his already impressive countenance and his face bears no unpleasant looking tear stains often associated with the breed.

"Is Mugsy up to the task of being the next Handsome Dan?" you might ask. And, if you were to do so, the answer would be an immediate, emphatic, and decisive, "Yes!" (Why waste words?) Mugsy is a very athletic bulldog. He has no difficulty hiking Sleeping Giant, accompanies me in my kayak, loves to swing from vines and suspended tires, fetches like a retriever (allow me a slight exaggeration, but he does fetch), enjoys swimming with his flotation device, climbs stairs with ease, and bears no resemblance to the reported couch potatoes reputed to be inherent to the breed. Mugsy breathes well, and has excellent nostril openings. I had his trachea ex-rayed before I purchased him as an eight week old pup (I had previously lost a pup due to an extremely narrow trachea and a mega-esophagus so I was taking no chances,) and the ex-rays displayed fine, normal breathing passages.

Mugsy is a dapper, pure-bred English bulldog of the gregarious type with many champions on either side of his family tree. As a puppy, he took first place in one Newtown, Bulldog Club of Connecticut sanctioned puppy match and second place in another. After those successes, I decided not to show him again so that he could what I had initially intended,a cherished pet. I just had to see what he would do in competition. Call it vanity.

In long overdue conclusion, I know Mugsy would make the best Handsome Dan because he is everything a bulldog mascot should be. Besides, he told me himself that he wanted to go a Yale's home football games. Although Georgia and the Marines have courted him vigorously, he has steadfastly claimed that he is holding out for the oldest and proudest bulldog mascot tradition in the country.