Top Dog

Westport is having a Top Dog contest. To enter the contest you have to write a short essay about why you think your dog should be Westport's Top Dog of 2012. I don't have a dog but I wrote an essay about my friend's dog, Bruce and guess what- Bruce is a finalist! So I am posting the essay I wrote about Bruce with a picture of Bruce so you can all come down to Town Hall on December 15th and root for Bruce!

When you first see Bruce coming at you with his tail wagging and his shiny black coat blowing in the breeze, you may take a step back because Bruce is a 150lb half newfoundland, half black lab; a very, very big dog. There is no need for that though because to all of us who know Bruce he is just an overgrown teddy bear. When Bruce jumps up to greet you and puts his huge front paws on your shoulders to hug you, you realize Bruce must think himself a ballerina because of how gracefully the gentle giant lands on you.

When Bruce was a puppy, you would seeing him walking to Kings Highway School with his dad Brendan and brother Declan delighting all the kids along the way.

Now that Bruce has grown up he likes to relax and enjoy the beauty of Westport in his rural backyard on Woodside Road, the Winslow Dog Park and his favorite spot to hang with buddies, Compo Beach in the off season.

The reason Bruce should be voted Westport's Top Dog is because Bruce makes everyone's days in Westport a little brighter. Whether it's a Bruce story about the time he ate an entire bag of flour and thought no one noticed when he walked in the room looking like a snowman in a train wreck or when the kids and their friends need a laugh and Brendan turns the leaf blower on Bruce and his big lips flap in the breeze. Bruce just stands there enjoying the moment, listening to his family's laughter. My favorite Bruce story is when Bruce decided to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Lollypop. He ate fifteen, clean to the stick! (he wound up biting them like the rest of us).

Bruce is also a patient dog. He doesn't mind when his family is bored and they put silly masks on him or take pictures of him sleeping in weird positions, then text the pictures to their friends all over town. Bruce even sits with his sister Tova while she watches Saturday Night Live over and over and over on youtube.

Bruce makes people happy, which I was going to say is probably all anyone wants out of a dog, but that's really all we want out of anyone; just a little happiness at the end of the day.

After hearing this you may think Bruce is my dog but he is not. Bruce is the family dog of dear friends of mine. Unfortunately I am allergic to dogs but I still adore Bruce and need my Bruce fix whenever I can get it. Sometimes when life gets a little crazy, I'll stop by Bruce's house because I know that gigantic furball of love will come barreling down the driveway towards me, then slow down to jump up like that ballerina and give me a hug as only Bruce can do. Then I leave and maybe sneeze a little, maybe cough a little but I also leave a little saner and little happier.