Some of you may know of my dream of someday owning a pug, which I would name Manfrick.

Imagine, if you will, a calm household with an aura of creative enlightenment. 40-yr-old me is in the sunroom, reading a book on anthropology in a comfortable modern armchair. I decide to give my dog a treat.

“Manfrick! Here Frick! C’mon Frick!”

A small energetic pug comes waddling as fast as he can waddle, feet clattering eagerly on the wooden floor, occasionally spraying doggy saliva as he pants with excitement at the prospect of human attention. His little bulging eyes look up at me adoringly as I pet him.

“Good boy Frick!”

All the while, he would be waggling.

This was my dream for a while. A small dream, but a dream nonetheless. Well, my travels have changed me. My hosts in Anoka, Alex and Syneva, had the coolest dog ever and the projected Manfrick in my head has changed. It is no longer a pug. Besides, pugs can get eye injuries from their eyes sticking out so far and their faces not sticking out enough. (The sniffling problems, rather than being another drawback, were part of the attraction for me.)

“What is this cool dog that replaced those terrible pugs?” says Attractive Girl with a shudder.

Wait, Attractive Girl, you don’t like pugs?

“No. They are not attractive at all.”

Dude. That’s why pugs are awesome. Anyway, to answer your biased question, here’s the new Manfrick:

This is an actual picture of Alex and Syneva’s French bulldog, Thomas Peterson. He is awesome. Friendly and strange and funny-looking and not too excited and still just a little bit wheezy. I want a Thomas Peterson!! (Except of course it would be named Manfrick.)

Also, isn’t Future Dogs a great band name?

Oh my gosh, it really is!!

EDIT: Wow, I also just noticed that Thomas Peterson has his own blog! What an amazing dog!