Who’s more bulldog-like, Gonzaga’s Spike or UGA’s Hairy Dawg? An expert weighs in

Is it Spike (Gonzaga) or Hairy Dawg (UGA)?

The issue did not give pause (or paws) to Annette Nobles, the club’s media chair.

Wrote Nobles in an email, “The Georgia Bulldog is the hands down winner, because the ONLY acceptable colors according to the official standard are white, red, fawn, fallow, or any combination of these.”

The bad news for Gonzaga Bulldogs supporters — Spike is gray, a color most unbecoming a bulldog.

So much so that the Canadian Kennel Club does not permit the registration of gray bulldogs, Nobles said. When gray bulldogs are entered into American Kennel Club shows, they can be disqualified on the basis of their color alone.

Meanwhile, Hairy Dawg might be considered tan, Nobles said, a most acceptable color for the breed.

According to Nobles, the reason for the opposition to gray and other non-official colors is that dogs of rare colors have become popular to the point that less ethical breeders try to produce them without regard for their health. Nobles said that gray bulldogs have sold for $30,000.

“They’re only worried about getting a certain color,” she said. “This has damaged the breed, period.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

We should note that Nobles hails from Cochran, about an hour south of Macon. But, not much of a sports fan, she affirms that her loyalties are to the bulldog breed, not the Bulldog teams. Nobles, in fact, is a co-owner of Winter is Coming, a bulldog who was the Non-Sporting Group winner at the National Dog Show in Philadelphia in 2021 and twice received an order of merit at the Westminster Dog Show in New York.

In sum: Spike and his gray coloring can make his retreat to Washington. Tan-colored Hairy Dawg for the win.