My husband CJ and I have both been dog lovers since we were kids. CJ grew up in Guam taking care of many different types of dogs. These included German Shepherds, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and Doberman Pinschers. I grew up with my first love...Luther the Basset Hound. I got more interested in rescue when I lived with my sister and helped her care for her rescued greyhounds, Stuart and Greenlee. When CJ came into my life, we wanted to find a breed we could both agree on. CJ liked the powerful breeds he could wrestle with and I liked the sweet, couch potatoes. After doing some research, we both agreed on the English bulldog.

However, CJ would soon find out that buying a bulldog puppy was out of the question because rescue had become so important to me. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long before a rescue came into our life. Bam, the English bulldog, who was already a part of the extended family was in need of a home. We quickly learned how much hard work it was to care for a bulldog and after many vet visits and cleaning of folds, we finally had a happy and healthy dog. Bam is our snuggler and is so laid back and well behaved that we realized we had the time and energy to help with another dog. We decided we wanted to give fostering a try with Bulldog Haven. After signing up, we got a call that Sugar (now named Bella) was in need of a foster home. It was love at first sight! We fell in love with her playful and sweet nature. So we decided we wanted to keep her, and adopted her. She was our first foster dog and first foster failure!!

In our spare time, we like to walk and spoil our dogs. CJ is in business school and works as a personal trainer. I work as a Speech-Language Pathologist and also volunteer once a week at the Seattle Humane Society with the dog behavior and socialization program. Helping and rescuing dogs will be a lifelong adventure for both of us and we can't wait to help out many more bulldogs in the future.

CJ & Erika
Intake Coordinator