AT RANDOM: Bulldog pups gain celebrity

By Brandi Watters

August 07, 2008 11:46 pm

— A brother and sister celebrated their six month birthdays on Thursday in downtown Anderson at their favorite park.
The pair have become local celebrities over the past six months, drawing the attention of the downtown lunch crowd who’ve spent hours watching the siblings wrestle and bite one another playfully, rolling in the grass at Town Center Park.
The pair of English Bulldogs have become a downtown fixture in recent months thanks to the flexible business policy of Mericki Bennett, owner of Pip Printing at 12th and Meridian streets.
Mericki and her son, Brady Cogswell, bought the bulldog puppies when they were just six weeks old and immediately began taking them to work at the printing shop each day in hopes of getting them potty-trained.
The “Pip puppies”, as they are now called by their downtown admirers, spend their days lounging on blankets in the print shop, welcoming customers who visit the business. “They think everybody comes to see them,” Bennett, owner of Pip Printing, said on Thursday.
Customers are greeted with wet kisses and wagging stubbed tails, Bennett said. “The majority of them like it.”
The real action happens when the pups step out on the town, rolling their chubby bodies in the grass at the park across the street, according to Cogswell, who walks the pups daily.
Downtown lawyers, the ladies at Ricker’s, police patrolmen, Real Hacienda restaurant employees and regulars at the park have watched the pups grow over the past six months, and make a point to stop and visit each day, he said.
What is meant to be a simple walk in the park often turns into a question and answer session about the puppies with downtown admirers, Cogswell said.
“Lollie” is the girl, and “Sosa” is the boy, he explains.
“You have to keep the names short with bulldogs,” he said.
Cogswell and Bennett have no plans to stop bringing their pups to work anytime soon, which means the Pip puppies will remain downtown Anderson’s lovable mascots for months to come, at least, Cogswell said, until the pups master potty-training.