Micheal ordered a big breakfast for his guests with some of the best croissants in New York. After setting up the conference room, he sat at his desk ready for his presentation. Then right at 8:46 a.m., a loud bang shook the building. A plane had just struck the North Tower. It was an instant inferno. Roselle, his guide dog, woke up and looked around confusingly. But Micheal knew they needed to evacuate the building and that panicking was no use.
He and his guests ran down the gruelling 1,463 steps and made it out of the North Tower alive. An NYPD officer warned them to take cover. The building might collapse at any time. As they ran, Roselle guided Micheal through the dust-filled streets of Manhattan, eventually ushering him to safety inside a subway station.
Blind since birth, Michael Hingson relied on Roselle to lead him down 78 floors of the North Tower on that fateful day of the 9/11 terrorist attack — and she did.
Top breeds for guide dogs
Roselle was a Labrador retriever, the most commonly preferred breed for guide dog training programmes. According to the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), Labs constitute more than half of the guide dog graduates in 2023. In fact, out of 7,230 puppies the IGDF had, 4,372 were Labrador retrievers. German shepherds sit at a distant fourth with only 255 graduates. 
The sweet-faced, loveable breed reigned for 31 years as the most popular dog breed in America, until 2022 when it was dethroned by the French bulldog, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC).
The bat-eared dog has moved into the number one position after growing in popularity over the last ten years. In 2013, the Frenchie was ranked number 11. Since then, registrations have increased by over 20-fold, bringing this playful breed to the top and dropping Labs to second. 
The popularity of the ‘Frenchie’
The Frenchies broke the Lab’s top-dog status partly because of pop culture. Posts by celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Dwayne Johnson and Lady Gaga snuggling with their wrinkled puppy have done wonders for its public appeal. I found nearly 40 million publications on Instagram with the hashtag #frenchbulldog, more than any top ten dog breed.
French bulldogs remain attractive partly because of their small size. They are half the height of labs and a quarter their weight. In cities with a high concentration of city dwellers, the small-sized bulldog will not take up much space in small apartments.
Behaviour also plays a part. Frenchies don’t bark much, but their vigilance makes them excellent watchdogs. They happily adapt to life with singles, couples or families, and do not require much outdoor exercise.
But the Frenchie frenzy may soon start to wane. That may be because, as with most things on social media, reality hits differently than expectations.
Frenchies are pretty expensive.
You can expect the cost to be between $2500-$4500. A blue or fluffy-coated Frenchie with orange eyes could cost anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000. In addition to the initial costs, many owners are dogged by high vet bills for breathing issues and skin infections around their dogs‘ wrinkly folds.
The puppy craze in America
America is home to a large population of puppies, with a whopping 43 million households owning at least one tail-wagging companion, in comparison to 36 million owning cats.
California tops the list with one in three households owning a dog, followed by Texas, Florida, New York and Ohio.
Americans treat their pets like their children. In malls and parks, fur babies are pushed around in prams or cradled in chest straps. Human names for pets are all raging, with Luna and Charlie among the top ten most popular dog names, according to the US News and World Report.
A study published in the scientific journal, Emotion, reveals that a dog can be a godsend to the owner. Researchers found that participants who interacted with their dogs after a stressful day at work experienced significant improvement in their emotional well-being.
So, with all their amazing qualities, keep your pup in mind when you’re feeling down and are looking for a mood boost.
