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March 2, 2007
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The Friday Flyer Assistant Editor
Csaba (pronounced Chubba) is a 10-month-old English bulldog owned by Canyon Lake resident Stephanie Hobbs. He is also the handsome mascot for the new Lakeland Village Middle School, opened last August on the west side of Lake Elsinore. Stephanie teaches 7th grade Language Arts and Social Studies.
“We had an election early in the fall and the students chose to be the ‘Bulldogs,’” says Stephanie. “It didn’t hurt that 4-month-old Csaba was doing some serious campaigning. He was later able to attend the school’s dedication ceremony.”
The Canyon Laker says she takes her pet to school about once a week, where he plays with the kids and especially likes playing football and basketball. “The funny thing is, kids I don’t even know will come by the classroom and ask about him,” she continues. “Some of the 8th grade boys will come by and ask, ‘Can Csaba come out and play?’ It’s too funny.”
Lunch with Csaba
“We have a program called ‘Lunch with Csaba’ in which teachers nominate students who behave kindly, and Csaba brings his vintage dog lunchbox filled with all sorts of yummies and savories the students are not able to purchase on campus. The student takes Csaba on a leash and they have lunch together. Each student is also given a small gift – usually a little stuffed bulldog, bulldog Pez dispenser, or something like that,” says Stephanie, who notes the program is based on behavior, not academic achievement.
Stephanie fell in love with bulldogs when she visited her grandmother’s house in Long Beach and made the acquaintance of “a greasy, dirty old bulldog” that lived at the gas station on the corner. She has owned Bassett hounds, Bouviers and other dogs for years, but the high cost of a bulldog puppy kept it out of her reach.
Bulldog puppies are very expensive because they are oddly formed due to years of selective breeding to enhance traits like the big head, with the result most are born by C-section, she explains. And since the mothers are shaped like cinder blocks, they tend to roll over on their babies without knowing it, which leads breeders to take the babies away and hand-raise them.
For her 50th birthday last summer, Stephanie was thrilled to receive the wrinkled 2-month-old bundle, Csaba, from her longtime love and companion, Harold Becker. In addition to her human companions, Csaba now shares her home with another dog, four parrots and a macaw.
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