--- title: The bulldog next door who never likes you — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The bulldog next door who never likes you», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Sam tries biscuits, a squeaky ball, even a baby voice. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / The bulldog next door who never likes… # The bulldog next door who never likes you Lesson 456 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 34 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/1/) — Sam tries biscuits, a squeaky ball, even a baby voice. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/2/) — Tank eats the biscuits and growls through the crumbs. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/3/) — Mr Doyle, his owner, leans out: «Don't feed him, son. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/4/) — He'll be sick and he'll still not like you.» - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/5/) — Tank isn't wicked. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/6/) — He was a rescue: someone kept him shut in a shed for two years, so now anyone near his gate is trouble as far as he's concerned. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/7/) — Fear makes him guard hard. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/9/) — Jake isn't bitten, but he's white as a sheet, and it's the Doyles who get the warning letter from the council, not Jake. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/11/) — There's a tooth hole in Sam's jumper sleeve. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/12/) — Sam's legs go like jelly. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/13/) — Later Kieran's big brother says bulldogs' jaws «lock» once they bite; Lily's mum looks it up with her — that's a myth, but any dog bite is serious and needs a grown-up and often a doctor. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/14/) — Sam's dad teaches the real rule for a dog running at you: stand still like a tree, arms in, look away. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/15/) — Staring a dog down, like Connor's uncle says, is a challenge. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/16/) — Mr Doyle says Tank is soft as butter with him and rolls over for belly rubs — but when Maddie rolls over on the pavement herself to copy the trick, Tank only growls harder: his trust in Mr Doyle doesn't pass to strangers. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/17/) — When Lily drops her ice cream cone through the Doyles' fence, she knocks and asks Mr Doyle to fetch it. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/18/) — Tank and Biscuit, the pug from across the road, bark at each other on every walk, so their owners now walk them at different times. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/19/) — Mr Doyle offers Sam a proper meeting, with Sam's mum there. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/20/) — Tank sniffs his hand, grumbles and lies down. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/21/) — «That's a yes from him,» says Mr Doyle. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/22/) — A year on, Tank still growls every morning. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/23/) — Sam just says «Alright, Tank» and walks on. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/24/) — Some dogs never come round — and that's not your fault. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/25/) — A dog guarding its own garden or gate is doing a job; its growling is not about you personally. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/27/) — Feeding someone else's dog without asking can make it ill and does not make it like you. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/28/) — Never climb into a dog's garden or yard, not for a dare, a ball or a dropped ice cream: knock and ask the owner. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/29/) — Dogs that bark a lot can also bite; «all bark and no bite» is not a safe rule. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/30/) — Teasing a dog through a fence makes it more dangerous for everyone, and the dog and its owners are the ones who get blamed. - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/31/) — If a dog runs at you, stand still like a tree, keep your arms in and look away; staring at it is a challenge. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/32/) — The idea that bulldogs' jaws «lock» shut is a myth, but any dog bite is serious and needs an adult and often a doctor. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/33/) — A dog can be gentle with its own family and fierce with strangers; the owner's trust does not pass to you. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/34/) — The safe way to meet a dog is with the owner holding it, your parent knowing, and the dog choosing how close to come. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/35/) — Some dogs never warm up to you however kind you are, and you can still be good neighbours from a distance. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/36/) — Two dogs that hate each other are often walked at different times; keeping them apart is a sensible answer. - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/37/) — «Innit» is London and southern English slang tagged on the end, meaning roughly «isn't it» or «right?». - ← previous: [Trusting again](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/455-trusting-again/) - next →: [The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)