All posts in Frenchie Family

Welcome Home, Caleb!

by frogdogz on August 8, 2010 in French Bulldog Stuff, Frenchie Family with 6 Comments
Caleb and Pickle, Cream and Brindle French Bulldog puppies

Caleb and Pickle

I lost most of this weekend to a killer migraine, but even that wasn’t enough to stop me from bringing home Bon yesterday. My second pick puppy out of Butters and Versace, Bon has fitted in since he got here like he’s lived here his entire life.

The only problem? His name didn’t seem to fit him.

We tried a few out over the weekend (Winston was too Bulldoggy, Gavin made him cry, Atticus made Sean roll his eyes, Gaelen was too.. something or other), and finally settled on Caleb. From the Hebrew, Caleb means

“like, as” and Lev, meaning “heart,” making the meaning “like the heart.”  Because the name in Hebrew is spelled with the same consonants as the word for “dog,” the name is commonly thought to mean dog.”

Another interpretation is ‘faithful and dog like heart’, which fits a stoic little guy like Caleb to perfection. Like his father, Caleb is calm and relaxed about most situations. Meeting all of the strange (and sometimes less than enthusiastic) dogs in our house was a breeze for him – he played with Pickle, tried to nurse on Mae, and quickly learned to stay away from his cranky Great Grandma, Sailor. He slept through the entire night, only waking up at about 4 am when he finally realized he was all by himself. He got over it fairly quickly, and didn’t wake up again until 8 am this morning.

He and Pickle have become fast friends, a fact for which I’m grateful – Pickle needs a pal she can play with. Delilah is less than thrilled, even though he technically is her brother. She feels this house already has far too many dogs in it, and that one more (and a boy, at that) is a really bad idea. We’ve told her she has to get used to it, but that she’s still our Princess Pudding Pants.

Caleb is sleeping on my feet as I type this, and I couldn’t be happier with him. He’s been a nice end to a crappy weekend.

By the way, we’ve decided that Caleb’s brother, Hammy, will be made available to a pet home. He’s still the most adorable, smiley faced Frenchie you’ve ever seen, but he’s a tad light in bone. Our loss, some lucky family’s gain!

Here’s Hammy, being adorable -

Hammy the French Bulldog Puppy

And here’s a whole set of his photos. For more info, you can email me.

Photos of Caleb after the cut, or on Flickr

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The Boys are Done!

by frogdogz on July 26, 2010 in Frenchie Family with 8 Comments
Dexter with co owner Sue Simon, and Luke with handler Lana

Dexter with co owner Sue Simon, and Luke with handler Lana

We have some fabulous show news to share! Thanks to the able handling of co owner Sue Simon, Dexter is now officially known as Champion Bullmarket Absolut Darkly Dexter.

Sue owner handled Dexter to all his American wins, something that some people would have you believe is now pretty much impossible in the American Frenchie ring, where handlers are seen to be the dominant force to reckon with.

As if Dex’s win wasn’t enough, his son Luke managed to also finish his Championship just this weekend, taking Winners Dog in Owensborough, Kentucky for his final win. Luke, now better known as Champion Bullmarket New Hope at Spiritdragon, is co owned with Dr. Andrea Morden Moore, DVM.

The next goals for Luke are for him to complete all of the required tests for his CHIC health clearances, and to take his chances in the ring at the Wisconsin FBDCA Nationals. Luke will also be competing in the rally and agility rings, with Andrea handling and training.

Way to go, boys! We’re so proud of you both.

Jam and Dog Shows

by frogdogz on June 26, 2010 in Daily Life, Frenchie Family with 1 Comment

Strawberry Jam and Fresh Corn Muffins

Strawberry Jam and Fresh Corn Muffins. See the sticker on the small jar? I bought 2 dozen of these for .5 cents each at a garage sale this spring.

So, I was sitting around, whining about the fact that, while Leah and Luke are out doing all kinds of fun dog show stuff down in the states, I’m sitting here with no one to show. That’s when it occurred to me that I could show Delilah. And why not? She moves beautifully, she has a great head, and while her front is less than stellar, her over all structure is still definitely finishable. So, I decided to enter her in the Hamilton Kennel Club shows, which for some odd reason take place on June 25, 26 and 27th – that’s a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I guess they were working on the theory that some businesses were closing the 26th in honor of Canada Day, which is actually July 2st. Or something. Either way, enter we did, only to hear a lot of whining from Sean about how he’d been away for twelve days, and there I was, on almost the only day off we’d be sharing together, trotting off to a dog show.

Fine, so I’d skip Thursday, and just enter her on Saturday and Sunday. That wasn’t much better – more whining about how much stuff we really needed to get caught up on around the house, and what about grocery shopping? And lawn mowing? And were we ever going to swim together in the pool?

Fine. I skipped Friday, even after I’d paid for and entered the show. I’d just go Saturday – that’s today – instead. That’s where Delilah came in – last night, she’s outside peeing, and I notice blood on the ground. Of course she’s bleeding – the one thing that you just don’t do is bring a bitch who’s in season to a dog show, so naturally Delilah would wait until the night before the only dog show I have concrete plans to take her to and she’d start bleeding now. Not next week, now.

This morning, after a nice leisurely sleep in, I get up, check Delilah’s bottom, and discover – nothing. No blood to be seen. I know I wasn’t hallucinating – there’s still some blood stains on the back patio. I can only assume she has a low level bladder infection, which would have in no way stopped me from bringing her to the show today.

Personally, I suspect this was all a plot on Delilah’s part. She’d heard the weather for this weekend, and said to herself “Walk around outside, in the rain? For nothing but a measly piece of liver? You’ve got to be joking”.

So, I spent this morning finishing off the last batch of strawberry jam, baking corn muffins and making semolina pizza dough. Delilah and Bunny ate bits of muffin off of the floor, and traded smug looks with one another on how remarkably easy it is to get humans to do your bidding.

The jam and the muffins turned out quite nicely. The pizza dough will be turned into Stromboli for tonight’s dinner – sausage, mushroom, peppers, fresh mozzarella and home made tomato sauce.

I guess that probably does beat standing around at a dog show in the rain.

updated: while I was writing this, Andrea phoned to tell me that Luke took Winners Dog and Best of Winners today in Valparaiso IN for a 4 pt major! Go Luke!

Catch Up Post

by frogdogz on April 5, 2010 in French Bulldog Puppy News, French Bulldog Rescue, French Bulldog Stuff, Frenchie Family with 1 Comment
Belle's Easter Babies

Belle's Easter Neo Babies

Some news from Kelly about Belle and the Neo pups – sadly, Belle accidentally crushed one of the puppies to death (a little dark brindle boy). That’s always a risk with the big dogs, who can’t always tell if they’re sitting on top of one of their kids. Pig rails around the whelping box help, but aren’t a surefire preventative for sad accidents like this.

Needless to say, Kelly is devastated. She’s now removed the pups from Belle, and is putting them back in with her every three hours, under Kelly’s watchful supervision. A lot of work, as you can imagine – and not much sleep for Kelly. Her dedication is amazing.

Kelly also says that she is VERY concerned about finding a home for Bronx as soon as possible. He is NOT happy being outside, and with the puppies taking up all of Kelly’s time and attention, Bronx is feeling sad and lonely. He makes a sad, haunting “wwwwoooo-oooo-oooo” sound, in essence calling out for someone – anyone! – to please come and spend some time with him.

If you think you can provide a home for a sweet natured, very loyal male Neopolitan Mastiff, please contact Kelly – she’d like to see him have a chance to thrive, in a family he can love.

Kelly has tons of new photos of the puppies here - http://picasaweb.google.ca/105778920928071786403/BabyPics?feat=directlink#slideshow/5456689921539295522

..and more photos of Belle and Bronx are here – http://picasaweb.google.ca/105778920928071786403/BellaBronxAndBabies?feat=directlink#slideshow/5456676952824298882

Please note that, as we’ve mentioned before, there WILL be an adoption fee for the puppies. With luck, the adoption fees will be able to partially cover some of the vet expenses which Belle, Bronx and the pups have accrued. A few people have contacted Kelly assuming that ‘adopt’ equals free.  It doesn’t – it does, however, mean that no one is making any money off of these pups – instead, Kelly is just hoping to cover at least part of their ever growing expenses!

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Gunny and Rider, French Bulldog puppies

Gunny and Rider as puppies

Dick and Rider

I was thrilled to have visitors on Friday – Dick and Nancy Lillie came by, to meet with our little foster baby, Alvin.

Dick and Nancy owned and loved Rider – Tessa’s litter brother from a repeat breeding, and brother to Andrea Morden Moore’s Gunny.

Rider sadly passed away a year or so ago, and while their new Frenchie girl, Belle, is wonderful, they were missing having a little pied man around the house.

Enter Alvin, who’s just about the most adorable little pied you’ve ever laid eyes on, and who has the sweetest, silliest personality.

Dick and Nancy were smitten with him, and will be taking him home in a few weeks.

I can’t help thinking he’ll be a wonderful addition to an already wonderful family.

I’m going to be waiting for a LOT of photo updates!

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Down in Syracue, Leah (Bullmarket Absolut Padme) was entered in her first stateside show. After taking reserve winners bitch on Friday and Saturday, she topped the weekend off with a Best of Breed win on Sunday!

Not bad, for a nine month old puppy!

Leah’s mom, Kristina, was there to cheer Leah on  - but from a distance, and safely hidden behind a pole.  No sense distracting the girl while she’s in the ring! Leah was ably handled by Thom and Diane Curley, of Ottawa. Thanks, guys!

Leah will now be staying back home with her mom, and will be doing more stateside shows, via ringside pick up handling.

Photos are on Kristina’s Flickr page – http://www.flickr.com/photos/leahandfriends/

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Simon is on the prowl

The weekend weather was just perfect for playing outside with puppies! I continue to be amazed at how bold these boys are – they’ve never met an experience they didn’t leap into with gusto, especially Simon!

While Teddy and Alvin liked to check in on me from time to time (“Is she still there? yes? Head scratches, and off I go again!”), Simon is quite comfortable exploring all on his own.

After a while, I noticed he was off in the corner of the garden, looking quite intently at something, and doing the occasional puppy pounce, paw slap move. Closer investigation revealed a baby garter snake, and before I had time to swoop in and grab him, Simon had grabbed it in his mouth and was giving it a death shake.

The other dogs were instantly on the scene, trying to figure out just what high priority treat the new kid had managed to nab for himself. Simon wasn’t about to let a bunch of girls intimidate him – he whirled around and growled, clearly telling them to ‘back off, and get your own snake!’.

Since he’s actually a good boy at heart, Simon instantly – if not happily – dropped the snake when I told him to, and it slithered off, shaken but apparently none the worse for wear. The other dogs were deeply disappointed in me.

Photos are after the cut – and video tomorrow!

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