French Bulldog Puppy News! And Naming Help Needed

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Sailor surprised me a day early, and presented us with two bouncing baby brindle Frenchie puppies this morning – a silvery brindle boy, and a seal brindle girl. The girl weighed in at 9.6 ounces – almost entire ounce larger than her brother, who weighed in at 8.7 ounces. The girl is a vocal little thing, screaming whenever she doesn’t immediately find a nipple, and a restless, rooting nurser. Her brother is much more placid. Other than a few squeaks when we were getting him started after surgery, he’s been a quiet, contented nurser.

Sailor lost quite a bit of blood, so it was a bit scary for a while there. Scarier still is using a new Veterinarian for a section, especially one that involves a three hour round trip and a border crossing. You’re basically going in blind and crossing your fingers that they’ll know what they’re doing, and that your drive will be quick, easy and uneventful. We were lucky, and everything turned out well.

Below the cut, you’ll find some pictures of the new little rug rats. The firewire cord for the cam isn’t long enough, so until my repeater arrives you’ll have to make do with still photos.

In related news, I need some naming suggestions. Since this is Rebel’s first litter for us since his death, I’d really like to use names that include his. So, we’re looking for registered names that include the word ‘Rebel’. So far, all I can come up with is “Rebel Yell”, which I’m sure has been used to death and back. If anyone out there has a more creative and imaginative bent than I do, leave me your suggestion in the comments section. Don’t forget, brevity is of the essence, since using our prefix of ‘Absolut Bullmarket’ uses up a lot of the allowable letters we can use for their names.

Don’t forget – puppy pix below the cut!!

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A New Group for Owners & Co Owners, and Frenchie Jamboree Plans

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I love getting photos and updates from people who’ve gotten puppies from us. It’s so nice that people take the time to stay in touch, and to care about letting us stay involved in their dog’s life. Whether it’s a win photo from someone who has a show dog, a litter update from someone who used one of our dogs at stud, or just some cute puppy photos, there’s never a time when I’m less than thrilled to get word on how the little ones we’ve sent out into the world are doing. Even when the news is sad – an older dog who has passed away after a long life, or who has a fatal illness, I’m still always touched and grateful to have been kept informed. Read more →

Negotiating Pet Contracts

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I have what some people might consider to be a rather excessively long sales contract for my pet puppies. As of today, it’s sitting at five pages, although some of that has to do with the fact that I decided to change it to double spaced, to make it easier to read. Even so, it’s still pretty long.

You can see my contract in PDF format here, and read the rest of this entry below.

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Prepping for Puppies

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Sailor’s litter is due next week, on the 15th. I’ll be making the 1 1/2 hour drive to Michigan to whelp her litter, then it’s back here to my home to raise them. I admit it – I can’t wait, but I’m also a little nervous.

It’s been a long time since I had puppies here at home with me. In fact, I had my last litter at home with me in 2001 – almost six years ago. In that time, I’ve moved from a four bedroom, 2500 square foot house in the suburbs to a 900 square foot loft in downtown Toronto, and then to a 2200 square foot house way out in Mennonite country. In the middle of that first move, a lot of downsizing occurred, and among the things I lost, sold or gave away were all of my whelping supplies.

This might not sound like much, to some people, but the breeders out there are shaking their heads in woe at what my shopping list must have been like to re-stock. All of those things we pick up, bit by bit as we go along? Gone.

So, here’s what I had to acquire over the last few days, to prepare for Sailor’s litter: Read more →