ECFBC Fun Day in Mississauga

Eastern Canada French Bulldog Club held its second French Bulldog Jamboree Funday on Saturday, at Doggie Central in Mississauga. French Bulldogs and their friends (all breeds are welcome at these events) gathered together to play, try out the agility equipment and generally enjoy each others company.

Our door prize draw and raffle were a great success, with almost everyone in attendance going home with a gift of some kind.

If you missed Saturday’s event, don’t despair – we’re already making plans for another one, this time in downtown Toronto! Stay tuned for details.

Our thanks to our wonderful sponsors, who make all of this possible – we couldn’t do this without you!

Doggie Central (for the use of their great space, their staff and their beautiful raffle gift basket)
Golly Gear
Pets 4 Life Raw Pet Cuisine
Essex Cottage Farms
Ashleigh Devries, Training by Ashleigh
Richard Rockford, Aristocrafts French Bulldogs
Robert and Diane Lowes, Robb Isle French Bulldogs
Megan Lorenz Photography (make sure to check out her photos of the events – prints are available!)

Check out photos from Saturday, after the break.
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Finn Hits the Show Ring!

Finn with handler Kay Reil and Judge Richard Paquette

Finn amazed us all by finishing his Canadian championship in a single weekend, his first time in the ring,  from the 6 – 9 month puppy class. While he was there, he also took a Group 2, two Group 3 wins, three Best Puppy in Group wins and a Best Puppy in Show.

Our thanks to judges Olga Gagne, Mel Saranchuk and Richard Paquette for recognizing Finn’s excellent type, and to Finn’s handler, Kay Reil, for making him shine. Thanks as well to Pam McClintock and John Griffith for assisting with Finn this weekend – we appreciate it!

It’s always fun when puppies finish this quickly – Finn’s great uncles did the same, with Stoney finishing in one weekend, owner handled by Charlotte Creeley, with back to back five point majors. Just to keep things interesting, he finished his CD the same weekend. His great uncle Rebel finished with three five point majors and two group wins, and his half sister, Butters, finished in four days with a Best Puppy in Show.

Those are some pretty big shoes for Finn to fill, but I’m confident he can do it.

I think I’m particularly proud of Finn’s wins because he’s not just correct, he’s healthy – his breathing is perfect, his eyes are JC clear, his hips, patellas and spine are all prelim clear, and he jumps like a mountain goat. Topping it all off, he moves with that gorgeous French Bulldog double tracking movement that is so incredibly unique to our breed, and yet is so increasingly rare to see. It’s nice when your dog wins, but it’s even nicer when he’s a dog you can be this proud of.

Finn’s sister, Madge, showed this weekend as well. Madge looked great in the ring, and Kay handled her beautifully, but Madge is never going to enjoy the ring the way Finn does (partially because she doesn’t have his same unbridled enthusiasm for snacks). You know you’re up against it when the judge asks your dog “Why so sad, little pup?”, and your handler has to explain, “That’s not sad, that’s just Madge’s face”. We sometimes wonder if she isn’t really Delilah’s daughter, stolen away by Penelope when we weren’t looking.

It’s OK, Madgela, mommy loves you – and so did the crowd. I’ve never had so many questions and comments about a Frenchie puppy, ranging from “What color do we call this?” (asked by a judge, and answered with “We call it fawn pied, and it’s in the standard”, which seemed to make everyone happy) to “Wow, her markings are perfect”, which – of course they are, they’re on Madge.

I took home two tired puppies last night, and they celebrated with ice cream, followed by a vigorous romp through the muddy backyard.

Show dogs, yes, but swamp puppies first.

French Bulldog Rescue Transport Help Needed

Tiny little Quincy needs a ride to his new foster home

 

French Bulldog Rescue Transport Needed!!!

We need someone to transport a teeny tiny little Frenchie from LaGuardia Airport to Paxinos, PA (about two and a half hours), this coming Wednesday night.

When: Wednesday, May 23
From: Pickup,  LaGuardia Airport
To:  Paxinos, PA
Transport: French Bulldog, male, aprox 15 lbs.
Issues: none with people, dog aggressive, should ride crated
Time: TBA

Route Map: http://g.co/maps/f3wk8

We’ll supply the crate, you supply the car ride. Help us get this Texan to his foster mom, so we can get him started on his new life!

Contact us at transport@frenchbulldoglastchance.org  — If you can’t drive, please SHARE (but we really do need a driver!).

We also need foster homes and other volunteers – remember, you don’t have to be able to keep a French Bulldog in your home to be able to volunteer with French Bulldog rescue.  Go here to fill out our volunteer application.

And don’t forget – please donate, so we can help Quincy and other needy rescue French Bulldogs just like him.

FDA Report on Conditions at Diamond Pet Foods

Some rather unsettling details in the initial FDA inspection report on the inner workings of the Diamond Pet Food manufacturing facility in Gaston, South Carolina. For those who haven’t been keeping abreast on news, the recent pet food recalls for salmonella contamination have all be traced back to a single manufacturing plant, operated by Diamond Pet Foods, and producing a wide variety of private label, co packed dry dog, cat and small animal foods.

The Food and Drug Administration Report  detailed four key findings:

OBSERVATION 1


All reasonable precautions are not taken to ensure that production procedures do not contribute contamination from any source.
Specifically, no microbiological analysis is conducted or there is no assurance that incoming animal fat will not introduce pathogens into their production and cause contamination of finished product. Also, the firm’s current sampling procedure for animal digest does (sic) preclude potential for adulteration after sampling and during storage in warehouse. On 4/13/12, an employee was observed touching in-line fat filter and oil with bare hands.
OBSERVATION 2
Failure to provide hand washing and hand sanitizing facilities at each location in the plant where needed.
Specifically, there are no facilities for hand washing or hand sanitizing in the production areas where there is direct contact with exposed finished feed/food.
OBSERVATION 3
Failure to maintain equipment, containers and utensils used to convey, hold, and store food in a manner that protects against contamination.
Specifically, paddles in conveyor (South or Middle conveyor leading to the screeners going to packaging) were observed to have gouges and cuts, which exhibited feed residues. The damage to the paddles may allow for harborage areas for microorganisms and are difficult to clean and sanitize.
OBSERVATION 4
Failure to maintain equipment so as to facilitate cleaning of the equipment.
Specifically, firm utilizes cardboard, duct tape, and other non cleanable surfaces on equipment. These materials were observed to have residues adhering. The foam gaskets around access doors to the bucket elevators were observed in deteriorating condition and exhibited an accumulation of feed residues and dust.

All of this is disturbing enough (duct tape? really? At a plant making ‘gourmet’ holistic food, some of which retails at close to $90 per bag?), but the conclusions that TheTruthAboutPetFood.com blog noticed about this report are even more worrisome, namely that  “animal fat” and “animal digest”, per observation one of the FDA report above, are a rather worrisome note, considering that:

A) none of the foods made by Diamond list them on their ingredient labels

and

B) Animal Fat and Animal Digest are the two key ingredients linked to the inclusion of rendered, euthanized animals into pet food

Read the rest on the Truth About Pet Food blog.

If you weren’t worried before about whether or not your pet’s food was being co packed, this might give you the impetus to start worrying now.

French Bulldogs in the Thousand Islands

Dexter at the Eastern Canada French Club Booster in Orangeville

 

Can you think of a better way to spend a summer weekend than surrounded by hundreds of French Bulldogs? Of course you can’t, which is why you should be making plans to attend the Eastern Canada French Bulldog Club Specialty Booster in Brockville, Ontario. Brockville is convenient to the Western New York State border crossing, and is located in one of Canada’s most scenic tourist areas, the beautiful Thousand Islands Region of Ontario.

The ECFBC  Booster takes place on Sunday, August 19th, and our judge is R. Denis. We will be awarding prizes for:

Best of Breed
Best of Opposite
Best Veteran
Best Puppy
Best of Winners
Winners Dog
Winners Bitch
Highest Scoring French Bulldog in Obedience and Rally
And a prize for all class winners

Please consider donating a trophy!

This isn’t just about a single show, either – on one weekend, in a single location, you’ll be able to take part in:

The ECFBC French Bulldog Regional Booster
The French Bulldog National Specialty – Saturday, August 18th, judge Everett Mincey
Group Six Specialty
French Bulldog Booster
Three all breed conformation shows
Three all breed rally and three all breed obedience trials

These shows are held in Conjunction with the Thousand Islands Kennel and Obedience Club.

If you’ve never before entered a dog show in Canada, read this Guide to Canadian Dog Shows for Americans.

If you’re not a dog show person, there are still some great reasons to come out and attend the show.

You’ll get to see some of the best French Bulldogs in Canada, all in one ring, and you’ll get to speak to some of Canada’s best and most knowledgeable French Bulldog breeders. There will be French Bulldog themed shopping, including a booth to benefit Eastern Canada French Bulldog Rescue and Last Chance French Bulldog Rescue. There will be raffles and benefits, parties and fun, and all among a group of people who won’t find it odd at all that you’ve come all the way to Brockville just to hang around a bunch of Frenchie people.

 Accommodations (those around the show site are filling up fast – make your reservation soon! )

Comfort Inn Brockville – 613-345-0042 (request block with Thousand Islands Kennel Club)
Travel Lodge Brockville – 1-800-457-9419
St. Lawrence College Residence – 613-345-0452 (opposite the show site)

 

Campgrounds (most of these are within 30 minutes of the show site)

Ivy Lea KOA Kampground
Thousand Islands Pkwy, Lansdowne, ON K0E 1L0, Canada
+1 613-659-2817 ‎ · 1000islandskoa.com

1000 Islands Camping Resort
382 1000 Islands Parkway, Lansdowne, ON K0E 1L0, Canada
+1 613-659-3058 ‎ · 1000islandscampingresort.com

The Rockport Lighthouse Inc
900 1000 Islands Pkwy, Mallorytown, ON K0E 1R0, Canada
+1 613-923-5747 ‎ · rockportlighthouse.ca