And then there were THREE

Tula wonders "Where the heck did HE come from?"

Poor Tula. She goes to sleep at the vet clinic, she wakes up with two puppies. She comes home, has a nap – and wakes up with one more. If this keeps up, she’ll be afraid to ever go to sleep again.

Tula is doing some surrogate mothering – Paula’s singleton French Bulldog puppy (out of Elliott, which makes him sort of our Grandpuppy by proxy) has been having a hard time of it. His mom, Lucy, has no milk at all, and they’ve been getting up every three hours to bottle feed him. Worst of all, he’s not been doing well on the bottle. Since Tula loves her puppies, and has enough milk to open her own dairy bar, I suggested we tuck him in with Tula’s kids.

He arrived this afternoon, wrapped in a pink blanket and looking terribly small and thin. He’s almost two a half days older than the boys, but weighs just 209 grams to their 289 and 297 gram weights (that’s the fawn boy, who is something of a chow hound). Since he got here, I’m not sure he’s once let go of the nipple. Maybe he’s afraid that if does, it will either disappear, or dry up. Unlike Tula’s boys, who are still nameless for now, the little pied guy is named “Striker” (although I might lobby to have it changed to ‘Sucker’).

Tula had an initial moment or two of “I’m pretty that this is not mine” type hesitancy, but since he’s now covered in her milk and has been sleeping nuzzled up against her boys, she’s just fine with it. I’m going with the theory that she just thinks maybe she miscounted them.

Photos here, or on Flickr. Video later on, if I get the chance.

Your Friday Moment of Zen – Bullmastiff Puppies at One Day Old

Today’s moment of Zen is my friend Paula’s litter of TEN one day old Bullmastiff puppies. My favorite part of all comes at the very end – watching their tiny little tails wagging like metronomes as they eat. It’s been so long since I saw a litter of tailed puppies, I’d forgotten how vigorously they can wag them!

Warning: every dog in my house went nuts when they heard the squeaking of these little guys, so be forewarned.

Monday Morning Frenchie Photo Fun

Pickle Playbowing at Dexter and Tula

Pickle Playbowing at Dexter and Tula

A few pics of the (rapidly growing) puppies. Everyone leaves within the next week – Pickle, of course, is staying, and Dwight will be right around the corner. I am still pre bereft.

You call THAT sad?

I’m all upset this morning, because of THIS blog posting —

http://www.buzzfeed.com/digg/the-saddest-dog-in-the-world-pic

In case you can’t be bothered to click it, it shows this photo, with the caption “Saddest Dog in the World”.

This dog isn't sad, it's ARTISTIC

Read more

Monday Morning Frenchie Photo Fun

Tessa and Sailor say "Shut up, and make with the cookies".

Tessa and Sailor say shut up, and make with the cookies

I’ve been mulling over my growing hatred for anyone who says that they can “understand the reasons behind breed bans”. This, coupled with my increasing suspicion that most of this hysteria can be blamed on the media, has left me a rather grumpy person lately.

In case of grumpiness, spend ten minutes watching puppy play with bottle cap.

In case of grumpiness, spend ten minutes watching puppy play with bottle cap.

I was going to post a big, long, unhappy rant about stupid people and the stupid things that they say, but instead, let’s look at some photos of happy Frenchies. It’s better for my blood pressure, and it’s probably more fun for you, the reader.

Read more