Kirby's Fish

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I think you have to have lived with a French  Bulldog to understand how truly, wonderfully weird they are (which I mean, of course, in the most affectionate of ways).

Cool Kirby, handsome French BulldogTake Beth Thornton’s Kirby, for example.

Most dogs, if they’re going to pick something to be crazy about, it’s going to be a ball. Maybe a sheep, if you’re talking about a Border Collie. Not Kirby, though.

Kirby was crazy about fish – and no, not fish as in “hey, let’s have salmon for dinner’, but in a more Jacques Cousteau, intellectual curoisity kind of way. Kirby, in fact, had his very own fishpond, which he’d visit to sit and watch the fish. In the winter time (when even the most intrepid marine biologist has seconds thoughts about outdoor marine observation), Kirby would make do with looking at the indoor aquarium.

What else did Kirby love?

He loved cheese puffs, and having his dad blow water at him out of the pool noodle (see, I told you Frenchies were weird). He loved naps, and warm spots,  and birthday cake.

On December 16th, Beth lost Kirby to a tragic and unforeseeable allergic reaction. Beth blames herself, but if Kirby could talk to her, he’d tell her that “hey, you were trying to help me – you were doing the mom thing, and looking out for me, just like you always did. No one could have known this would happen, so please feel better soon. BTW, the cheesy poofs in heaven? So. Totally. Rock. Also, fish ponds as far as the eye can see.”

Kirby's Jade GoldfishKirby’s ashes will rest in an urn, along with cards, mementos, and a small, perfect Jade goldfish that Beth chose for him.

Kirby was a deeply, wonderfully weird Frenchie, with many admirers and friends from around the world, all of whom miss him.

He was a little dog who loved many things, but most of all, what he loved was Beth. The feeling was mutual.

RB’s Curbing a Heartache
Tue Dec 16, 2008
Loved by Beth Thornton and Family, Champagne French Bulldogs

Stupidest Comment on a Dog Breeder Website

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Side note: As much as I’ve enjoyed the stirring inaugural coverage on Lassie, Get Help, Terrierman and Pet Connection, I’ve got to give a huge hat tip to the Bloggess, for combining politics with oatmeal & booze, and for her observation that Obama should now come out as gay.

Also? best comment ever: “everytime they show Bush listening to Obama he looks like he’s lost in his own dream world. He’s probably all “How many ponies should I have? I think a lot.””

There’s a lot of stiff competition for this years “Stupidest Comment on a Dog Breeder Website” awards (affectionately known as the “Dummies”).

For 2008, we’ve decided to open the competition up to that new phenomena in the world of internet puppy sales, the “I’m just selling these for a friend” websites.

If you haven’t bumped in to one of these yet, you’re in for a treat. These sites, which usually list puppies for sale in numbers well into the dozens, explain this plethora of  pups by saying that they don’t actually breed all (or sometimes any) of the pups themselves. Instead, driven apparently solely by philanthropy, these saints among men sell dogs for their ‘friends’, just because their friends have such fantastic dogs that it would be a shame to deprive the world of them.

Front running Dummie contender from this year’s newest category comes to us from the nice lady over at AmishPuggles.Com

Not content with giving us just one stupid statement, she’s given us three:

One of my faves:

Our puppies are raised in a barn with cats, horses, goats, sheep, chickens and pigs. So, they are socialized with other animals. Besides, puggles in general are great with other animals, but our puggles are more social than the norm because of the enviornment in which they are raised.

Yes, because nothing says “well socialized” to me like dogs that were raised with goats. I guess if I was looking for a livestock protection dog, I’d be thrilled.

Things just keep getting better from there, with this great paragraph:

I also bathe the puppies so that they do not smell like the barn when they come to you. I got the hint after some of my customers commented on how much they” loved the smell” of the barn on our puppies

Translation: After ten irate phone calls from people saying “Why the hell does this puppy reek like goats?”, we figured out we’d better dunk them in the water tank before we ship ’em.

The hat trick, however, comes from this touching description of the rearing conditions over at Chez Amish Puggles:

I also witnessed something that I have never seen before. One of the mothers decided not to give birth in the barn. Instead she dug a hole under a big maple tree stump that was overturned and has chosen to nurse and raise her babies there. I thought that was really special. I am going to put that picture on the website soon. It was just such a wonderful sight to behold.

Awww! Isn’t that adorable? A Pug is raising her puppies OUTDOORS. In New York State. In the winter. Under a TREE. Who knows, maybe it’s cleaner than the barn.

Holy freakin’ cow, if that’s not a hat trick of stupid comments, I don’t know what is.

Competition is open, folks – send me your best Dummie contenders, or better still post them in the comments, and we’ll start the voting around the end of February.

Penny is Missing, and Dexter is a Daddy

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Penny is missing from the area of High Park, Toronto

Penny is missing from the area of High Park, Toronto

How’s the weather where you are?

The other morning, my weather geek boyfriend came bounding back into bed to shake me awake and ask me “Guess how cold it is outside?”. I’m very much like my dogs, and averse to emerging from the warm cocoon of duvets I like to build for myself, so stuck my head under the covers and ignored him, in hopes he’d go away. No luck.

“Hey, psst – seriously, guess how cold it is?”

Sensing defeat, I gave in and asked how cold it was. The answer? A bone chilling -31 celsius (that’s minus -23.8, Fahrenheit).

Someplace out in this cold is Penny, a lost Hurrican Katrina survivor who also lived through Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike. Penny is missing, and her Toronto family needs your help.

Visit the One Bark at a Time Blog to find out more, and to help bring Penny home.

My Boy is growing up…

It seems like only yesterday that Dexter was our tiny little baby boy. I was just looking through some of his photos on Flickr, and had decided that this one is probably my favorite:

Now, he’s got his first CERF clearance, his CHIC health clearances are pending, his show career is about to take off, and he’s sired his very first two litters, with Sue Simon’s girls Babs and Juicy up in Traverse City. Babs had two baby brindles – one boy, and one girl, and Juicy has 1 cream boy, a brindle pied boy, and a very lite cream boy (who apparently has pink ears).

If they turn out half as cute as their Dad is, they’ll be very cute indeed.

Babs pups are here:

http://flickr.com/photos/frenchbulldogs/sets/72157612687854790/show/

And Juicy’s pups are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenchbulldogs/sets/72157612747539593/

Here’s a pic of Dexter’s adorable brindle daughter –

French Bulldog Jamboree Update

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I finally have the website up for the French Bulldog Jamboree —

Excuse the clunky url, I was in a hurry.
We had to change the date by one weekend – seems I’d accidentally scheduled it for Canada’s version of Memorial Day Weekend (not a good idea).
So, the final dates are:
Friday, May 22cnd 2009 thru Sunday, May 24th, 2009
In case you didn’t get the earlier emails, the French Bulldog Jamboree is a weekend of fun, friends and Frenchies, open to all French Bulldog owners from around the world. It’s a casual, laid back chance to camp with your Frenchies (in ‘camping’ cottages), hang out with friends, and make s’more around a campfire. It’s like summer camp (but with dogs and a licensed bar!).
French Bulldog Jamboree takes place at Homestead Resort, in Ontario, Canada — it’s about two hours away from Toronto, same distance from Buffalo/Fort Erie, and about three hours from Sarnia/Port Huron.
Tentative scheduled events include:
* pet psychic readings
* St John’s Ambulance therapy evaluations (we’d still like a volunteer to to TDI evaluations)
* Discussions of obedience and Frenchies
* raffle
* BBQ
* Canine Good Citizen evaluation
* Fun match
* raw feeding discussion and seminar
… other stuff!
Homestead has a spa and golf course on site, so bring your Frenchie averse spouse along and we’ll find them something to do. Packages include a really phenomenal breakfast and dinner daily.
For more details, please visit the site, where you’ll find arrangements on booking your stay. Please note that we need a minimum of ten more bookings to proceed with reserving the entire resort for our event. 

Would You Pay $1 to Fight Stupidity?

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Please help the BannedAid coalition in their upcoming legal battle to have Ontario’s Breed Bans over turned. They have retained of Canada’s TOP attorneys, Clayton Ruby, and now they need our help to continue the fight.

This fight is NOT just about “pit bulls” — it affects pedigree dogs of a large variety of breeds, and their owners ability to show, breed, own and love them. Even if you’re not a fan of Pitties, if you’re a fan of the right to own the pedigree breed of your choice, then please make a tiny donation of just one dollar.

That’s all they’re asking for — just donate $1 for every dog you can reach out and touch right now, in honor of all the despairing owners who have had their own beloved dogs ripped away from their sides.

In case you think that issues ‘like this’ can’t or won’t or don’t affect French Bulldogs, please note that rumors abound that if the ban isn’t over turned, it will be expanded to include “All Bull Breeds” (this means Boston BULL Terriers, ‘English’ Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Bullmastiffs and Bull Terriers), as well as Rotties, Dobes and most of the remaining non banned Mastiff breeds. In other cities with breed bans, Bulldogs, Frenchies and even PUGS have been banned.

It’s time we all put a stop to this madness, and fight back wherever we are. This isn’t about “Pit Bulls” anymore – it’s about a concerted effort, spearheaded by the Animal Rights Groups who are too often called in as ‘experts’ when these laws are being drafted, to put an end to pure bred dog ownership. We can’t afford the luxury anymore of thinking this is about ‘them’, not ‘us’. The future is here, and we are now ‘them’.

Again, just $1 – think about what $1 from every owner or breeder of a purebred dog could accomplish.

Here’s the URL to donate – http://www.bannedaid.com/index.php?pr=Donate

The  companies below are doing their  bit for the fund raising effort. Please patronize them, and help the defense fund grow!

Best Dressed Dog –
www.bestdresseddog.net
This site is donating 25% of their January sales.  You will see pits “modelling” their products so there is no need to wonder why they want to support the cause. 🙂

Mimmenuk Canine Designs – Braided Kangaroo Show Leads
http://www.alaskanmalamutes.com/Show%20Leads/show_leads_home.htm
This site is donating 10% of their January profits.

ONLY at the below location : The owners will donate 10 % of the restaurant sales for Saturday January 17th
Boston Pizza
1164 Chemong Road in Peterborough Ontario.