Barb Brown & Absolut French Bulldogs

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Elliott and Barb at the FBDCA Nationals in Texas

Elliott and Barb at the FBDCA Nationals in Texas

Remember
Christina Rossetti

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Barb got her first show dog 35+ years ago – an Afghan Hound out of Kelly’s Big John. She has finished, shown and bred Afghans, Cockers and Akitas. When Barb got old and fat, she decided to acquire her first French Bulldog, figuring that she might as well own dogs who were as happy to sit on the couch as she was.

Her first French Bulldog was Citadell’s Shotsilk Hillary, who she co owned with Norma Gibson Smith of ‘Amron’ French Bulldogs. It was Norma who handled Ch Bullmarket Versace during his show career and to his BOB win at the Gardens. Hillary was out of Ch. Jaguar’s Ajax Rocko and Ch Smashers Francine. She had two litters of puppies, and produced four champions, and was the Grandmother of Daisy, Ch. Firesides’ Snow Belle, foundation bitch of Fabelhaft French Bulldogs. Hillary lived to fourteen years of age, each day of which she spent fervently wishing that Barb would get rid of the rest of the dogs. Barb and Norma bred and co owned several French Bulldogs together, and still co breed from time to time.

Barb met Carol when she and Norma purchased Roseanne, Bullmarket A&A Striped Ts. Barb quickly discovered the joys of both owning a dog that was possibly smarter than the average human, and of trying to get Carol to return her phone calls.

In addition to breeding and showing dogs, Barb was a professional dog groomer for thirty years.

Barb Brown passed away on December 19, 2009 after a long illness. She is much missed by her family, and her friends.

In Lieu of flowers, a donation to French Bulldog Village rescue is requested.

Check out who’s on Sketchy Santas

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Scary Santa Owns Your Soul

Scary Santa Owns Your Soul

Check it out –

http://www.sketchysantas.com/2009/12/thanks-fbv.html

Proud to be the ONLY ‘dogs with Santa’ on Sketchy Santas. Sort of.

Tattoos & French Bulldogs – the Ultimate Fund Raiser

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Out of Chicago comes the most awesome fund raising idea in the history of French Bulldog fund raisers – a Tat Fest!

From Chicago Now –

I’m sure if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know how obsessed I am with my French bulldogs. We actually rescued one of our pups, Marshall, through the Chicago French Bulldog Rescue, a truly incredible organization that devotes so much time and money to bettering the lives of Chicago’s Frenchies.

This Saturday, the amazing tattoo artists from Insight Studios are donating their talents to the rescue.

On December 19 and 20 Insight Studios will be having a benefit for The Chicago French Bulldog Rescue. We will be donating 100% of the profits on those two days to help out The Chicago French Bulldog Rescue. Since these benefits are usually busy, we will NOT be taking appointments. It will be a “first come-first served” basis. Make sure you tell us you are here for the benefit.

Read the rest on Chicago Now, where you’ll also here the story behind this awesome tattoo of a little Frenchie named Gatsby –

French Bulldog Tattoo

French Bulldog Tattoo

I have my own French Bulldog tattoo, on the back of my left ankle. It’s based on this photo, of Bullmarket Versace as a puppy –

Bullmarket Versace

It was not particularly well done – I picked out a random, ‘open all night’ tattoo place on Yonge Street, and walked in on a whim, pulling this photo of out my wallet. I wanted it done with angel wings – a sort of guardian angel Frenchie, if you will. It turned out looking more like a small, squat gargoyle. I put up with it for years, and finally decided to have it removed, and better version done over top of it.

Timing, in this case, was everything – the weekend I had the first tattoo removal done, Rebel – Bullmarket Versace – dropped dead.

Coincidence? Of course. But still, a rather strange one that still bothers me to this day.

At any rate, if you’re in Chicago and in the market for some new ink, now would be the time to get it done. And hey, even if you aren’t, why not drop in and lend them support, and maybe make a donation. You just might get inspired to get your own Frenchie immortalized. Just do me a favor – don’t ever get it removed, if you get one.

French Bulldog Schutzhund Demo

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French Bulldog Schutzhund Demo

Something to remember, the next time people giggle at how silly looking your Frenchies are –

That’s Wyatt Earp, aka Golden Hat Eney. He was also HIT at the 2009 French Bulldog National Specialty, in Boxborough, Maine. Wyatt is owned by Karen Carlin.

In Europe, one of Tessa’s grandsons has his Schutzhund I title, which I find not at all surprising. Years back, I was dating a Schutzhund enthusiast, and idly thinking of trying it with my American Bulldog, Jack. Jack was a total washout at Schutzhund – he didn’t have a protective bone is adorable body.

Tessa, on the other, almost launched herself through the windshield of the car the first time she saw the ‘suspicious stranger’. For fun (isn’t there always one, at any training facility?), someone suggested we see how she’d hit a sleeve. Hit it she did, with the velocity of a small freight train, and hung on with grim determination. All those sessions of playing “swing the Frenchie” with her rope toy paid off… I think she felt she’d finally found her perfect calling as a dog.

It might be fun to try Schutzhund with Dexter, once his show career is over. He has that perfect blend of drive and agility, plus he really like swinging from things.

Moscow Cat Circus

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I’m going to bear this film in mind, the next time I think of cats as ‘impossible to train’.

At the moment, I can’t even handle one six month old French Bulldog puppy. Pickle is driving me insane, mainly because she’s smart. A smart Frenchie can be a dangerous thing, because she won’t let me get away with suff like spending four hours watching videos on Funny or Die, when she feels we should be doing something more rewarding like going for a walk or doing some table training. She expresses her disapproval by knocking over the water dish, and stomping through it with her fat little feet. She then sits in the water and glares at me.

I knew keeping one of Delilah’s daughters was a bad idea. That makes four generations of smart, impatient Bullmarket girls all in one household. I’m doomed. Maybe I should just get more cats.

A Tessa Update:

As some of you know, Tessa had a turn for the worse over the weekend. As of now, however, she’s still here, hanging in.

We’ve set up a small space for her with carpeting covered with wee wee pads, with a nice cozy bed and her water dish. It’s right in front of the fireplace, too. She seems to be doing fine, now that she’s not trying to negotiate the hard wood while also fending off Pickle, who thinks Tessa’s face is a secret goldmine of uneaten food particles.

She’s eating again, and last night she picked a fight with Sailor (that’s a really good sign, around our place).

So long as she is comfortable, and not in any pain, I’m going to keep the smelly old girl around for a while longer 🙂 I know full well that she is, indeed, slowing down, but there’s still some fight in her yet (just ask Sailor).