Caleb Archives - French Bulldogs by Bullmarket

Caleb is homeless…for now

Caleb has his new home!

Update: Caleb has a new home in Connecticut! Yay!

It’s strange how things sometimes work out.

Caleb, who I have written about here before, went to his new home on the east coast of the USA last week. We had thought this would be a perfect placement – Caleb would have another dog to play with, and with owners who already have a dog from us (Tula’s brother).

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Their male dog HATED Caleb, and took every opportunity to kick his little tiny puppy butt into next week. Sadly, his owners made the decision to return him, and Kristrina, who owns Caleb’s cousin Leah, made an emergency rescue mission from CT to NJ to pick him up.

Caleb is now in Connecticut, where he’s staying with Kristina and her family. He’s doing fine, but he’s once again looking for a new home. We’ve decided that it will be easier if we can find him a home on the east coast, within driving distance of Connecticut, rather than getting him back here to Toronto.

Caleb playing with Leah

Potential homes for Caleb must have NO OTHER male dogs, unless you can prove to us that any male dogs in the house are very mellow and good with other dogs. Caleb is a very smart, sweet natured, affectionate little boy, and he LOVES other dogs (along with cats!), but he can be playful and rambunctious with dogs, so any other dogs in the home must be good with smaller dogs.

You must be within easy driving distance of Connecticut, and willing to pick up in person.

Caleb is lead trained, heels, sits and knows his ‘down’ command, and is litter box trained. He needs some additional crate training to be 100% house broken. He is stunningly well bred, sired by BIS BISS WKC Breed Winning AKC/JKC Int Ch Bullmarket Versace out of BPIS CKC CH Bullmarket Absolut Harvest Moon. He is being placed as a companion dog only, or an obedience/rally/agility prospect.

Caleb exploring

Photos of Caleb can be seen via my blog, or on Kristina’s flickr account.

If you are interested in Caleb, please phone his co breeder, Paula Roberts, at 519-848-5973

I am very emotionally invested in Caleb, and especially after this failed home, I’m going to be watching like a hawk to make sure any home he ends up in is a home that *deserves* such a special little guy!! I’m having to stop myself emotionally from just insisting that he comes back here, to us. If Sean had his way, he’d already be in the car driving to Connecticut.

Have I mentioned lately that being a breeder sucks?

Why it sucks to be a breeder

September 16, 2010/2 Comments/in French Bulldog Stuff /by Carol

Missing Caleb is making me blue

This morning, Caleb went to his new home. I know he’ll be happy there – Kathryn and her husband currently have Maximus, Tula’s litter brother, and they’re dedicated and loving dog owners. None of this is any consolation when you’re sitting and thinking to yourself that you just broke your own heart, and all in the name of the breed standard.

Caleb, who we brought home from Paula’s a few weeks ago, just wasn’t coming together the way he should be as a show prospect. I delayed admitting that for as long as could, because looks aside, Caleb is just about the most freakin’ awesome puppy I’ve had in ages.

Anyone who does obedience will feel their hearts race when I tell you that, no matter where I was, if I turned around I’d find Caleb sitting next to me, in an attentive, performance perfect sit, usually in heel position.

“What are we doing now, mom?” you could almost hear him thinking.

For fun, I spent fifteen minutes practicing sits with him, and within the first five he had it down flawless. Curious, I tried ‘down’ – something that, for some reason, can be an issue with a lot of Frenchies. Caleb got it in two training sessions. Did I mention here he’s only thirteen weeks old? Thirteen weeks old, flawless sits and downs, walking beautifully on lead (and sitting in heel position, all on his own), house broken and car ride trained. As Sean put it, “I think we have our first genius Frenchie”.

His structural flaws, however negligible, were still apparent. A slightly too long nose, set a bit low on his face. Ears at ten til two, instead of eleven and one. A tail set that was overly high, and, much worse, carried gay. All of it added up to a still handsome puppy, but one who was verging on pet, instead of show.

Jacob has outstripped his brother in just a few weeks

In the meantime, his weedy looking brother, Hammy (now christened Jacob), had blossomed into a solid boned, big headed dog with none of his brother’s faults, and all of the virtues he was lacking. He also had a pesky hernia that was worrisome to his new potential owners, so I took a deep breath, and I did the right thing – I offered them Caleb, in lieu of Jacob.

Yesterday, I swapped Caleb for Jacob, and this morning, Caleb headed off in his new mom and dad’s car, bound for a life in Rhode Island that will include a big brother, tons of love and loads of spoiling. Jacob is settling in just fine, and he’s great – a fun little puppy who loves naps and snuggles, and has spent most of his time since getting here chasing Pickle around the yard and harassing Delilah.

And yet, he still doesn’t feel like my dog – not yet, at least. Caleb does, though, and I feel like a bad mother for having let him leave. I’m sure he won’t miss me, or at least not for long, but I’m going to miss the hell out of him.

I’m left thinking, for the millionth time, that sometimes it really does suck to be a dog breeder.

Caleb Update Photos

September 10, 2010/1 Comment/in French Bulldog Stuff /by Carol

Caleb Sleeping in My Shoe

Just a few update photos on Caleb – I have some more to post Saturday or Sunday, along with some video.

He’s such a doll – so serious and sweet, and he has the most beautiful sits!

Welcome Home, Caleb!

August 8, 2010/6 Comments/in French Bulldog Stuff, Frenchie Family /by Carol

Caleb and Pickle

I lost most of this weekend to a killer migraine, but even that wasn’t enough to stop me from bringing home Bon yesterday. My second pick puppy out of Butters and Versace, Bon has fitted in since he got here like he’s lived here his entire life.

The only problem? His name didn’t seem to fit him.

We tried a few out over the weekend (Winston was too Bulldoggy, Gavin made him cry, Atticus made Sean roll his eyes, Gaelen was too.. something or other), and finally settled on Caleb. From the Hebrew, Caleb means

“like, as” and Lev, meaning “heart,” making the meaning “like the heart.” Because the name in Hebrew is spelled with the same consonants as the word for “dog,” the name is commonly thought to mean dog.”

Another interpretation is ‘faithful and dog like heart’, which fits a stoic little guy like Caleb to perfection. Like his father, Caleb is calm and relaxed about most situations. Meeting all of the strange (and sometimes less than enthusiastic) dogs in our house was a breeze for him – he played with Pickle, tried to nurse on Mae, and quickly learned to stay away from his cranky Great Grandma, Sailor. He slept through the entire night, only waking up at about 4 am when he finally realized he was all by himself. He got over it fairly quickly, and didn’t wake up again until 8 am this morning.

He and Pickle have become fast friends, a fact for which I’m grateful – Pickle needs a pal she can play with. Delilah is less than thrilled, even though he technically is her brother. She feels this house already has far too many dogs in it, and that one more (and a boy, at that) is a really bad idea. We’ve told her she has to get used to it, but that she’s still our Princess Pudding Pants.

Caleb is sleeping on my feet as I type this, and I couldn’t be happier with him. He’s been a nice end to a crappy weekend.

By the way, we’ve decided that Caleb’s brother, Hammy, will be made available to a pet home. He’s still the most adorable, smiley faced Frenchie you’ve ever seen, but he’s a tad light in bone. Our loss, some lucky family’s gain!

Here’s Hammy, being adorable –