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Puppy Blogging

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I’ve got a ton of new Solo photos for you to peruse, but I also have some sad news – Solo has gone over to the darkside. Living in a house full of cats has convinced him to join forces with the catnip licking, litter pan using axis of evil. Next thing you know, he’ll be up on top of the aquarium, staring at the fish. We’ll have to arrange for him to spend summer camps with Dexter, where he can re-learn such vital Frenchie skills as house peeing, toy stealing, dog wrestling and water dish tossing.

Dexter Dreaming DarklySpeaking of Dexter, he’s coming along quite nicely, although I still have days where I look at him and think “Pet?”.

That’s typical of French Bulldog boy at this age, though – they’re all gawky paws and big legs and round goofball heads. Seriously, we should be able to send them away to boarding school at this point, and get them back as polished young gents, rather than the gauche little nitwits they are at four months.

Here are some photos of him pretending to be a show dog.

Barb despairs, because I haven’t yet managed to get him to stand on a table, but every time I try to he falls over into a pile of puppy goo. I’ll send him off for show training boot camp in a few months, and I’m sure he’ll toughen up quite nicely. In the meantime, I think show prospects benefit from exposure to all the sights and sounds that living in a crazed household like ours affords.

Here’s a collection of some of the photos I’ve received of Frenchies with their new families. I have a ton more to add over the next little while, but I’ll probably wait til my beloved great white is back from the shop, because using the back up PC feels odd and alien to me.

In the meantime, here’s a slide show of wicked, wicked Izzy wrecking the ever patient Linus’ birthday party. No wonder she gets left off of guest lists!


French Bulldog Party in AZ!

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After reading this, I will never again think I am overdoing it by baking Tessa a cake for her birthday and making the other dogs wear funny hats. Duke sure knows how to throw a birthday bash! If you’re out there and read this, we’d love some more party pictures!

I am surprised, however, that Mz. Party Animal Iz-Eloise-Ice-Bat, was not on the party list.

Party Dog

I don’t think a party can truly be complete without her festive presence, do you?

Duke’s birthday party goes to the dogs

Sherry Anne Rubiano
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 19, 2008 08:06 AM

Duke Dohrmann knows how to party in style.

Duke, a French bulldog, donned a white bowtie for his 12th birthday celebration Thursday. About 125 pet owners and 70 pooches attended his party at the Sun City Grand pet park in Sonoran Plaza, near Sunrise Boulevard and Remington Drive.

Duke’s owners, Fred and Lois Dohrmann of Sun City Grand, began the tradition of throwing Duke a party four years ago.

   

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Fred and Lois Dohrmann of Sun City Grand began the tradition of throwing his French bulldog, Duke, a party four years ago. It has grown into a large-scale gathering that friends look forward to every year.

It has grown into a large-scale gathering that friends look forward to every year.

“Lois and I love to do this for our friends,” Fred said. “(I’m) so grateful to see all the beautiful dogs.”

Sun City Grand resident Lori Greenstein said she and her dog, a Basenji named Pokemon, have attended Duke’s parties from the beginning.

“It’s just really, really fun to watch this thing grow, the number of dogs and the number of people that come, and to see Duke,” Greenstein said.

This year, partygoers celebrated with ice cream from Karen’s Kreamery in Surprise, dog treats, cake and a live jazz band. Previous years have featured a mariachi band and other delicacies.

In lieu of birthday presents for Duke, Fred asked people to donate gifts to the Arizona Humane Society. They collected $400, 28 toys, and 25 pounds of pet food for the organization.

“He doesn’t need gifts,” Fred said. “There are so many animals that need help.”

13 Cutest French Bulldog Pieces on Etsy right now

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I love Etsy – I love everything about it, from the website design to the concept to the idea of supporting independent artists.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Etsy, it’s

a website which focuses primarily on providing the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee. It has been compared to “a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay” and “your grandma’s basement”.

As the description says, it’s a venue for artists to sell small numbers of hand crafted pieces – everything from fine art to low brow kitsch. I’ve found – and purchased – quite a few lovely French Bulldog pieces there, and many of the artists can make custom items, or items in a number of breeds.

Here are the thirteen cutest French Bulldog pieces I’ve recently found on Etsy (all images are linked directly from the seller’s page). Please note that since many pieces are either one of a kind or made in small numbers, something that’s available today might not still be there next week.

 

 

Kayann Works Spoiled French Bulldog Pendant

Kayann Works customs crafts these big, beautiful pendants onto Dominos. I own one, and wear it all the time, and plan to order a custom made pendant with Tessa on it. Side note: the leather she uses for a cord ‘sheds’ little bits of black guck, so request it on a satin ribbon, instead.

 

 

French Bulldog Cigar Label

There’s something about the face of the Frenchie on this faux Cigar box label from Rubenacker that just makes me happy – perhaps because I have a weakness for single hooded pieds, and their resemblance to Petey from Our Gang. Either way, this is one sweet art print.

 

 

Must Love Frenchies Pendant

Barrel of Monkeys does quite a few cute, funky, inexpensive Frenchie themed items. Their shrink plastic “Must Love Frenchies” pendants are fun, colorful and almost downright cheap, and would be great as a necklace or even as gift tags.

 

 

Iridescent Glass French Bulldog pendant

I love these gorgeous, iridescent glass pendants from Frums Glass Menagerie. They glisten in gorgeous shades of color, and people never fail to comment when I wear one of them. They do them in tons of colors and tons of breeds – and, again, this is an exquisite piece of hand made jewelery for a really great price.

 

 

BellaBella does mix n’ match Greeting Cards and envelopes that come in a lovely gift box with ribbon. Their cute pop art French Bulldog cards are great for an all purpose card, or for “New Puppy” announcements. People do still send things snail mail, right? I also think they’d look lovely framed as a cute little print – buy a pack of 8 cards, pop them into some frames from Ikea, and give them to Frenchie crazed friends as Christmas gifts or for fund raisers!

 

 

Vinatge French Bulldog Gig Poster

Again from BellaBella come these custom made, faux vintage gig posters, made with your dog’s image and tag line, and similar in feel to old indie band posters. Note that the dog on the poster is a Frenchie, and that their store is named after her. Is it any coincidence that so many artists also have Frenchies?

 

 

I am going to forgive the talented artists over at Penguin And Fish for creating a French Bulldog print that much more closely resembles a Boston Terrier, simply because I adore their work so much. I love the colors, the brush work, the funky retro feel and the illustration-esque look of their work. We’ll work on getting them to use a more Frenchie looking Frenchie in their future pieces.

 

 

This is a cute, colorful print from Lady Artista. She can work from your dog’s image, or has several Frenchie prints available. I love seeing animal portraits available in so many new, fresh styles. There’s something out there now for just about anyone’s taste.

 

 

French Bulldog Family in Cafe

I don’t know what it is, but something about this painting of French Bulldogs in a Parisian Cafe appeals to me. I love how the woman in the couple seems to be nursing a hangover. Looking after three Frenchies will do that to you, trust me. Stylistically, this is worlds away from most of the custom animal portraits out there – remember when just about all you could get were pen and ink sketches, or paint by number-esque acrylics? This is a print from a custom painting by Lou Marek.

 

 

Another piece from Rubenacker – the same artist who created the ‘vintage’ cigar box label above. This guy sure has a way with Frenchies, and his coloring is soft and beautiful. He paints many different breeds, all of which are lovely and true to breed type, even when he’s doing funky prints like his Boston Terrier Aviators and Astronauts.

 

 

Oh, this is one of my favorites. The flying, surrealistic Frenchie is a lovely memorial. Welcome to the Doghouse does great custom work, or their prints are wonderful for framing. Like Rubenacker, many of their prints have subjects which are great fun – check out their flying Bostons, and their Cheetos Sloth.

 

 

Dog Art Studio does some incredible Frenchie pieces in soft watercolors. He offers prints, or custom pieces. I’m not a huge fan of watercolors, but these are quite nice.

 

 

Here’s another beautiful glass pendant, this one using a French Bulldog cigarette card. Squidglass does pieces with soft, antique colors, and uses fused glass. Lovely worksmanship, for really reasonable prices.

 

 

Felted French Bulldog and Bichon

Bonus item! Amelia Makes Art doesn’t have a French Bulldog listed on Etsy right now, but she has one in her album of completed commissions, and she specifies she can make one from your own dog’s photos. Her works are tiny, beautiful pieces of art, hand felted out of wool and bits of other things. They’re lovely. Oh, and she donates $10 from every commission to the Family Dogs New Life Shelter in Portland.

 

 

 

 

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Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

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French Bulldog Walking in Durham

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Sailor and Ellie in the Muddy ElementI spent part of the afternoon walking Sailor and her daughter Ellie in Durham. As always, I brought my camera along, and got some great pictures (in spite of the two feet of mud on the ground).

By the end of the afternoon, I was mud up to my knees, the dogs were mud up to their bellies, and my Element was mud up to the roof. I hate winter, but spring thaw isn’t too far behind on my list of things I loathe.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I cooked a big pot of kick ass pea soup. I made it in the crock pot, and left it cooking on low all day. Served with a loaf of fresh bread, it made the perfect ‘welcome home’ gift after an afternoon wandering ‘downtown’.

I love my crock pot – semi instant food, no waiting.

Here’s the recipe –

Ingredients

1 ham bone, 3/4 cup pieces of leftover ham
3 cups dried whole green peas, split
2 quarts water
2 quarts chicken broth
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped(with leaves)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Saute onions until translucent
2. Add garlic, saute until lightly golden
3. Put onions, garlic and remaining ingredients in crock pot on low
4. Cook for five to six hours – add more water as needed near end

Hastie Tobacco Shop, Durham Ontario CanadaI have some awesome photos of Solo to post, likely tomorrow. In the meantime, a the end of the post you’ll find some photos from our afternoon walk – or see them full sized here.

It’s worth visiting Flickr to see the photo of Hastie Tobacco Shop, the local Durham smoke shop. It’s been there forever, and is fitted with the most incredible built in cabinetry. Look closely in the photo, and you’ll see that each custom fitted cabinet has a sign on it, indicating what was originally showcased in it – toiletries, ‘sundries’, etc. It’s simply too perfect for words, right down to the fact that it was a combination Tobacco Store/Pool Hall. There are still three or four tables in the back.

I imagine that Hastie was a pretty rockin’ place to hang out, in its heyday. I look at it and picture leather jacketed hoodlums, lounging at the pool table, smokes tucked into the arms of their t-shirts.

The store and building are for sale – I wish I could figure out something awesome to put there that would let the interior remain intact. It’s just too perfectly preserved to see it all torn out and sold for salvage.

French Bulldog Hide n' Seek and Old Timer Nostalgia

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It is a simple fact of life that if you live with French Bulldogs, weird things are going to happen.

Years ago, I had a panic attack when I realized I couldn’t find Leeza, our little cream French Bulldog puppy. We searched the entire house, calling her name, and then fanned out over the entire neighbourhood. None of us could remember letting her outside, but mistakes happen, and puppies manage to escape even securely fenced yards. When you live 500 feet from the steep, rocky shores of Lake Ontario, a missing puppy takes on an entirely new level of fear. Just as we were getting ready to call animal control and the local shelters, we heard a tiny noise coming from inside our massive pine armoire.

Leeza had climbed inside of the bottom cabinet while it was being dusted, and stayed there, curled up quietly and unnoticed, when the doors were closed. She slept through our calls, our whistles, our shaking of treat boxes, and the escalating sounds of our panic, waking up only when it was close to dinner time.

Couch against the wallYesterday, I went upstairs to make a steak and kidney pie, leaving Paris, Bunny and Dexter sleeping on the dog bed in the family room. Paris started barking shortly after I went upstairs, and as usual, I told her to ‘be quiet’ and kept on assembling my pie. When I came downstairs, I could hear Paris barking still, but I couldn’t find her. She wasn’t on the floor, on the bed, or anyplace else to be found. I finally realized where the noise was coming from – behind the couch.

Well, ok – dogs sometimes get stuck behind the couch, although it’s usually Dexter, who is sweet but not quite the sharpest tool in the box. I guess maybe Paris could get stuck, too.

The space underneath the couchA quick look behind the couch showed no sign of Paris, but I could still hear her barking. That’s when I realized – Paris wasn’t behind the couch, she was inside of it. She had somehow managed to get herself behind the couch, and up into the inner working underneath the couch, probably in a quest for some microscopic morsel of dropped food. Paris is nothing if not food motivated. Seeing a panicked brindle head peering out at me and making mournful noises was rather disconcerting, but just moving the couch out still didn’t get Paris to attempt to escape. However she’d gotten in there, she was wedged in good, and she’d need help to get back out. A full size leather La Z Boy recliner couch is heavy, and I had visions of the sharp edged metal frame work coming down on Paris’ head.

Thankfully Sean was home, and he was able to lift the couch, while I held Paris still and then quickly pulled her out. She emerged none the worse for her adventure, and this morning I caught her trying to slide behind the couch once more.

French Bulldogs – more determination than brains sometimes, I swear.

French Bulldog Knuckleheads Journey and EllieAt the end of this post, there are a few new photos of the Frenchie knuckleheads, hanging out. Here’s my favorite one, of the two spaz sisters, Journey and Ellie, having a ‘who can make the silliest face’ competition.

I plan to do a posting of new and updated ‘Where are they now?’ puppy photos next week, so send them in to me if you have a Frenchie from us and are reading this. We want more Solo photos in particular, and some of a certain little white coated Southern Belle hooligan! I’d also like some new pix of some of the old timers out there….

I’m feeling very nostalgic after the death of Tessa’s brother Hammer.

I remember him with Tessa, and Buzzy and Ralph, just like it was yesterday. It’s inconceivable to me that those chubby little red headed puppies are now almost fourteen years old, and that Tessa is the last among them still living. I hope she’s with me still for a long, long, long time.

Red fawn pied French Bulldog puppies