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Delilah goes missing, Grandma looks smug… and fighting the good fight against BSL

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OK,  before you look at the silly picture, everyone needs to read these blog posts –

  1. Luisa’s post on “How to create a dog that will bite somebody” is pure genius, and frighteningly accurate. Best part (worst part?) – Her photos of a ‘killer pit bull’, incarcerated in Texas for killing a child. It is to weep, honestly it is.
  2. If you’re not already despairing enough, go and read this post, on the caveat blog, about why the fight against breed specific legislation is everyone’s fight – from spaniel owners to Golden owners to cat owners. Do something about it, today – before it’s too late.Consider this – French Bulldogs? Those cute little dogs that look so silly here on my site, and in your lap? They’re on the banned list in a lot of cities already, and the ‘about to be banned list’ in even more, including the province of Ontario. Still think this isn’t your fight?

OK, here’s the picture. Click for full(er) sized.

French Bulldog Gargoyle en Paree…

Thursday Thirteen – 13 useful tools for grooming a French Bulldog

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I’ve limited this to the things I use over and over again – if not on a daily basis, at least with some regularity. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.

Zoom Groom
1. Rubber Curry

This thing is just about the best item I’ve ever used for getting rid of loose hair and pet dander. I use it in between furminator-ing the dogs, when their coats just need a regular brushing. I also use it in the tub, while I’m bathing them, to spread shampoo and conditioner through their coats. I personally like the Zoom Groom, but almost any basic rubber curry will do.

Furminator

2. Furminator

Yes, I’m a convert to the holy church of Furminator, amen. This is the best thing since sliced bread for removing dead hair from the sleek coat of a Frenchie (and if you didn’t know Frenchies shed, you obviously don’t own one yet). A caveat – use it gently, because over vigorous use can scrape skin and break coat.

Blunt tipped scissors

3. Blunt tipped scissors

This is all I use for trimming ear hairs, whiskers and stray hairs on the tail. It can’t cut them, and it doesn’t freak them out like the sound and vibration of clippers.

Nail Trimmers

4. Guillotine Nail Trimmers

The basic old stand by – for when I’m too lazy to pull out the dremel. No matter how many fancy shmancy new nail trimmers come on the market, this is the one I come back to.

Dremel Nail Grinder
5. Dremel Nail Grinder

For show ring short nails, you really need a Dremel. Nothing else can get a French Bulldog’s nails short enough, without bleeding. I suggest that novices get either a groomer or their breeder to show them how to use this, and that you introduce your dog to it as young as possible. Peronsally, I use the corded model – as much as the cord free design is convenient, the dead battery part is a pain in the neck, and a distinct possibility when doing nails on multiple dogs. However, a single dog household would likely prefer to get the cordless model.

Bio Groom Sure Clot
6. Styptic Powder

Unfortunately, there will almost always be nail trimming incidents from time to time, and that means bleeding. I like the Sure Clot powder from Bio Groom, but in a pinch good old ‘Kwik Stop’ will also do the trick. I’ve never had much luck with the pens, gels or liquids.

Baby Wipes

7. Baby Wipes

I use unscented, thick baby wipes for loads of things – wiping down faces, getting loose hair and dander off of coats, wiping down muddy paws, shining up coat just before entering the ring, the dreaded butt danglies wipe off, and general ‘eww, what the heck did you get into?’ maintenance. You can get fancy ones made just for pets, but anything gentle enough for a baby’s bum is probably fine for your Frenchie’s skin and coat.

Desitin
8. Zinc Ointment

Another product made for human babies, but useful on Frenchies. I use zinc ointment on those Frenchies who are prone to skin fold irritations. Skin fold irritations, just like diaper rash, are usually caused by moisture being trapped in creases in the skin. Zinc ointment protects skin and hair from moisture. I clean the folds with witch hazel, then slather on zinc ointment in the folds, resulting in a dog that seems to be wearing camo face paint. Added bonus – the other dogs get to try to lick it off. I prefer Desitin’s formula, which has as pleasant scent.
Witch hazel

9. Witch Hazel

This gentle liquid is what I dab on cotton balls and use to clean skin folds on faces. I use the Organic formula made by Humphrey’s Organic. Whichever brand you use, make SURE it’s rubbing alcohol free.

Diamond Eye Tear Stain Remover

10. Diamond Eyes

The big guns for getting rid of tear stains. For severe cases, I clip and then apply twice daily. It’s the only thing I’ve ever found that actually works. I use it in conjunction with daily wipe downs, and in between using zinc ointment. Oh, and yes – I’ve used Angel Eye powdered food additive, and no – it didn’t work for me.

B&B ShampooB&B Conditioner

11 & 12. Bumble & Bumble Shampoo and Conditioner

OK, maybe it seems excessive to use anything this luxurious on your pet, but hello? These are French Bulldogs we’re talking about here, so don’t they deserve a little luxe in their lives? Besides, Bumble and Bumble’s Gentle shampoo is baby safe, smells great, and leaves coats shining like silk. Their super rich conditioner leaves coats smooth, soft and dander free, and is great for winter. I also have used half strength body wash – any gentle brand, although I prefer Lush. For showing, I use the John Frieda line for colored hair – their Blonde Shampoo and color glaze leave creams positively glistening. I don’t think it’s gentle enough for regular use, however.

grooming table

13. Pet grooming table

This might seem excessive, but even single pet owners will find that once they’ve groomed on a proper table, there’s no going back to flimsy substitutes. The surface is non slip, the height on a good table is adjustable, and you can reach your dog from all angles. Prices on folding models tend to be reasonable, and a decent quality table will last for a lifetime, so it’s a good investment.

A Memorial for Ellie

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Ellie at Cherry Beach in 2006If you are in the Toronto area, you are invited to join us this coming Sunday while we say good bye to our sweet baby girl.

Sean and I have decided to scatter her ashes over Lake Ontario from the point at Cherry Beach. This was Ellie’s favorite place in the world, and we can’t think of anywhere she’d rather spend eternity. When we would drive towards the park entrance, her excitement level would grow until she was literally yipping with anticipation, and this in a dog who rarely got excited about much of anything.

We will be there sometime late morning/early afternoon. Anyone interested in joining us is asked to drop me an email for exact time and meeting location.

By the way, we are saving enough of her ashes to make a small memorial necklace for both Sean and I, so she can sit as close to our hearts forever as she did throughout her life.

Carol

Delilah is French for "Devil Dog"

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It’s quite possible that Delilah wins the ‘weirdest French Bulldog ever‘ award, or at least the award for ‘weirdest French Bulldog ever owned or known by me‘ award.

First of all, she still will not come all the way down the stairs. This is not because she’s incapable of it (unlike Dexter, who’s so large in the head that walking downhill causes him to tumble in a slinky-like fashion).

Our stair routine goes something like this –

The stairs from our basement are open at about the half way mark. Delilah, who has no issues going up the stairs, will only come down as far as the opening on the stairs. She lurks there, popping her head over the edge to see what we’re doing. My computer sits right beneath this opening, and I often look up and see her peeking over the side, checking to see if I’ve decided to spontaneously bake her some dog cookies. If she’s in the mood, she will sometimes leap into my arms from this point when I walk over to see her. Usually, though, she waits until I try to approach her, then bolts back to the top of the stairs. It’s like she thinks I have cooties or something. Once she’s sure I’m safely far away from the stairs, she’ll come back down again, for a second look.

Here’s a video of her playing the stair game with me –

If this isn’t enough, there’s the fact that of all the dogs, she’s the only one of our dogs who just will not come when she is called, thus leaving me to play a little game I like to call “Come and get the nice cookie so Mommy can tackle you like a sausage shaped football, you infuriating little beast”. Actually, the term ‘like to call’ is more of a misnomer for ‘am forced to screech every time she gets outside the fence’. Luckily for me, she’s completely food motivated, and would sell her dark little brindle soul for a dried up crumb of milkbone, so I’ll be working on the ‘come!’ command diligently over the next while.

Oh, and I should explain about chairs. Delilah doesn’t sit on them, like normal dogs – she scales the back of them, like some sort of mutant goat. I admit that she’s my ‘go to’ lap dog for chair sitting, but she doesn’t take being left behind very well if I have to get up for any reason. In fact, she barks with a sort of affronted indignation that’s almost as funny as it is alarming. Here’s a short clip of her Majesty expressing her opinion on the topic of my getting up and leaving her.

I’ve threatened to send her to Chicago to live with Hope and Dax, but I like them too much to inflict this kind of punishment on them.

A Sucker's Game

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I have, from time to time, decided that breeding dogs is a sucker’s game, and that I’m personally not going to play it any more. Usually, this takes the form of my ignoring all email, and just recently I added in “and I’m not blogging anymore, either”, for good measure.

Breeding dogs is a sucker’s game when you learn that a dog you love has died, without you there to hold her in her final moments. When you arrive home too late to even go with her on that final trip to the vet’s office. When you cry tears of frustration and anger at your own ineffectualness at doing anything to save her life, to keep her safe, to make her better.

Breeding dogs is a sucker’s game when the emails start to trickle in, with stories of how the ten and twelve and thirteen year olds you’ve bred are dead, or dying. Old age is never old enough, and the pain you feel for yourself, and the people who’ve lost their companions just doesn’t seem justified. Words fail you – what words are there when someone tells you “And then I told the vet it was time to let him go”?

Breeding dogs is a sucker’s game when you learn that the bitch you’d been waiting on isn’t actually pregnant. Haha, seems those ultrasounds aren’t so reliable, and I guess she was just fat. All that extra protein and those mid morning scrambled egg snacks sure can pack the weight on a gal. I guess there’s always next time. Or not, since this is the fourth time you’ve tried to breed her.

Breeding dogs is a sucker’s game when it all hits you at once, and you have to pull off the highway to cry it all out, because you can’t see clearly enough to drive at the moment. It’s a combination of frustration and anger and disappointment and a sense of overwhelming failure that can culminate in your throwing your hands up and saying “This is a sucker’s game, and I quit”.

Breeding dogs is a sucker’s game when you have to inform all of those people who’ve been waiting patiently for puppies that there aren’t any – no puppies, no idea what went wrong, and no idea when there will be another attempt. Politely referring them on to other breeders, and still getting angry, irate emails from people asking why you’ve ‘wasted their time’ with waiting can be enough to make anyone decide to quit.

Breeding dogs is a sucker’s game when you get email asking how does one, exactly, know when a dog is about to go into labor? Because, you see, they threw their dogs together into the yard, and now she’s really big and she’s making a nest in the closet, and she’s leaking milk, and what do I do now? And what’s a c section? And can you help me sell them? And you’re polite, and helpful, because it’s really all about the dog, at this moment, and not about giving in to your urge to scream in frustration and lecture about uterine inertia and why breeders have homes lined up before they whelp a litter. And then you realize you’d have to explain what ‘whelp’ means.

So, you contemplate quitting, because really – who needs it? You could raise orchids, or maybe Koi. Perhaps get into goats (cheese making might be fun). Dog breeding, after all, is a sucker’s game.

Until you get an email with photos of a girl, who goes back to your girl, who is out of your favorite girl, and did you want her? Then you get another email, and it’s that puppy you sold, and he’s playing with his soccer ball, and they sure do love him. There’s that other email, from those people who lost their dog to old age, and they think they’re ready now for another one, and do you have one, will you soon?

And you realize you miss puppy breath, and that a litter now would mean puppies playing in the grass, and there’s that play center you wanted to build for them, and then it hits you – it’s a sucker’s game, but it’s also your life, and it’s been a pretty good one.