Hope, Teddy and Luke at the FBDCA Nationals
Check out Hope, posing with two of my very favorite boys – Teddy (on the left) and Luke (on the right). Can you believe how much they’ve grown? I think they both look fabulous.
Hope, Luke, Teddy and Luke’s owner, Andrea Morden Moore, are all in Wisconsin for the FBDCA National Specialty. Hope has a ton more photos over on her Flickr stream – check it out! Loads of Frenchie photo goodness.
I’ve seen a few debates rage lately about just what, exactly, is a ‘reasonable’ adoption fee.
Some people believe that there’s no justification in asking more than a few hundred dollars for a healthy rescue dog. They say that anything excess is just gouging by rescue groups.
In some cases, such the new influx of ‘fake’ rescues that are little more than fronts for puppy mill clear out merchadise, this is probably true. Those ‘rescues’ (which are really just companies that re sell older puppy mill breeding stock and unhealthier puppies that the large brokers either won’t touch, or have returned), this is true, and their high adoption fees are how they turn a profit.
For the majority of rescues, however (legitimate groups like French Bulldog Village, Chicago French Bulldog Rescue, and FBRN), adoption fees on healthy dogs work more like insurance policies. The fees which adopters give for the healthy dogs help to offset the thousands (and sometimes tens of thousands) of dollars which rescues must put towards the care of the older, the unhealthy and the special needs dogs which make up the bulk of rescues.
Take Hope, for example. Hope is the very definition of a ‘special needs’ rescue. A former puppy mill dog, Hope came to Chicago French Bulldog Rescue lame, emaciated and close to death. After months of physical therapy, water therapy and tender loving care, Hope is on the mend.
Donations to rescue, and the adoptions fees of younger, healthier, in demand dogs help to pay for Hope’s care. It’s the very essence of what makes an empathetic society – the more fortunate carry the burden of the less.
And after all, you’ve gotta have Hope, right?
If nothing else, just watching her swim will give you a moment of pure zen.
Indian Summer French Bulldog Video after the Cut
On the weekend, Phyllis, Lukey and Peanut Butter all left for their new homes. Phyllis flew home with Amanda, and seemed quite content to be tucked into her travel bag. Lukey and Peanut Butter were picked up by David and Theresa, mom and dad to the suave Mr. Maurice (formerly know as the Cow Puppy) and to the late and much missed Mr. Bumby. Sailor, Bumby’s sister, had Theresa picked out as a soft touch from the moment she arrived, and did her best to monopolize all of Theresa’s time (and petting energy).
Lukey is catching a ride with David and Theresa to Chicago, where he’ll be spending some time with his Auntie Hope (and an undoubtedly unimpressed Dax). After that, Hope will take Luke on the final leg of what I’ve been calling “The Frenchie Puppy Underground Railroad”, on to Andrea, who managed to bung up her rotator cuff and arm while doing something athletic. This would have made it near impossible for Andrea to make the long drive from Illinois all on her own, so alternate – and creative! – methods of transportation were required. Way to pull together, everybody. It always amazes me the outpouring of love and support I’ve found within the French Bulldog community when it’s called upon. Even within show circles, while we might all bitch about each other from time to time (shut up, you know it’s true), when push comes to shove, we’ve got each others backs.
Go Team Frenchie!
It sure looks empty outside with just Pammy, Dwight, Pickle and Leah left. I plan to spend this week taking as many photos as possible.
In the meantime, here’s a video I shot on Friday, showcasing all of the kooks in their nutjob glory. Well, other than Peanut Butter, who sat there, looking stoic and handsome and very sedate. Sigh… did I mention that neither he nor Luke even spared me a backwards glance as I helped load them into the car?
Frenchies sure are ungrateful little monkeys sometimes!
Video after the cut.