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Catching up with our Frenchie Kids: Luke!

Luke says “It’s hard work being this fabulous”.

 

Since we’ve caught up with the fabulous Mr. Teddy, international super model, I thought it would be only fair to catch up with his equally fabulous half brother, Luke.

Luke, also known as Ch Bullmarket Newhope at SpiritDragon, is owned by Dr. Andrea Morden-Moore, DVM.  Andrea has been busy as a bee getting Luke out and about, and I’m thrilled she took time out from her schedule to write me a quick note about what Luke has been up to.

 

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Hope, Teddy and Luke

Hope, Teddy and Luke at the FBDCA Nationals

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.

The Boys are Done!

Dexter with co owner Sue Simon, and Luke with handler Lana

Dexter with co owner Sue Simon, and Luke with handler Lana

We have some fabulous show news to share! Thanks to the able handling of co owner Sue Simon, Dexter is now officially known as Champion Bullmarket Absolut Darkly Dexter.

Sue owner handled Dexter to all his American wins, something that some people would have you believe is now pretty much impossible in the American Frenchie ring, where handlers are seen to be the dominant force to reckon with.

As if Dex’s win wasn’t enough, his son Luke managed to also finish his Championship just this weekend, taking Winners Dog in Owensborough, Kentucky for his final win. Luke, now better known as Champion Bullmarket New Hope at Spiritdragon, is co owned with Dr. Andrea Morden Moore, DVM.

The next goals for Luke are for him to complete all of the required tests for his CHIC health clearances, and to take his chances in the ring at the Wisconsin FBDCA Nationals. Luke will also be competing in the rally and agility rings, with Andrea handling and training.

Way to go, boys! We’re so proud of you both.

Jam and Dog Shows

Strawberry Jam and Fresh Corn Muffins

Strawberry Jam and Fresh Corn Muffins. See the sticker on the small jar? I bought 2 dozen of these for .5 cents each at a garage sale this spring.

So, I was sitting around, whining about the fact that, while Leah and Luke are out doing all kinds of fun dog show stuff down in the states, I’m sitting here with no one to show. That’s when it occurred to me that I could show Delilah. And why not? She moves beautifully, she has a great head, and while her front is less than stellar, her over all structure is still definitely finishable. So, I decided to enter her in the Hamilton Kennel Club shows, which for some odd reason take place on June 25, 26 and 27th – that’s a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I guess they were working on the theory that some businesses were closing the 26th in honor of Canada Day, which is actually July 2st. Or something. Either way, enter we did, only to hear a lot of whining from Sean about how he’d been away for twelve days, and there I was, on almost the only day off we’d be sharing together, trotting off to a dog show.

Fine, so I’d skip Thursday, and just enter her on Saturday and Sunday. That wasn’t much better – more whining about how much stuff we really needed to get caught up on around the house, and what about grocery shopping? And lawn mowing? And were we ever going to swim together in the pool?

Fine. I skipped Friday, even after I’d paid for and entered the show. I’d just go Saturday – that’s today – instead. That’s where Delilah came in – last night, she’s outside peeing, and I notice blood on the ground. Of course she’s bleeding – the one thing that you just don’t do is bring a bitch who’s in season to a dog show, so naturally Delilah would wait until the night before the only dog show I have concrete plans to take her to and she’d start bleeding now. Not next week, now.

This morning, after a nice leisurely sleep in, I get up, check Delilah’s bottom, and discover – nothing. No blood to be seen. I know I wasn’t hallucinating – there’s still some blood stains on the back patio. I can only assume she has a low level bladder infection, which would have in no way stopped me from bringing her to the show today.

Personally, I suspect this was all a plot on Delilah’s part. She’d heard the weather for this weekend, and said to herself “Walk around outside, in the rain? For nothing but a measly piece of liver? You’ve got to be joking”.

So, I spent this morning finishing off the last batch of strawberry jam, baking corn muffins and making semolina pizza dough. Delilah and Bunny ate bits of muffin off of the floor, and traded smug looks with one another on how remarkably easy it is to get humans to do your bidding.

The jam and the muffins turned out quite nicely. The pizza dough will be turned into Stromboli for tonight’s dinner – sausage, mushroom, peppers, fresh mozzarella and home made tomato sauce.

I guess that probably does beat standing around at a dog show in the rain.

updated: while I was writing this, Andrea phoned to tell me that Luke took Winners Dog and Best of Winners today in Valparaiso IN for a 4 pt major! Go Luke!

A Great Weekend in MI!

French Bulldogs at Kalamazoo dog show - Bullmarket Absolut Darkly Dexter and Bullmarket NewHope at SpiritDragon

Dexter and Luke shooting "I het you" looks at each other

Congrats to Luke and Dexter on a great weekend in Kalamazoo!

Dex, his son Luke and his other son Manny each took a turn winning the dog points at the Kalamazoo, Michigan show. Unfortunately, the major broke, but it was still a great turn out! Sue managed to get some photos of Luke and Dexter together, but it wasn’t easy. There’s apparently no love lost between them, what with boys (and their hormones) being boys.

Sue’s other big news is that she won the bitch points with her little girl, Cindi. Way to go, Sue and Cindi!

Still waiting to hear back from Kristina and Amanda on how the other Dexter kids, Leah and Finnlee (Delilah’s daughter out of Dex) did over on the east coast. I hope it was another great weekend for them, as well!

This was Finnlee’s first weekend in the ring, so let’s hope she didn’t ‘pull a Delilah‘ on Amanda (that’s my nickname for anytime a dog makes a fool out of you – and especially if it seems intentional).

I am making plans to attend the Hamilton Kennel Club Dog Show, on Saturday June 26th.  I’ll be showing Delilah, because apparently I am a glutton for punishment.  I am fully expecting her to do something horrid to me in the ring – either she’ll fall asleep on the grooming table, or she’ll simply refuse to move on the down and back. Either of which would be a nice tribute to her grandmother, Tessa, who at one point or another in her show career did both of those things, with a spectacular flying leap off of the grooming table added in for good measure.

Details on the show can be found here – http://www.canineshowservices.com/hamilton/hamiltonpl2010.pdf

If you’d like to come out and meet with us to ‘talk Frenchies’, please drop me a line. Video cameras will be strictly banned from ringside – the last thing I need is video of Delilah winding the lead around my feet until I fall flat on my face going viral on YouTube.