Sing "Ho!" for the Life of a Bear, Sing "Ho! for the Life of a Pooh!

What is this we hear?


The handsome, winsome, charming Pooh Bear is shockingly still in his foster home?

What? Why? How can this be? He's stuffed with fluff, for heaven's sake!


This boy is a gem! He's housetrained, kid-friendly, totally lovable and ready for a forever family. He only asks to be an only dog, and he will do his very best to make his people happy. He adores attention from people--he's a complete velcro puppy--and he's made lots of friends at the vet's office and everywhere else he goes. He's in perfect health, apart from what might be the start of a cataract in one eye.

Check out Pooh's bio. See if it isn't time for him to move away from the 100 acre wood and into your home.

Look at that face! He's adorable! squeals
The Frog Princess

Smeagol in the Rye!

Smeagol is modeling some marvelous Puppia harnesses, currently offered for sale in a variety of Frenchie flattering flavors in the FBRN shopping mall.

For as long as he can remember--back to about Thursday--Smeagol has wanted to be a crossing guard for schoolchildren.


This beautiful orange harness helps him feel he really could stand out there in traffic and make sure the little ones get across safely.

Of course, if from time to time a comely Frenchie maid might accompany her children to school, Mr. Suave would, in the chivalrous way of chevaliers from times gone by, assist her.

Yes, indeed. Smeagol is the kind of frog one simply doesn't see very often anymore: kind to children, polite to their mothers, dashing with the ladies.

It's no wonder he has such a loyal following.

And doesn't he look smashing in uniform? gushes
The Frog Princess

Tobias Talks Back!

Tobias is not a morning dog. His foster mom shared this early am photo with us as evidence of Tobias' grumpy morning persona. We aren't sure we want to know what he's saying. That kind of pillow talk is probably not rated G!

He may be grumpy, but he's still cute, avers
The Frog Princess

Roma Update

Roma's foster mom wrote to tell us about Roma's playdate with a tiny chihuahua:

"A friend of mine has this little teacup Chihuahua that is 14 weeks old. He has had all his shots and been wormed so I felt he would be safe for Roma. She brought him over for the day so Roma could socialize with some thing her own size and also just be a puppy. Here are a couple pictures of the two of them. She had a blast with him."

And she told us about Roma's latest doctor's visit:
"Everything went well. She now weighs 3.33 lbs. Next time we go in they are going to do a ultrasound on her heart and liver just to check everything out...He says her heart and lungs sound very good but before placing her under he wants to make sure. He wants us to continue with the feeding routine she is on since she is doing so well. She had a 0.8 lb weight gain. She will go back in two weeks."

She's growing like a tiny weed! exclaims
The Frog Princess

Olaf Makes a Hit!

Here is the note Olaf's foster mom received from his new family:

"WE ARE IN LOVE!!! Olaf is awesome, he is such a wonderful cuddly sweetheart. He and Huxley are already great friends, they just play, pass out, play, pass out. The other night we went out to dinner, put Olaf in his crate, and when we got home Huxley was sleeping right next to the crate. Normally he sleeps on the bed or couch, but nope,
he was right next to the crate keeping his brother company. My mom, dad, brother, and his girlfriend came over the other night to meet Olaf. They were all crazy about him.
My mom gave Huxley attention first, you know, like a good grandma should, but she
couldn't take her eyes off Olaf. She said if she didn't have her own dog at home she would try and steal him, hehe.

We had a nice weekend, lots of walks around the neighborhood, and met some new doggie friends. He seems to be adjusting really well. He is had a few accidents in the house, but we are working on getting him into a routine, and as long as we stick to that he is a very good boy.

He does love toys, Huxley's stuffed skunk, raccoon, and lobster are all missing their tails. He also really liked my woven leather sandals, but we told he toys are much more fun. He is going tomorrow with me to meet his new vet.

Well, we finally decided Olaf is going to stay Olaf. Jude loves that name, and I think it is pretty cute, so its going to stay. When my family was over we were going through some name ideas, but everyone just keep coming back to Olaf. I've been calling him Big O, but Olaf it is!

Thank you again for choosing us, I know its only been a few days, but already I couldn't imagine my life without him. He is just wonderful,and you were the best foster mom ever for him!

Here are some more photos of our new boy Olaf.

ps - you were right, he gives the best puppy kisses!"

Ah, yes! The frogs are indeed premier osculationists, opines
The Frog Princess

Ella Goes Home!

Ella's new mom flew up from the Southwest to Minnesota's Twin Cities to pick up her new girl!

The family has had a Frenchie and a Rhodesian Ridgeback in the past, and Ella's charm, energy levels and pretty coloring will recall the best of both breeds.
It was a beautiful day for an adoption, as you can see, and both mom and frog could not look any happier without exploding into many hundreds of small pieces.

We get the best looking adopters! boasts

The Frog Princess

Twila and Roma

Here's an update on Roma for those who have been patiently waiting! Roma was scheduled for a surgery on June 17, but we rescheduled that surgery following some tummy upsets. Seems we were moving Roma along a bit too quickly and she wasn't ready for as much solid food as she was getting. So we backed up a bit, and went back to smaller feedings more frequently. Roma's foster mom is also fostering the beautiful Twila, who has come such a long way since she's been with us. "Well here are my two lovely fosters together. Thought you might like to see how loving Twila is with this baby. I am sitting right by them because Twila does get excited and starts hopping around. I wanted to be able to snatch Roma up before getting squashed if I had to."
Twila no longer wears a diaper and is able to get around without any problems in her go-cart. She attended the French Bulldog Club of America's National Specialty show last year and won all kinds of hearts. She's just the sweetest girl. And she's more than ready for a home of her own.
If you are interested in adopting a girl who has worked hard, suffered much and retained her sunny spirit, check out Twila's bio.
She's inspirational! says
The Frog Princess

Pepper's Happy Ending

Here's a note we got from Pepper's foster mom when she sent us the photos of Pepper and her forever mom:
"...I stopped by for a visit the other day to pick up some stuff I'd loaned Pepper's mom. What a happy pair!





Pepper greeted me and gave me a couple of quick kisses, but stuck to her new mom like a burr. We sat on the floor while we chatted and Pepper was right in her lap. When I went to leave Pepper's mom asked Pepper if she wanted to come say goodbye to me.




That dog wasn't about to move! I guess she was worried I'd take her with me. It's so great to see them in their happy homes!"

These are the moments we work for and wait for. Many thanks to our foster families for making all these sunny memories possible.
The Frog Princess

Check out our Junior Volunteer Program!

A month or two ago, one of our volunteers sent us this note. It's especially nice to include it with our announcement of a new program we've developed. Here's her story:


"I wanted to share this story with you all...

We're having a yard sale to benefit FBRN this weekend & all my neighbors know... some are jockeying for first rights to it since they know I'm a ridiculous shopper that changes stuff around her house all the time... yes it is a disease, I should probably start my own support group. Anyhow, the most surprising thing happened to me today...

The door bell rang & so me & Remi answered the door leaving Rudi lounging away (we call it lampin' out around our house) on the sofa& our foster puggle, Petey, sleeping on his blankie in the kitchen.There stood my neighbor's littlest girl, Amanda, 8 years old, all dressed up in her cute little dress fresh from school. In her hands
she had a bag of rolled up pennies. She said to me, "I know Mommy sent you some of our old stuff to sell at the sale for the doggies at your rescue place but I wanted to give you my pennies because I've been saving them for something really special. I want the doggies to have my pennies so you can buy them some food".

I thanked her & so did Remi, who is little Ms. Social Butterfly & she
waved goodbye & went back home. Now, I know for certain that Amanda has been saving her pennies for a long time so while 11 rolls of coins is not a lot for us adults, 11 rolls of coins for the little ones is a lot of savings to part with. All I can say is bless her little heart, it is purely sweet!!!!"

Several months ago, we got a letter from a young woman who wanted to know what she could do to help FBRN dogs. It gave us an idea to start a program to reach out to other young people who might like to get involved. If you know of someone under 18 who is interested in getting their feet wet in dog rescue, steer them over here!
We've heard that a lot of schools are including a community service/volunteer component to the curriculum and leaving the particulars of where, when and how to students and their families. If you have a child with some hours to do, we'd be delighted to put your child's energy to work on behalf of some needy French bulldogs.
Isn't that a nice logo? One of our volunteers made it. She's expecting her first FBRN Junior volunteer any day now.
The logo is available on stuff at our Cafe Press site.
Consider doing something with your children this summer to benefit the Frenchies of FBRN. If you think of some good ideas for fun activities, please leave a note in the comments. We'd love to hear what people come up with!
The Frog Princess

Penelope Cruises In

Penelope has been around the block a couple of times.

Given away by her original owner, she was passed on to a third family who had her for only a few days beforethey decided they couldn't afford her medical care.

Our California volunteer, who had been approved only days before, collected Penelope from her surrendering family and immediately noticed that Penelope was urinating blood. She got her to the vet and the next day Penelope was scheduled for emergency surgery. Here's what her foster mom said:

"Penelope is a real sweetie, but we knew very little about herbackground. There was basically no medical record, and the people who surrendered her said that they'd only had her for a few days.

"During her first few hours I noticed that Penelope experienced a lot of discomfort when urinating. Today I was able to get her to the vet and she was diagnosed with 2 HUGE bladder stones. After seeing the x-ray, I cannot believe this poor little girl was even walking around. To my untrained eye, the stones seemed to take up 80% of her bladder."

During her surgery, Penelope had two bladder stones removed. They were the size--according to someone who saw them--of Swedish meatballs: slightly smaller than a quarter in circumference. This girl has been in serious pain for a long time.

She's going up on the foster roster during this week's update, but for now, we are hoping for some good thoughts and wishes for poor Penelope, who is, even with the sutures, much more comfortable today than this time last week. And her foster mom says that even with her history of pain, she is a dear soul and as loving and friendly as she can be.

Silly thing doesn't know enough to play things up for treats and snuggles, sighs
The Frog Princess

A Goober Named Raisin!

Here's a new girl who came to us this past week. She's being fostered in the great Midwest. She's cute as a bug and very lovable. Her new foster parents can't say enough nice things about...
"Raisin...and her name fits her perfectly. She is dark, sweet, and wrinkly! Raisin was surrendered by her loving owner for displaying a aggressive behavior towards other dogs and strangers walking by the house and he had moved from the country into the city of Duluth. He wanted to give her a chance before she did something wrong... She is a 5 year old, brindle female and is sweet as can be towards people. Her history...isn't much. She came from Russia. Her health is good as far as I can tell, she has lots of energy, loves to play and loves to kiss! Her wellness appointment is next week and then I will know more. She has shown aggression towards the dogs in our house...but she has only been here a few days and it seems to be getting better. She enjoys being outside, going for long walks around the neighborhood, napping in our bed and riding in the truck."

Of course she likes riding in the truck! She's a country girl. We just hope her name isn't short for Raisin' Hell!

The Frog Princess

Looky! LU!

We got an update on one of our lovely creamy girls this week. Her name is Lu, and she is a vision! She looks so cool and sweet in the dark green fresh grass. If you'd like to know more about her, check out her bio here.

"I guess all frenchies look a little like pigs and Lu is no exception. The thing is, even pigs themselves, don't sound as much like pigs as Lu does. She snorts almost 24/7. Snorting, we've discovered, is another language that Lu speaks fluently. It's not just random snorting. Many of the snorts mean something and we recognize a pattern to it. When you walk into her room, for instance, she lets out lo-o-o-ng welcoming snorts, as if to say, "H-E-E-E-Y-Y! I'm so glad to see you! Could you pick me up please?" When one of our dogs gets too nosey around her pen, she gives off short warning snorts followed by a disapproving huff. I can just imagine she's thinking, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't even think about sniffing anything I've got, you filthy beast!"
And it's like the long huff at the end is her way of counting to ten while trying not to lose her cool. If I'm on the phone she behaves like most children vying for Mommy's attention. Her snorts gradually get louder and louder and louder. I know she's saying, "Excuse me. I hate to bother you, but I've been patiently awaiting your arrival all day. I would really like a little attention if that's o.k." Inevitably the person on the other end of the phone says, "Is that your foster dog? Oh my God. She sounds so funny." But my favorite snorting pattern is when she's in my lap and she's enjoying all the hugs and kisses. That's when her snorts are low and rhythmical, like a cat purring. In order to love on her while you're watching television, you have to turn up the volume, but it's so worth it.
It's those moments that make you so proud to be in the presence of a French Pig, I mean Bulldog.

We felt Lu was a bit thin when we got her and like any good pig parents, we've been trying to fatten her up. The vet who surrendered her had been feeding her 2 cups of food a day, but admitted that Lu frequently walked away from her food without eating. Lu weighed 22 lbs. and we have a male Frenchie who weighs 32 lbs., who eats less per day. We assumed Lu was walking away, because she just wasn't hungry enough for that much food. We immediately began feeding her the same amount we feed our big boy (1- 1/4 cups) and she never once left a single morsel in her bowl. Two months into her stay with us, we went to the vet and were shocked to discover she'd LOST 2 lbs.!! The vet thinks she simply has a high metabolism and that she needs to eat more than the average pig, um...dog, her size. So we've increased her food another 1/4 cup per day. So far, she's still eating every morsel. Whoever adopts her should know, Lu looks like a pig, sounds like a pig and apparently eats like a pig."


And just what is wrong with that may we ask? huffs
The Frog Pigcess