Lucky Lu: A Card Sharp's Tale

As you can imagine, the life of a card sharp leads to all sorts of bad company and poor choices. Before long, Lucky Lu found herself banished from every table. She no longer received dinner invitations from friends. When walking through the park, formerly cordial neighbors gave her the cut direct and walked past without so much as an involuntary tail wag or ear flick. She grew depressed. She took to her bed.

After a time, Lucky Lu emerged, defiant, from her blues. It was time to move on, Lucky Lu decided. And what better place to go than to that land where fallen women and shameless exhibitionists have always found a haven and a welcome: Hollywood.

Lucky Lu was gambling on a career in show biz.

After a visit to a salon, Lucky Lu set off to her first audition. A TV movie: "Luna, Froggier Princess!" With her boughten tousled tresses flowing over her shoulders, Lu made her way to 20th Century Frog Studios, and a life of fame and fortune!

An hour later, she emerged, outraged, disheveled, her glorious polyester locks askew and her dignity compromised. Lucky Lu had found herself, as so many hopeful young women before her, hoist by her own ambition onto the dangerously plush and deceptively cushy casting couch!

Fallen though she may be, Lucky Lu gathered the rags and tatters of her dignity about her and trotted away from the site of the couchy debauchery, and out into the smoggy air.

Back home once more, Lucky Lu thought long and hard. She looked at herself. She squinted at her reflection and pursed her lips. Then Lucky Lu rid herself of her absurd plastic hair, and she stepped into the warm and bubbly baptism of the bath. She made the water hot. She made the bubbles deep and thick!

She washed away the sin and the slimy traces of prurient producers' paddling paws!



She scrubbed away the memories of her shocking slip into the grip of a gambler's life!

Each bursting bubble bore away the dirt of debasement and depravity!

No more the shame and loneliness of life as a card sharp!

No more the floozy's fun in the Hollywood sun!

Washed and dried! Sanctified! De-skankified! De-flea'd, indeed! Pure, for sure!



Safe again in the welcoming arms of her own foster family!

Free once more to walk among her forgiving fellows in the park as an equal and a friend!

Lu has returned to clean and simple living! Tickles and kisses from her foster mamma,
some time in the yard with a big blue ball, and a satisfying game of fetch with a pretty pink toy: these are thrills enough for our Lu.

That's right: just plain Lu.

If you think you can provide these things for Lu, you might get lucky yourself!

Check out her bio and see if you and she were meant to be!

There's just something about a sadder but wiser gal, admits

The Frog Princess

Lucky Lu: Card Sharp

One of our foster girls, Lu, has developed a taste for cards.


We hate to see this in a French bulldog, because we know it can lead to trouble.



French bulldogs don't lose gracefully.
























We have even known one or two to cheat!



"Oo! Look! What's that?!"











Look! See? See? She's peeking at that man's cards! Oh, it is shocking!
























And when she gets caught with an ace rolled up in her collar, do you think she feels the least bit sorry? Even a little bit ashamed of herself? No, she does not!
























In fact, she is completely shameless! Even when she gets caught and she is banished from play, she comes back to the table--in disguise!




Please, people! Don't teach your Frenchies to play gin or poker! It just leads to bad things...come back soon to learn about the fall of Lucky Lu, Card Sharp!
(to be continued) promises
The Frog Princess

FBRN at Reliant Show in Houston, Texas, this weekend

FBRN volunteers are available to answer your questions and talk about FBRN at the Reliant show in Texas this weekend! Some of our volunteers are showing their dogs and if you play your cards right, you might be invited to meet and greet the French bulldog stars of tomorrow, today!

Here's the link to the show:http://www.reliantdogshows.com/. Our volunteer says they'll be over by the vendors at a booth. Here is a photo of some of our usual suspects, taken last year at the Reliant show. You may see some of these faces this year, as well!

If you are planning to be at the show, stop by and say hi! Get a Frenchie kiss from one of the frogdogs and get some information about FBRN.

We have been informed by reliable sources that our volunteers are ALREADY having a very good time! Join them! invites
The Frog Princess

Ebay Auction This Week!

You will recognize two of our darling departed FBRN fosters, Churchill and Hercule, featured in this charming original artwork by Stacey Balagot.



It's available on eBay this week.

We are so grateful to the talented, generous, kind people who offer their work to us for auction or sale. What a lovely way to share their gifts. You can see this work on eBay here

Yvette and Skooter Play and Play!

Here are Skooter and Yvette, playing their hearts out!

Yvette is the puppy mill girl who has been so wary of the resident Frenchies at her foster home. Skooter is the foster who won't take "no!" for an answer. He has brought her out of her shell.

It must be good for you to watch dogs playing. Certainly better than TV! claims
The Frog Princess

Roma Eats!

Here's the latest on our gorgeous cleft palate puppy, Roma.

"Well, Roma went to my vet and started with her first shots. We tried her on little cubes of chicken and cheese. She did well and so now she is getting little cubes of food. I have given her cubes of apples, potatoes, chicken, chicken hot dogs and cheese.
I am going to start peas and carrots today.
It has to be stuff that I can cut into cubes at bite size. Not too mushy and not to hard. We don't want her to chew it too much, she needs to be able to swallow it with out it getting in the cleft opening. She still has to be tubed several times a day to receive her water, but the vet did say I could try letting her lick on an ice cube. Here are pictures of Roma receiving her first meal."

On her last specialist visit, the doctors did some ultrasounds and tests to see if he could find any other birth defects or anomalies, like liver shunts, because cleft palate pups frequently have a constellation of problems. But our Roma is not one of those pups--she is free of other obvious issues, and as she grows larger, the cleft is not growing with her. The cleft is scheduled for repair when she is a bit larger, since she is doing so well. The longer we wait to do the surgery, the less likely a second surgery will be necessary when she is a bit older and larger.

The Frog Princess

Booie!

Booie came to us last month when his family decided that he was too big for his britches, and his orneriness was becoming dangerous to their baby. He has moved to a foster home with two ladies from Boston, and they are teaching him that his wild West manners just won't fly among the Brahmins of Beacon Hill and Back Bay.
Here's a note we got from his foster mom shortly after he arrived:


"We have welcomed "Booie", a 4 year old, brindle lump of French lovin' into our home. There was some concern about his back legs at first, but the vet has assured me he is in good condition. He walks up the steps alright, but he doesn't like to go down them as he does the first three then stops and barks for me to carry him. Apparently, he just likes having a personal servant; my husband remarked that it's like carrying an anvil around.

He weighed in at 29 lbs, and the vet remarked that most of the weight was in his head, but he wears it well. His breathing is a little labored when he gets excited, and the vet mentioned that he might be a candidate for a specialist to look at; she did not think anything was necessary right now, but offered that it's important to keep his weight down as it doesn't take much for him to start panting. He had a few scabs she thought might be allergy related, but they have since healed up and all is well.

We have not had any real problems so far; he is housebroken, friendly with my dogs and walks great on a leash. The old girls (my Boston Terriers, 8 & 9) here are keeping him in line. When they first met, Booie thought he'd found himself a harem, but they immediately dismissed the notion. He's been respectful ever since; they play tug and chase but no roughhousing.

Yesterday, we went to a small dog social where he was the star. He met about 30 other dogs and was a perfect gentleman. And he greets everyone like a long lost friends - what a ham!

He didn't really think he should sleep in a crate, so for the first 2 or 3 nights he talked about us for about 1/2 hour while we were in bed.

I moved his crate next to Bady & Clover's and that seemed to work better; I think he enjoys the company. He adapted alright and now (even though he uses his secret power to turn himself into stone at the mention of it) we pick him up and carry him over to it and he doesn't complain.


The next few weeks will be spent looking into all his behaviors and trying to put a big picture together to figure out what the best home scenario is for him. Until then, I will continue my duties as step carrier, slobber wiper and belly scratcher."

In this economy, she should be grateful for any work she can get! sniffs
The Frog Princess

Butler Did It!

He's gotten some manners and he's back on the available page! Here's the most recent update from his foster mom:


"Butler has moved back to the available page. Whohooooo......Fingers and toes crossed that we will see some good applications for him. I now know this little man very well and feel really good about what we are looking for in his forever family. Thank you to the team for creating a great Bio for Butler! Check out the cute new pictures of him too.

We are almost done with obedience training. Can't say we've learned a lot of tricks, but he does listen to us better. He just seems like a softer, calmer dog. Butler is such a lover boy! My husband says that his "1000 yard stare" is all but gone. Meaning, when he first came to live with us, he had this look, or non-look in his eyes-- like he was looking right through you without much emotion. Now was see a real softening of his little being. He is also quite the cuddle bug. He is now the kind of dog that would stay in bed with you all day and snuggle.


Another area of improvement--no accidents in the house all month. He'll hold his bladder for hours now when we are out. I think really getting into a schedule, making sure he does his business when he is in the yard, and of course watching Mo and Van Gogh have all helped him make great progress.

I needed to make an adjustment in working with him on walks. I do the positive reinforcement, giving him treats whenever I saw a trigger coming into view, but sometimes he would get too worked up to care about the treat. Timing is everything, but occasionally even the best timing (or best treat) would not help, so I started to carry a small squirt bottle and treats. If I can't get his focus with the focus command or with a treat and he starts to go off, I give him a shot with the squirt bottle. This he responds to immediately and relaxes. It is clear communication that he needs to knock it off and he does. If I have to squirt him at all during a walk, it's usually only once, maybe twice. Then I continue with the treats and the praise when he is good. I guess every dog is different and while this approach may not work for others, it works for Butler.

Butler had another day at doggie day care last Thursday. I brought Mo and Van Gogh for a fun day for all. They all just LOVE doggie daycare. Lots of different dogs, big and small. Butler seems to almost seek out the females, so we are confident that he does not have issues with female dogs at all. It's just the leash/barrier "issue".

I also brought him over to a neighbors house for a visit. They have a large female lab that Butler had been yapping and snarling at for months because he can see her from our back porch. When I brought him into the house ( poor Anne the Lab started to shake when she saw him up close) Butler did stiffen up gave a yap so I gave him a quick squirt with the water bottle and he relaxed and was laying by her side before we knew it.
This just amazed the neighbors because they have been very in tune with what we have been doing with Butler. I think Mom and daughter are making a sales pitch to Dad to adopt him ( I don't think he's buying it though) especially after they saw Butler so calm with Annie. Butler was working it too----sat down front and center between mom and daughter and was pulling out all the cute looks.

What a boy! I am so proud of him."

Frenchies! So charming, so irresistible, so magically delicious! chirps

The Frog Princess

Skooter Pie!

Skooter is a gorgeous young thing, and since this update was written, he and Yvette, a fellow foster and puppy mill survivor, have formed a strong friendship. It's wonderful to see her warming up to Skooter, since she has not been more than tolerant of the resident frenchies in her foster home. Skooter and Yvette might as well be alone in their own private world these days, as they cavort and play and roughhouse every chance they get. Here's the introduction his foster mom sent about Skoot:

"I met fellow volunteer P. yesterday to pick up Skooter, a handsome hunk of love who loves everyone he meets and wants to be loved right back. He was surrendered by his owner due to a change in her job situation requiring her to be away from home for long hours; she didn’t think it fair to him to be crated for such long periods. He is a big boy at nearly 8 months old; sleek and shiny as new money. He is still all puppy – eager to please, clumsy and a huge charmer. His forever home will have to have at least one, preferably 2 energetic playmates; size doesn’t matter. He is said to love cats and tries to engage them in play. Up to date on shots; no health issues at all that I can see. He has been well cared for by his owners.


Meeting my gang: All but Yvette welcomed him with the same playful exuberance he gives freely. He will have Dolly & Tonka at fighting weight in no time – he wore them out last night and was still ready for more when they collapsed. It is a love/hate thing with Yvette. She engages in play, she’ll block Dolly at times but if he approached her too fast her past comes back and she’ll snap at him. She has made no contact with these snaps and they are never loose unsupervised. She just went to timeout for snarkiness.


Feeding: Last night I had to hand feed him. This morning his name could’ve been Hoover – gone in less than 60 seconds. Feeding will not be an issue.

Props to P. who drove about 8 hrs round trip picking him up, bringing him to our meet-up point and then back home!"

Skooter is having fun and turning Yvette's life around! Seems sometimes things happen for a good reason. We are so glad to have Skooter with us; both for his own sake and because he's making such good things happen for dear Yvette!


Did we mention he likes to jump?
The Frog Princess

Everything is Ginger Peachy!

Ginger Peach was surrendered in Wisconsin, but after a road trip of a few hours, she's now happily fostering in the green, gracious land that is Minnesota! Here is a note we got from her foster mom after a couple of days in her new surroundings:

"Ginger Peach is settling in nicely in our home. She has passed some big tests in the last 36 hours. So far she has aced the kid, cat, and other dog tests. There was some confusion on where to go for the housebreaking test so she gets some more time to study for that one.

Ginger Peach is a Christmas Eve Frenchie born 4 and a half years ago. She is brindle with some white on her paws, belly, neck and face. GP is spayed and in good health. Her coat is lovely and her teeth are clean. She has a history of ear issues and tilts her head as a result of surgery to remove a polyp in her right ear when she was a year old.

She has a lump on her back left hock that is the reason for her surrender. Her owner felt it was cancerous and opted for euthanasia over a biopsy. The vet convinced her to turn her over to a rescue and the rest is history.

The vet aspirated and x-rayed the lump. It is a soft tissue growth that does not involve the bone and contains some thick fluid. A cyst perhaps? We will go see the
vet about it. I will also get a consult on the ears and head tilt. Her ears look thick and slightly inflamed but she is not scratching them. In the meantime, Ginger P gets no grain products and some flax seed oil with breakfast. She has a good appetite and loves to go for walks. GP is up-to-date on all vaccines and has recently been checked for heartworm and intestinal parasites. She has a microchip and arrived with all her vet records. All the hard work is done. Thanks Wisconsin!"

Thank goodness we have transporters to take our fosters to their new homes! Some areas get so many frenchies that they have to hop a state or two to find an open door.

Can you drive? Do you have air conditioning in your car? If you make frequent car trips or just like being on the road, check out how to volunteer and make it possible for a poor, wandering frog to land on a safe and comfy lily pad!

The Frog Princess

Happy Birthday, USA!

Haricot--A Quebecoise Frenchie!

Beautiful, charming Haricot has moved from a city in Quebec to a littler town in Ontario. Formerly French-speaking, Haricot is learning all about the joys of life en Anglais!

So far, she has taken up fish watching at her foster home, becoming engrossed by the vision of the beautiful, colorful fish in the big salt-water tank. When she is watching the fishies, she forgets she is supposed to be disabled, and she sits herself up tall to watch.

This week, Haricot has the use of a pre-owned cart while she waits for her own carriage to be fitted to her. She has been enjoying the outdoors and loving the freedom of movement the cart gives her!

Here is Haricot ("bean") in the midst of a jolly, green, giant roll in the grass! Love that toothy grin!

Beans are good for you! declares
The Frog Princess