Saturday, October 29

We Have 13 Dogs in Texas

And that's a scary number.  It's scary because all our foster homes are full, and there is no room at the inn for other needy frogs.

We are having to turn dogs away because we don't have enough volunteers to foster homeless dogs.  It's not just FBRN, either.  Other rescues have a lack of foster homes, too.  We need help.



Twilight is going to be available soon.  And that is a good thing because right now she is sucking all the cute out of Texas.  



This here handsome devil is Boudreaux.  He wants you to throw the ding-dang ball, already!

Our worst nightmare is that someone will sell their dog on Craigslist or sell it through a want ad and the dog will wind up in a puppy mill.  There's a dog we are hoping to bring in from a different part of the country and that is her story.  Once a pet, she was acquired by a miller, whose mill was recently raided. 

How could they tell she was a pet? 

Her original collar and tags were still on.

This is Loretta, a blind puppy mill girl in our hospice program. She's never gotten over her past.  We love her anyway.

If you have ever considered volunteering for FBRN, please email our volunteer coordinator today to become a foster home, transporter, or volunteer at events.  Our main need in Texas (or nearby states! We could use volunteers in AR, LA, OK, KS, NM) is fostering, but we will gladly accept any help that is offered. 

Email our volunteer coordinator at fbrnvolapps@gmail.com. 

These 13 are lucky.  They have a place with us.  If you can, please help us help a few more, pleads

The Frog Princess

This is the youthful and charming Bonaparte, waiting for the perfect kitty-free empire to rule.

Tuesday, October 25

A True Scary Story for Hallowe'en!

This is a true story that happened to one of our volunteers and her rescue frog, Louie.  Please read it, commit the lessons to memory, and if you live in an elevator building, take the advice to heart.

"I am writing this today, still shaken up and very much embarrassed by an event that could have turned tragic in an instant had we not had someone watching over us last night…

I want to share the experience with everyone here because in the same breath of guilt and shame, I also feel the old adage… If it could happen to me, It could happen to you too…

Louie and I went out on our walk with our roommates (one 2, one 4-legged), and met up with our neighbor and her dog for the usual evening constitutional. We finished walking and processed back to the elevators to go up to our respective floors talking and carrying on along the way. As the doors opened and the 5 of us went in, Louie of course, was lagging behind sniffing and looking for his last gecko of the evening. Now, this is his normal routine and I know to accommodate him for it; stand in the threshold of the elevator and coax him to “Come on” until he finally gives it up and grudgingly schleps into the lift with me, and we can proceed.

Last night however, the other two adults and dogs went in before me, and I was bringing up the rear with my back to the outside where Louie was still investigating – I stopped on the threshold of the elevator, knowing he was still out there and that I needed to hold the door, and about to turn around to call him on but still chatting away with the girls. Suddenly, I felt the doors graze my backside and in the milliseconds it took for me to throw my hand behind me to stop the door, the doors were closed!
Not necessarily a big deal, you say…unless one of the people has already pushed the buttons to select the floors! Well you guessed it…one of them had!

At this point (and remember, it’s only been maybe 10 seconds total from walking in, to door closing) the elevator is moving and I am flipping out, but quick to think: I immediately began pulling the slack from inside the retractable leash out to the end, stepping on it and yanking with all my might trying to break the mechanism inside so that it will break free from the plastic handle and can just be pulled through the doors and down the shaft to the first floor…thus eliminating the danger of my dog being hung or crushed/pinned by the force of the pull into the door jam/ceiling. This isn’t working – everyone is screaming – the other two are pushing every button on the elevator trying to get it to physically stop, but of course there isn’t one.

The elevator does end up stopping seconds later on the 2nd floor, where our neighbor lives. I fly out and down the stairs, around the corner to see Louie sitting in front of the elevator doors and looking confused as to why he was there by himself – approximately 1.5-2 feet of slack away from the line being pulled taught enough to begin to lift him off the ground…

I damn near fainted and threw up all at the same time. I of course unhook his harness from the leash and snatch him up and proceed up the stairs to the 2nd floor where the others are still freaking out, holding the elevator and waiting. We cut the cord with scissors, went back down to retrieve the part that was stuck in between the ground and second level and pretty much collapsed onto the stairs from the trauma. All the while, Louie is blissfully ignorant of the entire affair and still alertly keeping a watchful eye out for the geckos…

The moral of the story is: THANK GOD we were with my neighbor who lives on the 2nd floor and the elevator stopped that quickly instead of proceeding up to the 4th. If that had happened, I honestly don’t know what would have happened to Louie based on the laws of Physics…

He could have been crushed or had broken ribs, punctured lungs…God only knows due to the force of the pull and being pinned to the door jam/ceiling. Undoubtedly the line would have broken from tension and force at some point, but at how many feet it would have had to have gone up/how many seconds he would have been pinned, no one knows. Then, I’d only have been able to hope that he would have fallen the 8 feet and landed on his feet, but that isn’t guaranteed either, nor is the fact that just landing on his feet wouldn’t have still jarred his spine or caused him to hit his face, etc, etc, etc, down the long list of horrible things that could have happened…

The lessons learned from this miracle experience are that 1) we don’t get in the elevator without Louie being right there too and 2) you never push buttons for your destination until all parties are safely inside – had the buttons not been pushed and the door closed, the ‘Door Open’ button could have easily been pushed and the doors would have opened with no one worse for the wear since the machine hadn’t already been given the ‘Up’ command yet.

Like I said, it was scary as Hell to think that my negligence could have potentially had TRAGIC consequences for my favorite friend, Louie. It’s embarrassing and I’m ashamed to admit that I was so careless, but at the same time…I wanted to share it in hopes that those of you fellow dog owners who use elevators with your dogs on a daily basis will get a quick jolt of reminder for how dangerous the situation can become if you aren’t always, always on the ball." 

She's absolutely right--this scary and horrible story could happen to anyone.  Please take special care around elevators and even escalators;  be sure to pick up your dog before getting on an escalator so his toenails or dangling collar or tags don't get caught in the treads!  More buildings are allowing dogs to come inside, and dog owners must become aware of the hazards to dogs of buildings' automated parts. 

Hoping you learned a little something today, as did
The Frog Princess

Saturday, October 22

Tonto!

Sometimes we just can't grasp why a Frenchie who is healthy and happy and loving just doesn't catch the eye of a potential adopter.

Tonto is one of those frogs.

He was dropped off at a shelter by his owner's family following his owner's death (Note to self: Be sure to put directions in will for care of our Frenchies should something happen to us!).  Apart from a desire to be the cock of the walk, Tonto is a great dog!




In his foster family there is an uneasy peace going on--occasionally there are dust ups between Tonto and the dominant girl--but thanks to very slow introductions and an experienced foster family, there have been no serious fights.  That's Little Miss Lemon-Sucker on the bottom step in the photo to the left, there.  If you have a submissive female and you are willing to do slow introductions, Tonto might be the boy for you.







Take a look at Tonto's bio.  He's on the lookout for his kemosabe.  It might be you, counsels

The Frog Princess

Wednesday, October 12

Here's a Beautiful Original Piece of Art You Can Own!

Look at this gorgeous painting offered as a fundraiser for FBRN!  Santino Nava has donated this 16x20 unframed piece featuring a black masked fawn.  This is not a print, it's an original!

Our thanks to Santino for the generous gift!

Tuesday, October 11

Clear Your Schedule!

It's time for the Second Annual Family Day with Christmas Feet at Citi Pond in New York's Bryant Park!

Saturday, November 12th from Noon to 4 pm!










Alison Josephs and Maureen Sullivan, author and illustrator of Christmas Feet, another wonderful book about life with Carlos the Frenchie, will be on hand to chat and so will representatives of FBRN and other great organizations.  Plus free ice-skating, and a chance to meet Broadway stars and canine celebrities!  See a doggie fashion show with your pooch--and you should dress up, too.    Click here to learn more!

Everyone had a blast last year--we hope you will take a day and come to the city for this event.  It's a great opening for the holiday season, proclaims

The Frog Princess

Thursday, October 6

All around the world

it's all about a boy and his dog.  His frog dog.

This photo was taken on a train by one of our supporters when she was vacationing in Japan in August.  We don't know what it is advertising, but we think the ad designers picked a pretty effective model.


Pardon the bit of glare. 

Anyone read Japanese? asks

The Frog Princess