Saturday, November 26

Vino, Vidi, Vici!

Vino ate a rock.  It got stuck somewhere on the way out and a kindly vet removed it.  Sadly, the digestive tract Vino was trying to landscape didn't take too kindly to having a rock applied to it, and for a while he was having some problems. 

Problems of an embarrassing nature. 

And after he ate a rock, he got stones.  In his bladder.  What the hey! 

Possibly he loves rock and roll.  Maybe his daddy was a rollin' stone.


(We sincerely apologize for that.  We are a bit loopy with the tryptophan.)

But time heals a lot of wounds, and Vino's guts are doing pretty well.  He's got a special diet, and although he's got to be watched so he doesn't make any more mistakes (leave the landscaping to the professionals, Vino!), with regular check ups, the boy is bound to make somebody happy.

His foster mom sent an update and some photos recently.  Take a look at this mug.  How can he still be on the available page? 

Somebody isn't paying attention. 

"Vino continues to do well and moved to the available page; he has not had any GI or urinary issues so I'm hoping the worst is over for this great little guy. He loves his foster siblings and with 3 young adult Frenchies in the house it is quite a party sometimes! I caught them in a mellow moment and had a photo shoot."

Listen, if you want a handsome, happy, good boy to add to your collection, or you are in the market for a single frog to slather serious amounts of spoiling on, Vino is your guy.

Get over to his available page and check him out before the whole world gets an eyeful.

Full of helpful directions today, we remain

The Frog Princess

Saturday, November 12

New York/New Jersey/Connecticut What Are You Doing Today?

Don't forget!  There's big fun at Bryant Park today:
This Saturday, celebrate the holidays with Carlos the French Bulldog and a few of our FBRN grads in NYC at the event of the season – Family Day with Christmas Feet!

2008 FBRN grad Chicklet will be giving *Frenchie Kisses Under the Mistletoe* and we’ll be selling treats generously donated to us by Bubba Rose Biscuit Company! 2008 grad Shelby (FBRN stage name Flower) will be strutting her stuff down the runway during Ada Nieves' very special "Noah's Ark meets the Nutcracker" holiday fashion show!

Family Day with Christmas Feet is from 12 – 4pm and the fashion show starts around 3:45. There is free ice skating, Broadway performances and, of course, a reading of Christmas Feet by Author Maureen Sullivan & Illustrator Alison Josephs.

This is a FREE event, it is VERY child & dog friendly. Bring the whole family, dress in festive array, SUPPORT RESCUE and HAVE FUN!

Citi Pond at Bryant Park – 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues – NYC

Friday, November 11

Alena in 3-D!

Poor Alena!  This girl has been having a series of skin infections since she arrived in FBRN.  The lastest one is the worst her foster mom has seen, and it is terribly frustrating because Alena's hair was just starting to come in on her face and feet after her bout with demodex. 
Here's a note from foster mom:

"Poor Alena ... she has been 2 steps forward, 1 step back all along. The positive is that her forward is greater than the back ... but still.

Currently she is having a REALLY nasty skin flare up. She had some itchies when she came to me, but this is by far the worst in her 10 months with me. She is bumpy, raw and has to wear long sleeves and a turtle neck to stop her ripping her skin apart. She is off to see the vet again today, as I am just not able to get it under control.

Other than the skin, she is still our happy girl. Loves to go to work, loves to eat EVERYTHING. We call her compost bin .. she happily snacks on veggie scraps that would otherwise go into the yard waste bin."


Some Frenchies have a thing for vegetables and fruit.  Most frogs love bananas.  After a visit with her vet, the foster mom wrote again to say,


"Good news from the vet ... she was given a strong anti-fungal shampoo, strong anti-itch pills and antibiotics ... and after just 2 days she is improving. I've never seen her skin so bad, so I'm hoping it's just circumstantial and we can get it under control quickly."


Since Alena is such a favorite among our friends and supporters, we thought you'd like to hear about her latest comeback!  Sure, her skin is a horror show, but Alena has all the tools to see it through, in the painfully worked metaphor of


The Frog Princess

Thursday, November 3

Tomah of the WI 4 update


Here's a wonderful update on Tomah (now Raji) of the WI 4.  We are celebrating the anniversary of the day we brought them into FBRN last year, and you can see more photos on the home page of the website when it is updated this week.

This is what the French Bulldog Network said of my dog’s history when I made out my adoption application for him last December. Quickly, by the end of December, FBRN told me he was mine. In January and freezing cold weather, I met his foster mom in Northern Wisconsin and a 34-pound cream pie gentleman with the most expressive eyes I have ever seen was put in my arms. So polite he was, not making a peep and content to lie on a pile of blankets the 4 hours it took to get home. On a potty stop, I noticed he peed standing straight up and then I remembered he could not bend those crippled back legs of his.

The next day, I took him the pet store for the proper food and other necessities. We walked in together very slowly and headed for the dog food aisles. Less than half way into the store, he sat down and looked at me, showing me his weariness and that he wished to go no further. The rest of our shopping had to be done with him in a grocery cart, but he didn’t seem to mind. Again, a gentleman of the highest quality.

As the cold winter days and weeks rolled by, we got to know each other. He found out what it was like to sleep with his legs outstretched and how the world looked without a wire cage separating him from the world. He came to understand that when I left, I would come back to feed and water him, and so he stopped gulping most of his water down whenever he saw me get my coat. He learned the goodness of popcorn and tissue massage, and what it was like to be sung to, and he learned that he was Home.


To get him more active without taking him out in the cold, I began walking him down the long hallway in my apartment building. So together we took out the garbage every day. Soon he was looking forward to these little lunchtime trips, and as he got stronger, I asked him to step up the pace. This he gladly did, despite his clumsiness and discomfort. The days went by, and we gradually began running up and down the hallway together. Though it tired him, he insisted on continuing up and down as fast as his legs would allow. I was so proud of him, and told everyone I knew.
It wasn’t long before Spring came, and suddenly one day he ran up the hallway at such a fast pace I could not keep up. Again, I was bursting with pride and from his expression, so was he. Not long after, he jumped up a single step. No small feat for a dog with weak hips and stiff back legs. Soon after, he was jumping down that step too.
Time and love, I learned, heals all things. Now, he and I go to the pet store and he is either ahead of me on his leash, or veering off, trying to head down an aisle that is of more interest to him than to me. No grocery cart needed. He jumps up three steps like a dog without any physical limitations. He loves his acupuncture treatments, which have allowed him to function with lower doses of Rimadyl and Tramadol. Now when he goes outside, he runs, though slowly, to the long wild grass that grows at the edge of his yard. And best of all, he runs to me or to almost anyone he sees to get a touch and a kind word, to catch up on all the love he missed.

My Raji now knows what it’s like to be a dog. After being completely silent for 4 months, he warns me with sharp barks that a bicyclist or hiker is approaching on the road. Any canines trespassing in his yard, beware! You will be thoroughly checked out or loudly yodeled at if physical contact cannot be made. And though he still can’t lift his leg on a tree or a fire hydrant, he can actually squat a bit to let others know what belongs to him. How far my boy has come!

On a hot, breezy summer day at lunch time, I watch Raji walk into a shaded spot of grass. He stops and slowly sits and thinks for a bit, then suddenly flops over on his side. He rolls up on his back and falls back on his side. He rolls again and balances on his spine for a moment. A third time, he makes it all the way over! He rolls over and over again, snorting and stretching his little legs out as far as they will go. I think of him when his four legs were weak and splayed, and how tired he got after only a few steps. And as I watch him roll, I wonder if he will ever take this simple pleasure for granted.

Looking at his expression of satisfaction and contentment when he gets up, I believe he does not take anything for granted. He is a gentleman, grateful for anything I have to offer. He never lets me forget that I am important and appreciated.

He is a Rescue Dog, after all. I’m not sure whether rescue dogs forget their past, but I know they don’t dwell on it. They have the gift of enjoying the moment, instead of dwelling on bad experiences. Raji is a shining example of what love and rescue organizations like FBRN will do for a dog. They found him, they rehabilitated him, and they picked me to make his story a happy ending. I am thankful, I am honored, and most important, I am loved.

I wish you could have experienced all of this with us."

We don't know about you, but after reading this note, we feel we have experienced some of Raji's milestones.  He's a lucky Frenchie, in the opinion of

The Frog Princess