Prince Caspian is Setting Sail

for the available page!  If you've been watching and waiting for this adorable young frog to be available for adoption, now is the time to skippy over and take a look at his bio to see if your family and P.C. might be a good fit for each other.

Prince Caspian is a puppy mill survivor, and he came to us without much in the way of socialization.  He gets along best with the other dogs in his foster home, but he's warming up to the people.

We got some photos from P.C.'s family, taken over the holidays.  They included this report on Prince Caspian, too.

"Prince is doing great! His health is great and he is really becoming a member of our family.

"This Christmas he got to meet our 2.5 year old niece. She loved him and he responded well to her. She gave him hugs and kisses. They played for a while and then when he got tired of playing, he went and took a nap underneath the Christmas tree. I have attached a picture of this.

"When he came to us, he was so scared. He had probably had no human contact before so he was terrified any time we came near him. We slowly introduced him to our two dogs and he bonded with them quickly, especially our Frenchie Cyrus. Eventually he began to warm up to us humans as well. When we get home from work or the movies and let the dogs out of their crates, our two dogs are so excited to see us and Prince still looks at them confused sometimes. He has even begun cuddling with us on the couch sometimes while we watch a movie. Prince is going to make a wonderful member of another family soon."

Prince Caspian would enjoy a life with a quiet household, and he'd like to live in a family that has at least one other dog, since he takes cues from the dogs in his foster family.

If you are in the market for a prince, rescued from durance vile, and you think you could give him a bright future as rightful King of your castle and all your demesne, consider applying for Prince Caspian.

The Frog Princess

Keep a good thought for Opie, today

He's getting his pockets picked! 

We know there'll be treats and snuggles after.  We just wish we could be there to help administer a few of them.

Good vibes and well wishes to Opie from

The Frog Princess

Alena Passes a Milepost

Alena, our blind hospice girl, enjoyed a 2 year anniversary in her foster home last week.  You may remember that Alena came in to rescue with 3 other dogs who were in very, very sad shape.  The WI 4, as they were known, have all passed away in the meanwhile.  However, Alena--whose skin has been virtually hairless since her owner claimed she had a bad reaction to a vaccine when she was two--keeps trundling along.

Here's what her foster mom had to say about her: 

"So last night we celebrated Alena's 2 year Anniversary with special beefs dinner, followed by her new Cloud Soft Star Treats - both Apple Bacon and Pumpkin Pie (these are an amazing grain free treat especially good for pups with few chompers). Then we lay on the couch and snuggled. Pretty much business as usual for Miz Alena.

Alena has had a lot of setbacks the last two years, but I do feel that for every step back, she takes two steps forward. Progress is slow, but it’s still progress. She has come so far from her perch on death's door 2.5 years ago. She is the last remaining of the WI4 dog, as sadly Cameron, Delton and Tomah have all passed.

We recently switched to a new vet. I really needed to get a new perspective on our gal. The new vet has really taken the time to look at her full history and gives a lot of thought and research to each approach. She put Alena on a low dose of Atopica paired with Ketoconizole and a new shampoo. I noticed an immediate improvement. She had a strange growth on her shoulder biopsied last week – fingers crossed the results are benign. It looks to me to be a papilloma, but better safe than sorry. [Good news!  Diagnosis was benign histiocytoma!]

Her energy level is fantastic and she loves to play with stuffies, follow me around the house and hang out with her buddy Tucker (FBRN grad Lucien). She is very content in her life and really a pleasure to have around. You can hear her coming a mile away as she huffs and puffs about. She is a solid tank of a girl at 28 lbs – the vet swears she’s not fat, just big boned ;)" 

Alena is just one of a number of hospice dogs FBRN has chosen to care for until they pass away.  These dogs are considered unadoptable to the public-- usually for health reasons, but sometimes because of advanced age--and they live with a foster family as a member of the family.  If you'd like to sponsor Alena, or any other of our hospice dogs, you'll find her page at the bottom of our foster page.

We should all be so lucky at the end of life to have a someone so dedicated to our care and comfort, sighs

The Frog Princess

Magnolia Enjoys the Wonder of Winter!

We would like to share this information with our readers:  FBRN has the most talented, generous, hilarious, loving volunteers in the whole world. 

That's a big claim.

Here's some evidence:

MAGNOLIA, our popular hospice girl (and deelybobber freak), expressed a wish for a bespoke coat and hat, on account of she is too little for a large coat and too zaftig for a medium.

Lo, and behold!  What should arrive in the mail for Ms. Mags, but a hat?  And a coat!  And as if these were not enough, a binkie!

All handmade by one of our volunteers!

Handmade.  By hand.  At home.  With her hands.

We'll let you FBRN friends and supporters who have never received a handmade item sit with that for a moment until the unbecoming little flashes of jealousy you might be feeling subside.
 

Meanwhile, Mags is ready for all the nasty slush and snow and cold and wind that winter has in store.

"Blow wind, and crack your cheeks!" sneers Magnolia.  And that's hatlessly, coatlessly, jealously seconded by

The Frog Princess

Become a Volunteer!

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to become more involved in your community or to increase your volunteer participation?  Do you enjoy Frenchies? 

If so, please consider becoming a volunteer for French Bulldog Rescue Network!  Don't fret if you can't foster--though we always have need for foster families--we have plenty of opportunities for people to participate!

We need all kinds of volunteers, including people who can transport dogs by car or plane (whether their own planes or on commercial planes), people who can foster dogs, people who enjoy fundraising, writing, database upkeep, people management, and other areas.

One of the benefits of volunteering is getting to hear about the dogs' day to day improvement in behind the scenes access to our volunteer forum. It's also wonderfully educational to learn about all the health and behavior solutions our foster parents and their vets come up with.  You'll be shocked at what you don't know!

You'll learn more about how the organization works and you'll be part of our success in rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming French bulldogs in need.

If you have time and interest, please drop our Volunteer Coordinator (eden dot nava at fbrn dot net) a note.  Be sure you are writing from an active email address.

We'd love to have your help in finding Frenchies wonderful forever homes, so please consider this blog post an engraved invitation from

The Frog Princess

Vestibular Disease and French Bulldogs Part Two

Many adult dogs experience an episode that looks like a seizure or a stroke, and we are concerned that some Frenchies are being euthanized needlessly due to misdiagnosis.

Vestibular disease presents suddenly. One minute your dog is running around or chewing a toy, and the next minute she can't stand up or remain standing, or she can't focus her eyes, and they are moving back and forth quickly in a motion called nystagmus. Her head may tilt either immediately or sometime later in the hours or days following the initial event. She may drool. She may panic. If you are like most people, you will almost certainly panic.  Try to stay calm and take her to the vet as soon as you can.

Deo suffered from vestibular disease.  In this photo you can see his head tilt and his left eye is a little less bright because of facial paralysis on that side.

Here's what is happening: your dog has lost her sense of balance. She can't figure out her relationship to the ground and that's why she's staggering. Most episodes are "idiopathic" which means nobody knows what causes them. Some speculate that there is a tiny blood clot in the area of the brain that affects balance, and as it dissolves, the condition resolves. But there is no agreement about what it causes it, and there may be a number of possible causes that result in the same set of symptoms.

FBRN grad Eva had a bout of vestibular disease, too.  She's not suspiciously squinting at you in this photo.  Like Deo, she had some facial paralysis on the left side of her face.  She's much better now. 

Vestibular disease, stroke, and brain tumors can share symptoms. Vestibular disease is a far more likely diagnosis than the other two, which is very good news. Your vet may suggest an MRI to rule out a brain tumor, but most vets will suggest you take your dog home, be sure she's eating and drinking well, and watch for signs of recovery, which should happen in a few days or a week.

Frida's experience with vestibular disease was very helpful to Eva's owner as she navigated the diagnostic process.  Did you know there are Internet support groups for virtually every medical condition a dog might have? 

In the days following the initial event, some dogs also experience facial paralysis, and the paralysis can be either obvious or subtle. Many dogs develop a head tilt, which may resolve in a few days, or a month, or never. Most dogs do recover within a month or so.

As the days pass following the initial event, you may find that your dog is not interested in eating. If you had the spins, you probably would not want to eat, either, but some dogs respond well to anti-nausea meds or to hand-feeding. Some people suggest that while your dog is recovering from the worst of it, you leave a light on, so she can find an object and orient herself to it even in the night.

FBRN grad Maxwell Smart had a vestibular disease episode.  His family wrote to us and asked us to do this report on VD.

Vestibular disease happens most oftens in dogs who are 6 years old and older, but some young dogs have had vestibular disease--Deo and Maxwell Smart were on the young side, while Eva was a senior dog when she had it.

Watching a dog have a seizure or experience a stroke or the symptoms of vestibular disease is very frightening, and it can be heartbreaking. Try to keep your head, and try to remember that what looks like a stroke or a seizure may well be something far less worrisome and will often resolve completely or nearly so.

 A New Year free of emergency veterinary clinic visits, that's the wish we wish for you, from

The Frog Princess

(This material originally appeared on FBRN's home page.)