Pippin Meets the Kitties

Long time readers of the blog or followers of our website know that Pippin has been our longest foster to date. Her behavior problems were addressed by her foster family to the full extent of their abilities, then she moved in with a trainer, who has continued the job of desensitization and, as Freud might put it, creating a critter with just the ordinary number of neuroses.

Here's her foster mom who sent us some photos of Pippin taken while Pippin was staying with an adoptive family--this family adopted another hard case from us earlier, named Batman. They have done wonders with him, and Pippin got along great in their care. The captions are from Pippin's foster mom:

"While we were on vacation, Pippin had a little break of her own and went to stay with Batman ( Buddha) and his family. I was a little concerned about the three (dog savvy) cats in the house and all the more so when I learned that two tiny kittens had joined the family...... I needn't have worried, Pippin had the time of her life!
She was so good that they said she is welcome back anytime!"

I can't decide if I like it so I'm not going to look at it.










still not looking...


















ok, I'll look......and touch it ....just a little bit














ohhhhh.......... soft kitty





















oh- it's gone flat, lemme poke it some more.















ut oh now there's another one...not sure what to do























when in doubt, just join in and be part of the pack

Sigmund's Horrible Adventure (graphic photos!)

Sigmund had his neuter surgery this week, and the day following the surgery, his foster mom noticed that his scrotum had filled with fluid and his legs seemed swollen. She took him in to the vet and was reassured that some dogs, usually big dogs, can have that reaction and to apply warm compresses.
The next day, Sigmund's legs were more swollen and his penis and scrotum were very red, so his foster mom returned to the vet and Sigmund was admitted.

this photo was taken by the surgeon just before Siggie's second surgery


After a number of tests and consultations, and surgery to release the fluid and infection from the scrotum, the vet's opinion was that in the 12-18 hours prior to his neuter surgery, Sigmund had been bitten on the lower abdomen or penis by a venomous spider: most likely a brown recluse.
He spent two days in ICU, receiving intravenous anti-biotic and care for the necrotizing tissue on his abdomen and penis. He is back with his foster mom now, and he is doing quite well. He will likely lose a good bit of tissue, whether only the skin or some deeper tissue or even the urinary tract remains to be seen.

We have all heard stories about brown recluse spiders--they live all across this continent--and there are horrifying images to be found all over the Internet with awful stories to go with them. We want to discuss two things as a consequence of this experience with Sigmund:
1. If you think there is something wrong with your dog, do not allow yourself to be brushed off. If your vet tries to brush you off, get a different vet. In this case, our foster mom relied on her instinct and experience and took Sigmund back in and insisted that they look at him again. Her insistence saved his life.
2. As much as we may trust that spiders are our friends and they are part of our home's micro-ecosystem, we plan to make our home inhospitable to brown recluse spiders. That means that we will use giant plastic bins to contain our keepsakes, rather than brown paper boxes. We will install small lights in the areas where we store things.

We'll be vacuuming more often under our beds and along the walls and corners. Much as we like the way bedskirts look, we are getting rid of them.
We are going to be looking for places that will allow the little nasties to get in, like cracks in the foundation, loose screens or unsealed doors and windows.
And we'll tidy up our garage and storage areas, sweeping out and around things that have been sitting for a long time, pitching those old boxes we haven't used, and organizing stuff that clutters up the foundation, like old cordwood, garden tools or hoses. One website suggests changing the outdoor lights on the house to yellow lights, since yellow lights repel the kinds of bugs brown recluses like to eat.

If your place is like the Frog Princess's place, you've got some dusty old dog crates piled up in the garage, maybe some boxes of magazines you've been meaning to take to the recycling place, some half-empty cans of paint and other kinds of detritus that has been awaiting the right weekend afternoon to get something done with it. The brown recluse likes to hide in all that stuff--it's a reclusive little critter--and getting rid of it, or making it less attractive by cleaning it and storing it somewhere tidy and cold will help discourage them from taking up residence in your house, garage, storage, or carport.

We'll keep you posted on poor Sigmund's progress, but let his predicament be a spur to your impulse to get rid of that junk in your garage. And be sure to wear long pants, good shoes and gloves while you are loading it up, advises

The Frog Princess

Eowyn

A new foster girl is in town and she's got the bouncy kind of bottom! Here's what her foster mom says:

"Eowyn (pronounced Ay-oh-wen) is 4 years old and in good health: very energetic and athletic. She can easily jump over 5 feet in the air. If you pat your shoulder, she will jump up and try to land on it. She is a fearless climber. The good news is she loves people! She likes her belly and ears rubbed. She has very expressive eyes. She does a hysterically funny "itchy spot on my back" routine on the rug. She loves to look out the window and tell off the squirrels. She's not afraid to tell anyone what she thinks. She needs to be spayed before she goes available."

Five feet in the air? That dog must have some kangaroo in her! surmises

The Frog Princess

Sofie at Work and at Rest

FBRN grad Sofie is one of those Frenchie girls who always has something to say. She's got an opinion about everything, and she's very willing to share it with you!

She's a mighty bug hunter, and can catch an errant fly in mid-air. She also enjoys smooshing them into the sliding glass doors with her flat face and snuffling them to death. Bugs don't stand a chance when Sofie is around.

We got these photos of Sofie from her mom this week. Seems her mom got worried when she looked around and Sofie wasn't by her side supervising. When mom walked into the family room, she found Sofie had taken advantage of a pile of pillows her dad had used for his nap earlier! Anybody else flashing on Princess and the Pea?

Sofie's not only death on bugs, she doesn't take any guff from the water hose, either! Most Frenchies we know, while not H20 averse, are not willing to go head to head with the vicious snake that spews. Not Sofie. She's always up for a fight.

She's a warrior Frenchie after our own heart, muses

The Frog Princess

Winners of the Junior Volunteer Photo contest!

Here is the announcement of the winners of the Junior Volunteer photo contest:

The Super Fantastic Extra Special Bonus Photo Contest winningest photo =
13 year-old Zoe's shot of French Fry & Emma

The 4-12 Photo Contest winning pic =
8 year old, Colby's shot of Gizzy

Zoe's photo will be the cover of one of FBRN's 2010 calendars and Colby's photo will be the face of our first Jr. Vol. postcard.

Many thanks to all of our Jr. Volunteers for their participation. Each and every one of the pictures received is just awesome."

Our volunteers put together a fabulous montage of all the photographs. Click here to see it.

The contest must have been very hard to judge, because there are so many great photos!
Thank you to all the Junior Volunteers, the judges and organizers for putting this together from

The Frog Princess

She's a Keeper

When we saw these photos of Keeper, we thought, this is a professional model. Look at the way she turns her head with that insouciant air!











See how she arranges herself to advantage so that she is standing in the lushest, greenest grass to set off her beautiful creamy coat!









See how she gazes into the camera as if to allow a glimpse into her deepest thoughts: Liver...cheese...world peace.

For some dogs, a session with the camera is a difficult thing to endure. For others, it's a chance to demonstrate a god given gift.

And for some poor souls, the paparazzi are simply relentless. As you can imagine, that's how it is for

The Frog Princess

Max O Million Goes to the Fair

Max O Million's path to FBRN was a bit perapatetic, a little meandering, but he has never been in danger, as some of our wandering fosters have been.

Before he was surrendered, Max O Million lived on a farm. He got to run around and enjoy himself. Then he was sold to a family who had him only a week before someone developed allergies to him, and he was surrendered to FBRN. We have discovered that Max O Million is a wonderful little dog, as well as being terrifically photogenic. His move from farm to home to foster family appears to have put him out not at all.

We love to hear about our foster dogs' adventures in the wide world. A little while ago, Max O Million got to attend a Renaissance Festival, and here is what his foster mom had to say about how Max O Million worked the crowd:

"Well, Max had a big outing yesterday! He attended the Renaissance Festival in the ...area and he was a HIT! My 15 year old son said he is a "great chick magnet"! He likes the young girls so am thinking he must have had one in his past life...Max would just walk up to people, wait to see if they would pet him, and then move on. He was also very interested in all the other dogs he saw, he did ignore the very large turtle walking around, and he gave the elephant a funny look! He had a great time but was tuckered out when we left! Someone is going to be very lucky to get him!"

We feel certain that negotiating our way through hoards of costumed folk, accepting numerous and well-earned tributes and praises, regarding the odd physiques of Renaissance elephants and subtly observing the antics of enormous turtles would wear us out as well. We can only hope that at some point a refreshing glass of mead was enjoyed by the adults while the children practiced drowning evil doers in butts of Malmsey, or whatever amusements young people of the time once found to wile away the hours.

We will resist our feminist impulse to lecture the young man on the use of the phrase "chick magnet" as we suspect it would fall, as so many useful lectures do, on deaf ears. We will, however, agree that though he is likely to exert some pull on young women, Max O Million is also appealing --nigh irresistible, even--to a woman of advancing years, such as

The Frog Princess

Bugsy Siegel

The Bugsy Siegel of mob legend may not have spent much time in Florida, though his partner and pal Meyer Lansky certainly did. Still, we expect if Bugsy had visited Eff Ell Ay, he'd have spent his days much as his namesake does--lounging by the pool, passing time with pretty girls and soaking up some sunshine. Here's a note from Bugsy's foster mom on Bugsy's progress from skinny little street urchin to healthy, husky frogdog:

"Bugsy Siegel went back to visit all his old friends at the vet today. He was a very popular guy with everyone he met. The staff was so thrilled to see him looking so well. Since his last visit he has put on 2.6 lbs and now weighs 27.7 lbs! He is
still thin, but we're definitely making progress. I have been putting in some ointment for his dry eye and it has stimulated his tear production in both eyes and they were very, very pleased with how his eyes were looking. Because he was so emaciated when he first arrived, had such an awful infection and was so anemic from all his bloody diarrhea they want him to stay on the ZD and ID dog food for another couple of weeks. His housebreaking is going well thanks to my dogs and the doggy door. Each day more of his personality emerges and he shows more interest in the nylabones and playing with my dogs. He loves the car and is an excellent passenger and walks like a dream on a leash. He is a velcro dog unlike any I have ever known. He is always under foot and sleeps so close to me at night in bed that I feel as if I'm getting hot flashes!

He has come a very long way in only 3 weeks and will be a great dog for someone."

He's definitely got an air of mystery and he shares Bugsy Siegel's good looks as well as his name. We think it's even money that Bugsy will be on the available page shortly, wagers

The Frog Princess

Your Frenchie, A Joy Forever

Here's a note from our auction and eBay organizing maven:

"Donated to the French Bulldog Rescue Network (FBRN) to help raise funds for our rescue dogs is a custom artistic rendering of a photo of your frenchie! This poster size print will be based on the highest bidder's submission to the artist who will create a memorable keepsake of your beloved! See examples of previous work on this post. Your own dog's portrait will be unique.

Place your bid now because the auction will end on Monday, August 31st. Please send your minimum bid of $75.00 to: bestna61@aol.com

All proceeds benefit the rescue frenchies of FBRN! Thank you."

Ask any Frenchie if he thinks his silly mug should be commemorated in an original piece of artwork and what do you think his answer will be?

Go to the head of the class! praises

The Frog Princess

Mabel Cleans Up

What are you having, kid?


Mabel, formerly known as Bristol, is enjoying her summer with her new mom's young relations. We received a note from Mabel's mom Melanie:



"The boy'll have a root beer. Make mine a Shirley Temple."


"Thought I would share some pics from this past weekend--she took a bath with my nephew! She is doing much better on potty training--still have to watch her when we
get back from the dog park--she drinks so much water and it takes hours for her to let it all back out! She absolutely loves kids! she would rather have play dates with
kids than other dogs! She still misses [foster sibling] Vinnie! I hear there are two other Frenchies that go to our dog park--but we haven't met them --Hope you are doing well--Melanie and Mabel"


"OK. He's cut off."


It's very hard to know when to say when when the fun is going strong. We are advocates of moderation in root beer consumption. Unless there is a scoop of ice cream involved. Where root beer floats are concerned, moderation goes out the window, confesses

The Frog Princess

Ask Frog Princess: Do You Ever Set Up Meet and Greets before Adoption?

Sherlock watches tv with FBRN grad, Reggie
Here's another question from the Frog Princess' mailbag:

"Does FBRN ever set up meet and greets between potential adopters' pets and the future adoptee before the adoption proceeds? If there are several applications, might be a way to further screen."

Hello! Yes, the foster parent can choose to take the foster dog to a home visit if the applicant is within reasonable distance. If the foster dog has any tendencies to be reactive to new situations or other dogs, it's a very good idea to introduce the potential housemates to each other on neutral ground--a park, perhaps--and then walk the dogs back to the applicant's home.


New kid Max-o-million grinning ear to ear!

In many cases, the applicant is applying from a distant region, and in those cases our home visits are conducted by volunteers in the area. The volunteer may bring a dog along with her to the home visit and see how the resident canine takes to a newcomer.

Thank you for the question!

The Frog Princess

Fergus Alerts Us!

Deaf and uptight young Fergus, the guy we like to call the Bed Burglar on account of his sneaky way of easing backward into an already occupied dogbed, has revealed yet another aspect of his personality: Mighty Hunter!

In the following email, his foster mom describes some of the training she's doing with Fergus to desensitize him to new stimula.

"My routine with Fergus is 2 training sessions a day 10-30 mins each, less on busier workdays, more on days off. We continue to work on his fear/anxiety of anything outside of our house/yard. So our walks started with just around the yard and patio, then to the front and around the garage. Next came on the sidewalk in front of the house, eventually progressing down the street and back home, then up the street and back.

Each of these areas continue until he starts to lessen in the anxiety and tense body language. We are sticking with our street for now, as soon as we get to the busy intersection, more people, dogs, etc, he is not able to focus or take treats as well. The licking increases, he looks like he's gripping the sidewalk, etc. When we get to an area like that, I back it up to where he's relaxed again, then we stay near that section for a bit, before heading back home. Next time we extend a few steps, a block, or whatever is working. He's getting really good at catching cheese bits, will do a drop butt sit when I stop. He's also learning "watch me" instead of the treat hand. I've been holding the treat to a right or left side, and he gets the reward when he looks away from that and at me, once he gets that we make it tougher by extending the time, or I'll hold a treat in each hand, when he locks eyes - jackpot.
He's learned gimme five, and working on stay, he'll army crawl under my legs, but getting him in a down - still working on it.

Tenacious RODENT detector at your service: A few weeks ago, Fergus started to act a bit nutty. This is not all that unusual, he has told off the "other white deaf frenchie" in the mirror, reflected in the fireplace, and also the one in the glass doors when it's dark. So when he started to do this at the bathroom door, then barking at my closet door, sniffing like crazy, we said "what is it boy - is timmy in the well?" We opened the bathroom door and let him inspect, he kept going to the heat vent and in my closet is the door to the crawl space, he went bonkers sniffing and barking there. Then he did it at the kitchen heat vent, and some of the vents to the crawl space outside. TJ opened the crawl space door, inspected and saw no evidence of anything. This continued off and on, somewhat randomly. Then Wookie started to sniff 2 of the 5 areas that Fergus was at. Rat traps were put down and TJ really looked around but didn't see anything, and the heat vents are closed off so he couldn't understand what that was about.

WELL - yesterday TJ was finally able to get down and dirty and crawl under there, he still saw no prints, nothing - crazy dog. UNTIL he reached almost the front section of our house, which is furthest from where he went cuckoo, and low and behold.....a carcass, and evidence of nesting. YUCK. We had been checking all our pantry stuff, dog food is up on shelf in the garage, nothing has been tampered with. Fergus got some goooood treats, good boy, good dog, ferocious hunter triumphs at last. Victory is sweet, but chicken is best."

He sleeps the sleep of the righteous and the just, approves
The Frog Princess

Diving Miss Maisy

Little Miss Maisy was surrendered because she has a skin condition that is quite likely to resolve over time, but which put off some members of her family. They opted to surrender her to rescue, and we are so glad to have her with us! The growths on her face are diminished and she is proving to be a wonderful source of exercise and amusement for the resident Frenchies in her foster home. Here's a recent note from her foster mom:

"Well our Little Miss Maisy is a HOOT!

We took her for a walk in the woods by my house where there is a very shallow stream. She was so intrigued by the running water she had the most AMAZING puppy fit I've ever seen!
Granted, both of my dogs were over 3 when I adopted them, so she is my first frenchie puppy experience ... but it was hysterical! She nibbled at the water and zoomed around in circles like a rocket. I love it when they run so fast, it seems like their back end might actually pass up their front end :)

After her outback adventure, I decided it was time to try Maisy with a bath and pedicure. She was good as gold ... even when I trimmed her nails! Maisy ... who holds still for nothing! She sat calmly in the tub while I scrubbed and trimmed. She is so beautiful and sweet and smart and playful. Honestly, people. :)

Here are a couple of pics of our little cutie-pied. One of her "feed me, I'm cute" face, one of her passed out on D's feet and one of her "crazy face" - look at those pearly whites! She's adorable!"

Adorable is the very word for her, concurs
The Frog Princess

By Pupular Demand!

Puppies! At their first week anniversary!

First, some sad news. Despite our best efforts and a week of near sleepless nights with help from friends and the best veterinary intervention, one of the brindle girls passed away.



Fading is something that happens sometimes and there is little understanding why. Some pups fade and can be brought back, and some fade and die. Breeding puppies is a heartbreaking thing, and it is not for the faint of heart or the uneducated. Want to teach the kids about the miracle of birth? OK. But you should also be prepared to teach them about the very sad reality of death.

Would the outcome have been different had we known earlier that the mom was pregnant? We can't think about that. There's no point in thinking about that.



The good news is, the little girl with the umbilical problem is thriving, and with a couple surgeries down the line, she should be happy and healthy!

We want to say thank you so much to our friends for their sleepless nights, their worry, their loving care and their tears for the loss of the pup. Another friend is flying in to spell our foster mom some nights so she and her family can get some rest--that's friendship.

Considering how much we love our own 8 hours uninterrupted slumber, that is TRUE friendship, declares

The Frog Princess