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A bit of this, a bit of that…

The website overhaul on BullmarketFrogs is pretty much complete. I have some fine tuning to do, and a few pages left to put content on, but other than that it’s all there. Have a look and leave me some feedback.

I’m a bit concerned about this overhaul. I re arranged the way the file folders within the site are arranged – less nested files, deleting old and un needed folders, that sort of thing. Spring cleaning for your domain, if you’d like. Google, however, has the old file addresses cached, which means it’s going to start throwing 404 errors pretty soon. Anyone know how long it takes for Google to read your updated xml site maps?

Tula has gotten her appetite back, and then some. She’s currently a ravenous beast, eating 1 1/2 times her normal food, and hungry in between meals. Her sides are swelling out, and tight as a drum. Fair to say we’re pretty sure she’s pregnant…

Penelope, on the other hand, is off her food – and this from a dog who normally yips with frustration while she waits for you to fill her food dish. She’ll eat, but only if you add extra treats to her food. Fussy little monkey.. she’s right on schedule for this kind of behaviour, boding well for her pregnancy also.

Dexter and Petal had a face to face confrontation on the front porch this morning. Dex was completely freaked out, jumping straight into the air and yelping “What the hell is THAT?” when he saw her. Petal was so not afraid of him – she glanced at him, shrugged a typical ‘dogs, what morons’ kind of shrug, and went back to washing her paws. Within a few minutes, they were play wrestling and having a grand old time.

Bunny got creative the other door, when I accidentally left a folding hardwood chair where she could get at it. Within the space of two hours, she demolished every single inch of the chair – the leather seat, the foam stuffing underneath it, the legs, the slat back, the feet – everything. It’s the most thorough destruction I’ve ever seen by a French Bulldog. My fault completely, of course, for leaving a chair where she could get it, and you almost have to admire her dedication. She doesn’t just gnaw – she annihilates. She’s one nutty Bunny, that’s for sure.

(Almost) All the ladies love McLovin

Squeamish readers take note: This post contains descriptive terms you might not enjoy reading. Feel free to skip by looking at this cute video of a kitten.

Tessa the French Bulldog is done with lovin'

McLovin is slowly losing his mind, and I can’t say I blame him. Poor Elliott – it’s not easy being the only mature boy in a house full of French Bulldog ladies in the mood for love.

The progesterone fest, however, is slowly winding down. Only Paris still remains committed to her one true love (or at least her one true ‘you’ll do for now’), with Penelope and Tula having come to the conclusion that he isn’t, in fact, all that and a bag of chips.

It was a different story last week however, when Penelope spent most of her time either pining for her beloved, or screeching at the top of her lungs whenever she caught sight of him. Elliott was busily peeing every place he caught scent of her, which apparently included the leather recliner and my suede Converse running shoes.

Tula’s infatuation wore off mighty quick. Within 24 hours, she went from “Ooooh baby” to “Ewwww, icky”, a sea change she expressed with her fine white teeth and an impressive show of snarling. Elliott, being a typical, easy going male French Bulldog, shrugged off her change of heart with some befuddled confusion and a great deal of sangfroid.

Penelope, on the other hand, objected mightily to Ms. Tula dissing her beloved, and a quick and fierce battle over whether or not Elliott was, indeed, the most handsome Frenchie alive was only broken up when I intervened with a bucket of water and a hose. Rumors that the other dogs were hanging around in the background chanting “Jerry, Jerry” and that Sailor, Penelope’s mom, stepped in and swung a chair at Tula’s head are unsubstantiated.

The fight was declared a draw, with Tula walking away muttering “I still say he stinks“, while Nell, gazing at Elliott with moony love struck eyes, hummed “one day, my frog prince will come”.

Less than a week later, and oh how things have changed. Nell and Tula are now united in their disdain for Elliott’s manly ways, and have expressed that opinion with several “Get the hell away from me or I’ll neuter you with my teeth” conversations. Elliott has decided that he’ll just stick with Paris for now.

What a surprise he’s in for when Paris falls out of love with him. That girl will eat him alive if he comes sniffing around too insistently…

Tessa, being old and experienced in the ways of amour, has said that love and romance are dearly over rated, and pale in comparison to a nice nap in a sunny spot in the garden.

Love is in the air….

French Bulldog romeo

So, according to the progesterone results, and the fact that Tula has been sluttishly jamming her girly bits into the face of every dog who comes close to her, today was her first breeding day.

I tossed Tula, wearing a stylish pair of skull and cross bones printed season panties, and Elliott (who was wearing a slightly poopy butt and non matching camo print color) into the Element, and headed for the vet’s office. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, boy Frenchies are pretty much inept when it comes to breeding. They might be willing, but they most definitely are not able, so veterinary assistance is usually required. Barb, of course, handles this herself, but since I’m both more squeamish and much more clumsy, I prefer to leave things like this to the professionals. It’s well worth the hundred bucks and change per breeding to not have the after images lingering in my head for days.

Elliott, who is one of the best tempered intact male Frenchies I’ve ever met, was so thrilled to meet everyone at the vet clinic that he sort of forgot all about Tula and the reason for his visit.

Tula, who had done just about everything short of donning hot pants and crooning “me love you long time” into Elliott’s ear in an attempt to get his attention, finally smacked him against the wall with her rear and commanded him to just get on with it, thank you.

That did the trick. Elliott woke up, realized “Oh hey, that’s what I’m here for”, and proceeded to woo his new lady love – or rather, he wooed the vet, but since the end result was what matters, we’ll leave that alone. Elliott, in fact, was so happy to be reminded of his purpose on life that he was ready for another go, so we tossed the newly nicknamed ‘McLovin’ into a crate, and helped Tula onto the path towards motherhood.

Monday we’ll repeat the entire sordid procedure. Who says dog breeding isn’t glamorous?