The Mitford Sisters with their French Bulldog

The Mitford Sisters – Britain’s Most Stylishly Controversial Frenchie Fanciers

What do French Bulldogs, fascism and Downton Abbey have in common? The answer is the Mitford Sisters – women who were among Britain’s most stylish and controversial fanciers of French Bulldogs (and all other things ‘au courant’).

The six sisters, Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity and Jessica (usually called Decca) were famous for being stylish, rich, eccentric and exceptionally witty. As young people, the sisters were best known for being among London’s “Bright Young Things” – a pejorative nickname given to a group of rich, hedonistic young aristocrats in Britain during the 1920’s who led a ‘bohemian’ lifestyle that included drugs, heavy drinking, excessively elaborate parties and promiscuous sex. Spending a great deal of time in Paris, they were exposed to the stylish “Bouldogues Francais” being paraded by the continent’s own stylish set.

Sisters Unity and Diana become reviled and notorious during the 1930s for for their close personal friendships with Adolf Hitler, and their championing of fascism. In 1938, Unity was attacked by a crowd in London for wearing a swastika on her shirt. Her devotion to Hitler and to Fascism was not simply an affectation – when Britain declared war on Germany, Unity attempted suicide.

Nancy, the eldest Mitford sister, became an acclaimed novelist and biographer – amazing in itself, considering her father did not approve of ‘formal’ schooling for girls, and Nancy’s formal education consistently entirely of a few months at a primary day school, and a year’s boarding at an upper lady’s college that was essentially a ‘debutante training center’.

Nancy appears to have owned several  French Bulldogs over the years, including a brindle pied bitch, Lottie, a brindle dog, Dominic, and another pied bitch named Millie.

From the Biography “Nancy Mitford”, by Selina Hastings:

“She had acquired a couple of French Bulldogs, Lottie and Millie, on whom she doted: they were allowed to sleep, wheezing, under the eiderdown on her bed. It became a common sight to the neighbours, Nancy in  a pair of slacks walking briskly along the tow-path with the pair of stout little dogs trotting along after her”.

Nancy made French Bulldogs a central plot in her 1940 novel, “Pigeon Pie”, in which an aristocratic and slightly ditzy heroine has her French Bulldog dog-napped, before going on to crack a German spy ring.

The popular BBC television show “Upstairs Downstairs” was said to have borrowed heavily from stories about the lives of the Mitford sisters, but their most famous influence has undoubtedly been on Sir Julian Fellowes, who credits them as being the inspiration for “Downton Abbey” (there are decided shades of sarcastic, prickly, intelligent Nancy Mitford in Mary Crawford, who was infamous for being as equally unkind as Lady Mary is to Edith  to her own younger sisters).

The death this week at age 94 of Deborah Mitford, the last surviving sister, is truly the end of an era.

 

Whee! It’s Flying Frenchie Friday!

Marcella Casebolt and a few other friends sent me the link to this awesome video of a French Bulldog puppy practicing up for Flying French Bulldog Friday!

Go, little guy, go!

Phantom Puppy scam

Avoiding Common Pet and Puppy Scams

I was recently emailed by someone in Brazil, asking me if the photos they had seen in an online ad were actually of my puppies. They were – and no, I am not selling Finn and Madge in Brazil. Instead, this is just another appearance of the phantom puppy scam. This seemed like as a good a time as ever to review some of the most common scams that victimize both sellers and buyers alike.

With most of these scams, the best prevention is plain old common sense. Any time you’re offered money for nothing, or an expensive puppy for ‘free’, your alarm bells should go off.

Prevention is essential, because in the Bank Draft Scam and ‘Big Check’ Scam, there’s almost zero chance that the authorities, the police, or anyone else is going to be able to get your money back, or bring these scammers to justice.

Bait and switch puppy scam

The con: In this scam, there actually is a puppy – it’s just not the one you saw the photos of. Instead of the shiny coated, clear eyed, conformationally correct pup you saw pictures of, you end up with a sickly, undersized puppy of a completely different color. Gina De’Lynn Price was great at this – numerous customers complained about getting a runty, sick Bulldog who appeared under aged, instead of the happy, healthy Bulldog puppy they saw photos of.

In some cases, this scam involves photos stolen from the websites of other, more legitimate breeders. We’ve personally seen photos of Tessa, Rebel, Sailor, Hammer, Solo and numerous others of our dogs show up on Puppy Find and similar websites, all being touted by scammers as the dogs they have for sale.

Commonly found: Anyplace on the net where people advertise puppies for sale

Avoiding this scam: Insist on frequent, numerous photos. If you’re skeptical, ask the breeder to hold up a sign in front of the puppy with a copy of that day’s newspaper. Better still, pick up your puppy in person.

Phantom Puppy Wire Transfer scam

The con: There’s no puppy at all here – just a lot of heart tuggingly sad stories, and a price that seems to good to be true (because it is).

In this scam, the perpetrator tells a sad story of having to place his Bulldog puppies because he has: lost his job; lost his wife; gone to Africa to be a missionary; been transferred for his job; placing them for a dead relative. There are as many reasons as there are scams, but the basic key is always that the puppies are ‘free’ – you’re just required to pay the shipping costs, which are a nominal amount, usually under $400.

Here’s the email that a scammer just attempted to post to my French Bulldog mailing list:

I am looking to rehome a litter of adorable bulldog puppies and  parents they belong to my late grand mother who I was really close to and she passed away unexpectedly
mom and dad of these puppies both have wonderful temperament they are good with kids and other animals and the puppies are so cute and full of energy and mischief to no end somedays
They come with complete shots and worming up to date. They do the funniest things. You just can’t get enough of their playful antic. And they are growing so fast.
contact me immediately if you are interested in them.

Once you show signs of interest, the con artist will tell you that the puppies are someplace exotic, usually Nigeria (which is where this scam tends to originate from). You’ll be asked to wire the money by Western Union, at which time the con artist will do one of two things: disappear altogether, never to be heard from again; or ask for more money, to cover ‘shipping costs’, or ‘government fees’ or veterinary care for the suddenly sick puppy. Some victims report that, when they’ve balked at paying the additional charges requested, they’ve received ‘threatening emails’ promising that they’ll be charged for animal abandonment if they don’t arrange for the puppy’s shipping (ie; cough up more money).

This scam usually involves Bulldogs and French Bulldogs, for the simple reason that a $200 price tag for a $2,000 puppy can make people set aside their skepticism in search of a bargain.

Commonly found: Free on line ad sites, or sites that allow people to place free ‘trial ads’, direct emails to your inbox, newsgroups, on line discussion groups, forums.

Avoiding this scam: Never, ever wire money to pay for a puppy. Never ‘buy’ a puppy that you’ve been told is in Nigeria or any other African country. Never respond to out of the blue emails asking for your ‘help’ in ‘rescuing’ a purebred puppy for a low fee to cover shipping. Never forget to apply logic to ads like these – why would anyone ‘give away’ a puppy they could easily sell? And, if you do get scammed, don’t expect anyone to help you. There are almost no cases of scammers being brought to justice for running these schemes.

Big Bank Draft Puppy Purchase Scam

The con: In this case, dog breeders are the victims. The con artist contacts breeders about their puppies for sale, and says he’d like to purchase one. Usually, they refer to themselves as either ‘international business men’, or in some reported cases have claimed to be Saudi royalty.

The scammer, after a few emails wherein he states his serious interest in purchasing a dog, mentions that he has an bank draft for a large sum, given to him by one of his customers. He’d like to give you the entire draft, and asks that you refund him the balance, after deducting the cost of the puppy and his transportation fees. Of course, he’s also willing to offer you a generous processing fee for doing him this one small favor…

If you agree, the scammer will send you a realistic looking bank draft, usually drawn on Western Union. He then instructs you to deposit the draft immediately, and send him a check for the difference by courier.

The draft, needless to say, is a fake. If your bank wasn’t alert enough to catch the fraud when you deposited it, rest assured they’ll do so within a few days, at which time you’ll be out everything – the amount you refunded, the handling costs, the bank fees, and in some cases, the price of the puppy you shipped. In one or two memorable cases, victims unable to repay the funds faced criminal charges.

Commonly Found: Almost any on line ads for fairly high priced goods for sale can be the target of this scam. Sellers of horses, cars, electronics or other high ticket items have all been victimized by this scam. There are now reports of B&B operators, tour guides and other being targeted. If you’re advertising goods or services on line, chances are good you’re eventually going to hear from these con artists.

Avoiding this scam: Use common sense! Why would you cash a check for thousands of dollars given to you by a total stranger? Never take a bank draft, or any other payment, for more than the price of the goods you’re selling. Remember, if you have any doubts about the legitimacy of a payment you’ve received, take it to your bank or financial institution, explain the situation, and ask them to verify it before you complete your transaction. Better still, stick to cash.

The Lost Pet Scam

The con: In this, the most heartless pet scam we’ve encountered, the victims are grieving pet owners searching for their lost pets.

The Los Angeles Times explains the scam in detail:

The pitch: “I found your lost dog!”

The scam: A phone call from someone who reports finding a beloved pooch is usually cause for celebration. But Western Union warns that it could be a cruel scam. The company has received reports from owners of lost dogs who say they’ve been called by people identifying themselves as truckers. The dog, a supposed trucker says, was found along a highway.

How it works: The driver says there was no time to get the dog home because of a tight delivery schedule. Now the truck is across the country, but the trucker offers to put the dog on a flight. All you have to do is wire money for the fare. Or sometimes the trucker will also say the dog was injured, and request additional money to cover vet bills.

The outcome: You show up at the airport to meet the flight, but your dog doesn’t arrive. The con artist had gotten your number off a “lost dog” poster or advertisement and never had the pet at all. The nearly surefire way to tell this was a scam was that the money had to be wired — that makes it easy for the fraudster to pick it up and hard for you to trace it.

Advice: Western Union suggests that anyone who is phoned long distance by a person claiming to have found a lost pet ask questions about the animal that are outside the scope of what was on a poster or in an ad. In any case, always be wary if a stranger requests funds be sent by wire.

The “Adopt or Rescue a French Bulldog or English Bulldog” Scam

The con: This one is slick, and preys on our tendencies as loving dog owners to want to help out dogs in need. The con men set themselves up as a ‘rescue’, claiming to have dogs that they’ve liberated from puppy mills. The trick here is the price – $3,000 and up, in some cases, to ‘adopt’ a dog from a rescue. What you’re actually doing, of course, isn’t ‘rescuing‘ or ‘adopting‘ –  it’s buying. You’ve bought a dog from a puppy mill, for a typical high ticket price, and no health guarantee (after all, you didn’t buy that dog, you adopted it, and caveat adopter). The profits go right back into the mill’s pockets, and allow them to pump out more sub standard puppies.
Commonly found: All over the web. YouTube is littered with videos for places that claim to help ‘rescue’ Bulldogs and Frenchies from Thai puppy mills, or Dog Farms in Ireland, or midwest commercial kennels. A search on ‘rescue a French Bulldog’ will bring up blogs and websites, all touting high priced puppies in need of  “adoption”. I’ve also received several direct mails from groups claiming to be “Rescues” or “Sanctuaries”, in one memorable case soliciting donations for a ‘Sactuary for the homeless French Bulldogs of Thailand’. The idea of packs of homeless, feral French Bulldogs roaming the streets of Thailand would be funny, if this wasn’t such a cruel scam.

Avoiding this scam: Learn to differentiate between a real rescue group, and a company selling puppies. A legitimate rescue will be well organized, well established, and often times a registered charity. There will hardly ever be cute young puppies available, since there’s no lack of homes waiting for adorable puppies. Most rescue dogs are older, with many in need of veterinary care. As with the other scams, use common sense!

Why does this group always have a never ending flow of young puppies? Where are the needy adults and older dogs commonly placed through rescue? Are they a recognized charity? Will their national breed club vouch for their legitimacy? If they can’t answer all of these questions to your satisfaction, just say no thanks. Give your money to a rescue group that will actually use it help dogs, instead of using it to breed more of them.

The Little Bit of Both Scam – “Shelter” needs donations, and has too many adorable puppies..

The con: This one is a sort of hybrid, offering a bit of all of the above scams all mixed together. The emails generally claim to be from someone running a ‘shelter’ or ‘sanctuary’. They are in desperate need of donations, because they just have too many cute (pure bred) puppies to care for. Of course, if you’d prefer, you can also choose to adopt one of their puppies.
Over on the Poodle and Dog Blog, Jan details an email she just received from a ‘shelter’ that’s just over run with adorable teacup “Yorkes” (sic), French Bulldogs and Bulldogs (unlike the average shelter, which is over run with adolescent male dogs of indeterminate ancestry). Of course they’re available for ‘adoption’, or they’d settle for just your donation.

The scam works on two levels – they’ll take your donations, of course, but what they’d really prefer is to get you to reveal your bank account donation, so that you can set up regularly scheduled donations. This lets them use your banking information for identity theft, check fraud, or, in some cases, to clear out your account altogether.

If you indicate you’d like to adopt one of their puppies, this segues into the phantom puppy scam – you’ll be asked to wire money to cover shipping costs, and generally veterinary expenses. This can add up to thousands of dollars, and all for puppies that do not even exist.

Commonly found: So far, I’ve seen this sent out as a direct e-mail campaign. Apparently, they’ve also placed on line classified ads on free sites.

Avoiding this scam: As with all the other scams, use common sense. Why on earth would a shelter be over run with pure bred, expensive, highly desirable puppies? Answer: they wouldn’t, of course.

Never donate money to any shelter or sanctuary that you can’t verify actually exists. If they don’t have a physical address you can visit locally, or are registered as a charity, don’t give them your money. As with all phantom puppy scams, never wire money for a dog. Always pick puppies up in person, and don’t pay until you have done so.

Hairy dog paw pads caused by nasodigital hyperkeratosis

Mutant Hairy Dog Feet

Updated 04-13-2014 : Apparently, there are an awful lot of people out there with dogs who have mutant hairy feet, because I get a ton of email about this blog post. For those of you who have asked – no, you do not have to use Bag Balm or Herbacin on your dog’s feet. Any good, protective emollient will do –  vaseline, cocoa butter, Udder Cream (ask at your local farm supply store) or the product of your choice.  

Sean and I spent yesterday in one of our favorite bonding experiences — dremeling dog nails. This inevitably leads to him making bitter comments about how he never wanted children, while I tell him to shut up or I’ll post photos on the blog of him holding Penelope while she’s dressed in a tutu and a collar with daisies on it.

This works quite well, because Sean remains convinced that clothing on dogs is the last step in a slippery slope that leads to you living in a trailer with 100 cats and a tinfoil hat on your head. Also, I’ve enjoyed learning that, among all the interesting uses one can have for a blog, blackmailing your spouse sits right up there near the top of the list (I even invented a word for it – blogmailing, as in “Do that again, and I’m going to write about it on my blog”).

Midway through grinding Journey’s nails, Sean commented on the pads of her feet.

“Have they always been this, I don’t know, big?”

I looked more closely, and noted that they almost looked hairy. He agreed, and I ran to grab a flashlight for a closer look. Sure enough, the pads of Journey’s feet, when stroked in the opposite direction, looked like they were made of millions of tiny, bristly, orange hairs.

The hell?” was Sean’s succinct summation of the situation, while I started humming Journey’s theme song, which goes roughly like this –

‘She’s Journey! The mutant Manatee dog!
Raised near a nuclear plant,
She’s got skin that glows
and a crusty nose..
Hair that sheds,
all over your bed…
Stinky butt stank,
and a mouth so rank….
Because…
She’s Journey! The mutant Manatee dog!’

Here’s a photo of Journey’s left pad, which should give you an idea of what I mean by ‘hairy’ .

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By comparison, here’s Delilah’s paw –

Normal French Bulldog paw pad

I went on line and asked a few other French Bulldog breeders if they had ever seen anything like it. Some had, and mentioned that dremeling the ‘hairy’ areas seemed to help. Barb mentioned that she’d seen before in dogs she’d groomed, and that she thought it was a kind of fungus. I then did some digging on google, and found this

nasodigital hyperkeratosis – an ailment affecting either the nose or foot pads (or both) of older dogs. In hyperkeratosis, keratin – the tough, fibrous outer covering of foot pads – grows excessively. Often, the hard, cracked pads appear to have “keratin feathers” around their edges. A vet can diagnose this ailment by analyzing a section of pad tissue. Although hyperkeratosis can’t be cured, it can be controlled. The veterinarian can carefully trim excessive keratin and instruct the owner on techniques to hydrate the pads, retarding excessive keratin growth. One such technique is to soak the pads each day in a 50 percent propylene-glycol solution over a period of several days.

We decided that, since it can’t be cured, and since I’m pretty comfortable treating minor stuff like this myself, that we’d break out the dremel and see if it worked. We carefully and slowly worked against the grain of the raised areas, and ground off as much of the ‘hairs’ as we could, without hurting Journey or touching the flat pads of her feet. We then soaked her feet in a mild sanitizer solution, and applied a coating of Herbacin Hand Balm (I wanted to use Bag Balm, but I seem to have run out. Much like the father in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and his belief that Windex cures everything, I firmly believe that Bag Balm is a substance of near magical properties, useful on everything from dog noses to people feet. Plus, one tin lasts for like two decades).

The changes were immediate. Here’s Journey’s same pad, after treatment –

Journey's paw after treatment

We’ll have to keep treating her daily, to see if the changes are lasting, but hopefully we’ll be able to control it. I feel bad, because apparently if we’d been monitoring her pads better, we could have kept it from getting to this stage. I decided to give all the dogs feet a good cleaning with sanitizer, and to apply some Bag Balm to the bottoms, just on the theory that it can’t hurt, and might help prevent any further instances of Hairy Foot Syndrome (a term I personally prefer to nasodigital hyperkeratosis).

We’ve taken to refering to Journey as our ‘walking science project’, since she’s the dog that just keeps on giving when it comes to learning about weird Frenchie medical conditions. Good thing we love her so much, and that she’s such an utter sweetheart of a dog.

Brigid French Bulldog Puppies on Frenchie Puppy Cam

If you haven’t been watching our newly re introduced French Bulldog puppy cam, you’re missing out. The cam, on periodically throughout the day, is a close up view of the puppies, doing the things puppies do – eating, sleeping, rolling around, kicking their feet in the air, and generally being adorable. The cam isn’t on all day (we have country internet with a usage cap, and running it 24/7 would kill us), but I announce when it’s on via Twitter and Facebook. Here’s the link –

http://dropc.am/p/vy4U1F

The cam (which is a Dropcam, and I can NOT recommend it highly enough!!) works on all desktop computers, but on mobile devices you might have to install the Dropcam app, look up the cam feed, and watch via the app. If all of that sounds like just too much work, check out this timelapse video, of a single afternoon on the live cam – and then you’ll know what you’re missing!