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Way to Go Luke!

Luke takes Winners Dog at the French Bull Dog Club of America supported entrty in Louisville

Luke in Winners Dog competition

Two weekends in a row, and two great wins for Tula and Dexter’s kids!

First Leah’s winners bitch win at Purina, and now Luke takes winners dog for a 4 point Major at the supported entry at the Louisville Cluster of dog shows! What a great win for a young puppy, and we just couldn’t be happier. Big congrats to Luke’s co owner, Andrea Morden Moore!

It’s been a lot of fun to hear from all of the people who had a chance to meet Lukey in person at Louisville. Handsome is great, but hearing how sweet and affectionate he is even better.

Also, can you believe how great the swag was from this win? Check out the photo –
Luke's Prized from the FBDCA Supported Entry in Louisville

Holy cow!

Lots more photos are over on Luke and Andrea’s Flickr page – and make sure to keep an eye out for this handsome little guy if you’re at an Illinois area show!

Luke at the IKC Dog Show

Luke is showing in the French Bulldog six to nine month puppy class

Luke is showing in the French Bulldog six to nine month puppy class

Our friend Hope took some photos of the lovely Mr. Luke (aka Bullmarket NewHope at SpiritDragon, aka Tula’s baby boy from her last litter) showing at the International Kennel Club dog show in Chicago this past weekend.

Luke, who is showing from the six to nine month old puppy class, took Reserve Winners Dog, which is a pretty big achievement for his very first time in the show ring. Way to go, Luke, and way to go to Luke’s co owner, Andrea Morden Moore. Andrea has been training him diligently, and it looks like its paid off.

I’m not sure of the name of Luke’s handler, but she looks like she did a great job.

With any luck, Luke’s sister Leah, who makes her debut in Canada at the Purina National Dog show, won’t let her brother leave her in the dust. Practice those stacks, Kristina! 🙂

(ps: thanks to everyone who emailed or called to ask about the babies – all three now seem to be doing just fine!)

Photos below, or on Flickr.

They grow up so fast…

Luke attends show handling class

Luke attends show handling class

It’s hard to believe that our last round of French Bulldog puppies are almost seven months old. With age comes the thought of show ring careers, so I thought we’d update you on what’s going on with our budding beauty queens (and king).

Over in Illinois, Andrea Morden Moore and the lovely Luke are getting ready for their show ring debut. Luke has already been doing some ring training, and Andrea says he is progressing quite nicely. I’m very pleased with him, albeit only from his photos.

Luke will be making his ring debut at the Chicago International Kennel Club show, which takes place the last weekend in February.

You can learn more about the IKC show on their web page – http://www.ikcdogshow.com/

Luke and Andrea will be showing during the ‘benched’ portion of the show. The Westminster Kennel Club website has the description for “Benched” shows –

Originally, most shows were “benched” in some fashion, where the entered dogs were required to be in assigned areas (on benches) at all times when not being judged in the ring. This allowed for interaction of dogs and their owners with spectators and other owners and breeders as an educational process.

What this means, in essence, is that all the dogs of a single breed are set up in the same area in between showing. All of the French Bulldogs, for example, will be together, which means you’ll also have easy access to all of the French Bulldog breeders and exhibitors who are at the same show. Many times, people will set up little informational booths and displays, often with the breed clubs or local breed rescues also offering a display.

There are very, very few benched shows left in the world, and while exhibitors might complain about them, there are really no better shows for the average public to attend.  Benched shows are ultimately intended to provide a way for the public to interact with large groups of breeders and exhibitors, all in one place, and most people who enter benched shows do so with the understanding that they will make themselves available to answer questions about their dogs and their breed.

If you live in or near the Chicago area, Luke and Andrea would LOVE to have you come out to meet them, and to cheer for them. As I mentioned, they’re only entered in the ‘benched’ portion of the show, which is Saturday and Sunday. I’ll be posting entry times as the show dates gets closer, but please let me know if you plan to attend, so that they can keep an eye out for you.

Up in Michigan, Sue Simon had been hoping to attend the IKC show with Luke and Leah’s dad, Dexter. Unfortunately, the timing isn’t great right now, so she’ll be entering him in some local Michigan shows, including Cobo Hall – which just happens to be another benched show!

This means another great chance to come out and meet with dogs and their owners, including the Dashingly Devious Dexter. Please give him a head skritch from me, and tell him to try to behave himself for Sue!

French Bulldog in the snow

Leah 'enjoying' the snowy CT weather

Over on the East Coast, Luke’s sister Leah is also getting ready for her show ring debut. We’re currently working out details for the Lovely Ms Leah to head up to Canada, where she’ll be ably handled by the ultra talented Kay Reil, who finished Butters for us last year.  I have high hopes that Leah will make it up in time for the CKC’s Charitable dog show event, the Purina National dog show. This year’s show should have a great turn out, as it’s being held at the Interational Center near the Toronto Airport.

Last year, Butters made her debut at the Purina National, and it would be nice to see Leah do the same. We’ll be offering a breed information booth at the Purina National this year, and again – we’d love to see you come out to meet us, and to learn more about Frenchies.

Also on the east coast is Finlee, Delilah’s Dexter daughter. Finlee and her new mom, Amanda, will be making their ring debut some time later this spring, and we look forward to hearing more about their progress. We also need Amanda to send us more photos – Flickr is your friend, people!

Last but hardly least is our own little Dex-ette, Pickle. She’s coming along quite nicely – her body is lovely at this stage, but her head needs to catch up with it. Right now, she looks like she’s got a mature body, with a puppy head. We’re going to give her some time for all of her bits to catch up with each other before we put her in the ring. Some pups just aren’t fully finished until a year or so, and I’m in no rush to get her out there. We’re aiming for early summer, with our fingers crossed. In the meantime, we’re going to do a local obedience class, as I think it will be good for her confidence.

I hope Barb can’t read the blog from Heaven – she used to freak out when she heard I was putting show puppies into obedience class! It’s that lingering, old school belief that “if you teach them to sit, they won’t stand in the ring!”. I think they can learn to do both, and I think it’s good for them to be stimulated and learning something other than just to be pretty faces.

How about you – if you have show prospect puppies, are you making plans for spring? If you’re a pet person, have you ever attended a dog show, or would you ever?

Indian Summer French Bulldog Puppies

Indian Summer French Bulldog Video after the Cut

Indian Summer French Bulldog Video after the Cut

On the weekend, Phyllis, Lukey and Peanut Butter all left for their new homes. Phyllis flew home with Amanda, and seemed quite content to be tucked into her travel bag. Lukey and Peanut Butter were picked up by David and Theresa, mom and dad to the suave Mr. Maurice (formerly know as the Cow Puppy) and to the late and much missed Mr. Bumby. Sailor, Bumby’s sister, had Theresa picked out as a soft touch from the moment she arrived, and did her best to monopolize all of Theresa’s time (and petting energy).

Lukey is catching a ride with David and Theresa to Chicago, where he’ll be spending some time with his Auntie Hope (and an undoubtedly unimpressed Dax). After that, Hope will take Luke on the final leg of what I’ve been calling “The Frenchie Puppy Underground Railroad”, on to Andrea, who managed to bung up her rotator cuff and arm while doing something athletic. This would have made it near impossible for Andrea to make the long drive from Illinois all on her own, so alternate – and creative! – methods of transportation were required. Way to pull together, everybody. It always amazes me the outpouring of love and support I’ve found within the French Bulldog community when it’s called upon. Even within show circles, while we might all bitch about each other from time to time (shut up, you know it’s true), when push comes to shove, we’ve got each others backs.

Go Team Frenchie!

It sure looks empty outside with just Pammy, Dwight, Pickle and Leah left. I plan to spend this week taking as many photos as possible.

In the meantime, here’s a video I shot on Friday, showcasing all of the kooks in their nutjob glory. Well, other than Peanut Butter, who sat there, looking stoic and handsome and very sedate. Sigh… did I mention that neither he nor Luke even spared me a backwards glance as I helped load them into the car?

Frenchies sure are ungrateful little monkeys sometimes!

Video after the cut.

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Creating a Race of Circus Dogs

Tula Jumps the Fence

Tula Jumps the Fence

The other night I did what I usually do while cleaning, and tossed Dexter outside into the fenced yard. It’s fenced with five foot chain link on three sides, and a 4 1’2 foot stone retaining wall on the fourth. The only dog it hasn’t been able to hold is Tula, who we discovered could – and would – happily scale the wall if it meant she could get to where I was at. Thankfully, unless I’m outside the yard, Tula never bothers to try to escape, and she’s never allowed access to this part of the yard if I’m not at home and watching her.

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