Hello, world!

Boulder or Bust

2010-05-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since our last update! Babar spent a good portion of the last year on business in Austin, TX... and with all the flying and meetings he had to attend, he was simply far too busy to update his blog.

In summary...

Babar flies like a champ:

He consumed some hotel TV instructions... and my shoe... and some tea:

He rocked a new dog park:

...and finally came home:

He was a pretty busy little bulldog!

Babar and I have now moved to Colorado... Why, you ask? Because I googled "vegetarian, yoga, and dog" and came up with Boulder.

As you all know Babar has a penchant for taking elaborate walks, meeting all kinds of dogs, being allowed into stores (and being therein worshipped)... so he was totally on board with a move to the Rockies.

Although we have only been here a short time, we have learned several things:

1. Babar is perhaps the very best of four-legged road-trippers.

2. Babar hearts window seats.

3. Boulder adores other dogs, and is fairly confident that he is their King.

4. Heat - humidity = less horrible breathing noises for a French Bulldog... but he still gets pretty tired.

5. He has plenty of time for lounging around:

6. And goodness knows he didn't leave any toys at home...

We will update soon with more adventures, and in the meantime look forward to Babar's second coming-home day on May 31!

Babar is an International Man of Mystery

2009-09-20T14:12:00.001-07:00

So it has been quite a while since our little man has had an entry, but it's only because he's been so busy! With all the nice weather we've been having lately, he's been hiking, swimming, traveling, and running up quite the tab at his veterinarian!

Good news first: Babar went to Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Germany!

This was a great experience for him... despite everyone in Europe thinking he is a vicious fighting dog, he loved how dog-friendly the stores and restaurants are over there, and especially loved all of his special activities! Highlights of his trip included:

1. Going INSIDE his very first Starbucks:

2. Getting to go to the top of Mount Säntis:

3. Going to the lake region of Italy and Switzerland (and trying to eat at the table):

4. Saving everybody from the mean swans (they were VERY mean):

5. Drinking the delicious, Swiss water from the many puppy-friendly fountains:

6. And, of course, taking the best naps ever:

All in all, Babar's two weeks in Europe were a great experience for him... Since Frenchies should NEVER go in cargo or be medicated for flights, Babar came with us in the cabin and slept the entire 9 hours both ways... he was fabulous!

In other news, Babar also had a swimming lesson! The very, very hot weather in the summer stops B from being able to get the proper amount of exercise he needs, and since Frenchies can't swim naturally due to the top-heavy nature of their bodies, we took him to a local pool for a swim lesson to teach him to trust a life jacket! It was really adorable... Babar swam like a maniac, and when he wanted a break he climbed up on the instructor's shoulders! He swam for an entire half hour, and afterwards slept A LOT :)

Now for the not-so-good news... Babar had to have emergency surgery! For months now, he's been visiting his vets because of tummy issues, with no luck! We finally brought him into the emergency hospital on Labor Day weekend, and it turns out that he had about 60 sharp bone fragments lodged in his little belly! Since his stomach was ulcerated, they must have been in there for months, causing him pain, dehydration, and significant digestive issues!

Although we caught it late, Babar went into surgery, and came out like a new man! Despite a 5 inch scar (which is healing beautifully), Babar is really enjoying the process of gaining the weight he lost, and is a much happier and healthier little man. He hopes to be updating his blog much more often since he's feeling better!

Babar Does the Yard Work

2009-06-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Babar is a busy little guy, and considers himself quite the Renaissance puppy. He usually spends the days improving his physique with yoga and crazy runs, food tasting to make sure everything is still good, demonstrating his artistic flare by "feng-shui"ing his toys, and keeping up with his personal hygiene with mud baths and puddle jumps.

That having been said, when we decided it was time to do the yardwork today, Babar kindly offered his services.

This, unfortunately, was the result:

Apparently, when Babar agreed to help clean the patio, what he really meant was "I will eat all the soap".

He was quite pleased with his contributions.

Babar Visits Mount Vernon!

2009-04-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last week Babar had a very special houseguest, and requested that we take a family roadtrip... he claims that since he is getting older, it's time for him to see more of the world... so we went to visit Mount Vernon!

This trip was a first for Babar... he's never been to a historical site before, especially not one with farm animals! Even though it was rainy and cold, meaning he had to wear his raincoat, he dealt with all of the ooh-ing and aah-ing, as well as the pokes from small children, very nicely and really seemed to enjoy himself. Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

First Babar had his first sighting of cattle... I think he was impressed, but I also think he is under the impression that he is the same size as said cattle since he had to be restrained from running into their pen!

Babar then moved onto the pen of a black pig...

I'll go ahead and let the irony of that statement speak for itself.

The ultimate favorite moment of the day, was when Babar made friends with the lambs... not only did the three of them exchange kisses between the fence, but Babar spent the rest of the day trying to steer us back to them! So cute.

So all in all, it was a great day... Mount Vernon is very dog-friendly and we all really enjoyed ourselves... B even consented to pose at the view of the Potomac for people to take pictures of him; what a gentleman!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, B!!!

2009-03-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

Today is Babar's very first birthday!!! He is celebrating with extra treats and walks, a play-date with his woman, and steak for dinner! He also got this tennis ball, which he's been eying at the dog park, and the look on his face when he got it was pure joy!!

Happy birthday, B :)

2009-02-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

Babar. 2300 hours. All is quiet on the homefront, but Mommy seems to be making something in the kitchen. Will try to take momentarily, but will first wait to be bribed out of hiding with yummies.

So Babar has taken up the delightful night-time habit of sliding himself under the couch and barking for no apparent reason; it would appear that he is playing a war game and thinks that "under the couch" is both invisible to everybody, as well as some sort of bunker.

Babar. 2320 hours. Yummies have been spotted. Am waiting for right time to strike.

At first, I thought he was just stuck; Babar has a tendency towards unfortunate decisions, and a 25-pound Frenchie underneath a couch does not go as well as you'd expect. However, he's perfectly capable of getting out, as he demonstrates if you bring any sort of treat within a 5 foot radius of his hiding spot.

Babar. 2323 hours. Yummy received. Retreating to bunker.

Unfortunately, he slides right back under the couch as soon as he gets his treat, and thus has to be dragged out so someone can sit on the couch without worrying that they'll create a little puppy-pancake. Babar is not pleased about this.

Babar. 2325 hours. Foiled again.

Babar is a lucky little man, help those who aren't!

2009-02-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

Since Babar is my very first dog, I did a whole lot of research and got him from a fantastic breeder who treats her dogs very well. Some dogs aren't as lucky, and they are forced to live in horrible conditions to produce puppies to sell in pet-stores and online. To support those who have had rough lives, I always try to help the French Bulldog Rescue Network by buying Babar's coats and harnesses, etc. from their store, and by making donations when I can.

The FBRN is a really great organization that helps Frenchies who have been surrendered, abandoned, abused, or disabled... they find great homes for them, provide medical care, and foster them until they find their forever-families. Last night, I found a particularly heartbreaking story about a dog named Rachel who had been used in a puppy-mill and as a result has a huge number of health-problems, including pneumonia, missing teeth from lack of healthcare, splayed feet from living her whole life in a wire cage with no exercise or playtime, and she is seriously malnourished. Even with all of those problems, she is smiling and looks so happy to be safe in her pictures... If you can, please try to help her!

All animals deserve to have as much love, fun, and happiness as Babar, and it's important that we do what we can to help that happen!

Westminster, baby!

2009-02-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

Babar is super excited to be hosting a Westminster party tonight in honor of his brother and littermate CH Floresta's Spontaneous Combustion (more commonly referred to as Boomer)! This picture was sent to us by Babar's breeder to show us Boomer is his full-show posing:

Babar's girlfriend, Emma, is coming to watch with us, so Babar has been very busy cleaning up his toys and rearranging his beds to accomodate for his woman :) We'll make sure to take loads of pictures of the happy couple nesting.
Boomer is a bit bigger than Babar, but an equally gorgeous Frenchie... it makes us want to show Babar just for fun, although I think he enjoys his days of eating, walking, and playing in the park too much to want to go on the road and have to behave :)

So, fingers crossed, everyone! We'll update soon :)

Babar's back in town!

2009-02-03T14:56:00.001-08:00

So Babar is aware he hasn't posted for a while, and takes full responsibility, but to be fair he has had a lot going on!

First and foremost, Babar would like to tell everybody that he got a nose job from his plastic surgeon in West Palm Beach: in reality he had a very special surgery to enlarge his nasal passages and shorten his elongated soft palate. He went to a really great surgeon in Florida, who worked a miracle, and after a rough couple of weeks, he sounds much healthier, and is happy and breathing normally! Here are some pictures of his progression:

Pre-surgery:

Immediately after:

After ripping out his stitches:

Now:

So now his stitches are coming out, his breathing is better, he has no more pink, and despite never being able to wear a normal collar, he is 100%!

Babar also had his very first Christmas, which was exciting for him as he had his very own stockings and presents to open, including a nylabone dinosaur, a pig, a teddy bear, and a bunny! The only survivors are the bunny and dinosaur, but he sure had a lot of fun ripping out stuffing! He also got all kinds of peanut butter and attention, which was a nice distraction for him since his nose was still hurting quite a bit!

Babar has also continued his modeling, and has yet again been named pet of the day... He's getting to be impossible to live with :)

Is Babar a Frenchie?

2008-12-16T20:54:00.001-08:00

Does anyone else see it?

(from http://www.petsugar.com/2617568)

...How about now?

:) We'll write soon! Leave good wishes for Babar's surgery!!!

Babar is famous again!

2008-11-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Babar is yet again the pet of the day on PetSugar!

What a little rockstar :)

Babar does Halloween.... Bumble Bee style

2008-11-12T07:07:00.000-08:00

Does it get any cuter?

No, it does not.

Babar's first hike!

2008-10-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

Babar has been on steroids due to a little health issue lately, and thus has all kinds of excess energy; that, combined with the gorgeous weather lately, meant it was time for Babar's very first hike!

We picked a 1.5 mile hike to a summit, which was supposed to be very simple... being a Frenchie, he is built for comfort and not for speed, so we certainly didn't want to overwhelm the little guy! In my dad's words, "Babar has never met a stick he didn't like," and clearly the hike was full of those as well as little animals and tons of new smells... he was super excited!

He did have to be carried over the steeper stretches (a 22 pound workout for the carrier!), but overall he did great, and was super proud of himself once he reached the top!

...and very sleepy afterwards :)

Babar makes TV an interactive experience

2008-10-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Babar loves himself some TV... personal favorites include "House", "NCIS", "Monk", "The Dog Whisperer", any symphonic concert, and pretty much whatever you can find on Animal Planet.

When a concert comes on, he avidly watches the TV and moves his head when the tempo changes or a new sound emerges. During "House", "NCIS", and "Monk", he'll kind of chill out with us on the couch and watch the screen between naps. As for "The Dog Whisperer", he seems to enjoy looking around the house for the dogs barking on the show. These things are all pretty cute, but his absolute favorite (hands down) is, as you can see, Animal Planet:

He's totally there with that bird.

Babar Hearts Kung Fu Fido

2008-09-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

Behold Kung Fu Fido, which Babar goes completely bonkers over. A gift from one of my best buddies, B got to sample these babies last week and, oh my goodness, was it a show. These are basically dog yummies shaped into fortune cookies with cute little dog-fortunes inside. This particular one says "If it smells good, eat it. If it smells bad, roll in it." My favorite so far has been "Break a mirror, and it'll bring you seven years of bad luck... Longest 12 months of your life."

I thought this would be a great opportunity to show the world Babar's stages of "I'm about to eat something delicious and not get it taken out of my mouth"-excitement:

Stage 1: "Look how good I am, can you even believe it? I bet you can't":Stage 2: "Watch as I shove the entire cookie into my mouth before you realize it is delicious and decide to take it out of my mouth.": Stage 3: "You're not going to take this out of my mouth? I can eat it? Oh I love this cookie more than life itself.":Stage 4: Food coma.

Puppy Love

2008-09-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Meet the love of Babar's life: Emma:

Babar is into larger, older women and doesn't mind doing a bit of extra work.

Emma is a lady of sophisticated tastes (although she clearly favors younger men). To win her heart, Babar has had to keep in top physical condition, including his special puppy diet of bark and dried up leaves, as well as vigorous yoga sessions (here Babar displays his "Upward Facing Dog" pose... look at that form).

When they have their dates, Emma likes to play hard to get, so she runs around the park slowly with a stick to let Babar think he can get it (he can't).

He has to do a lot of work to impress her, often showing Emma that he's not afraid to go that extra mile when she's feeling down.

She may pretend not to care, but she totally chased off a would-be-Babar-attacker the other day at the park... and clearly, he really cracks her up :)

Why Frenchies Rock Reason #129081

2008-09-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Because they sit like this:

Babar's #1

2008-09-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Meet Headless Dino:

For an almost 6-month old puppy with a huge amount of enthusiasm and an insatiable need to chew, chew, chew, there is nothing better than the industrial strength, rubber, squeaky puppy toy... and man, did we luck out on this one.
Whenever Babar goes to the toy store, we lay out toys for him and he gets to pick whatever he wants... on this particular trip B happened to pick out Dodo (unfortunately, his access to Dodo is restricted because Dodo brings out that lovin' feeling in Babar, and is thus a terrible influence), but Headless Dino was my personal favorite. He has now converted, and man is that thing made out of some strong rubber.

That'll be Perrier, please.

2008-08-24T19:49:00.001-07:00

Observe Babar's "Masterpiece Theater" face:

I had to post this particular picture, because Babar is now a puppy of refined tastes. Due to a lack of his usual Brita-filtered tap water, Babar was treated to a bottle of overpriced Fiji water; I thought "Hey, it's all water", but oh no, apparently Babar could tell the difference. Instead of the regular 3 or 4 laps of water, Babar drank every drop in his little water dish. When I filled the bowl up again later with his regular fare, he sniffed it daintily, took one taste, and then just looked at me in disgust before walking away. Nice, B.

Remember the days of Babar and his beloved Poland Springs bottle? Apparently, he's upgraded. Now please excuse him while he retires to the drawing room in his smoking jacket.

The Face of Victory

2008-08-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Behold Babar's face of absolute victory. After repeated reminders and emphatic "No!"s, Babar decided to yet again attempt to eat the charcoal dust in the bottom of the grill, this time with resounding success. As you can see, Babar is not as adorably shiny and brindled as he usually is, but rather covered with enormous amounts of white ash, complemented by a lovely charcoal black tongue: nice one, B. I hope you enjoyed the charred, dusty remains of last night's lambchops; they will be your last.

To his credit, he took the ensuing bath like a champ, and was only slightly moody afterwards. He thinks it was totally worth it, because this is one satisfied puppy:

Caught in the Act

2008-08-04T20:28:00.001-07:00

Please note the USB cable hanging out of Babar's mouth in this snapshop.
On that note, here is a list of things my adorable puppy has destroyed upon entering his new home:

Legs of several wooden chairs- chewed
A sheepskin rug- attacked
Tons of paper plates- chewed
My wooden clothes dryer- chewed and attacked
T-shirts left and right- peed on
My new insurance policy- eaten
Picture frame- chewed

Oh the joys of teething. Fortunate for everyone involved, Babar is laying off the destructive behavior now that he's starting to realize that everything is not his personal chewy toy. Also, he's really cut down on the dirt and rock consumption, which is a plus in my book.

In closing, B has channeled his inner Humphrey Bogart:
Here's lookin' at you, kid.

Babar the Canine Post-It

2008-07-22T21:16:00.001-07:00

So I learned something last night.

When moving, it is a very good idea to make sure that my leg-wax does not fall over and spill on the hardwood floor. I also learned that in the event that this does happen, it is a great thing to find out before an adorable but very curious little puppy decides to step in it.

POOR BABAR!! He totally got his paw stuck in the wax and couldn't get it out... it was an hour long, team effort to get the stuff off the poor little guy, but it was admittedly sort of hilarious at the same time. Fortunately for everyone involved, a mixture of wax removing creme, puppy shampoo, and good ol' elbow grease did the trick with no loss of adorable, brindle fur and whatever isn't off yet will wear off in a few days :) Go team! Unfortunately, since everyone involved was covered in wax, there was no photo-op. Sigh.

Today, we realized that we can stick things to Babar because of the remaining wax on his back, so I present to you Babar, the Canine Post-It:

He will never learn.

Babar's big move

2008-07-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Our big move started Tuesday! We are moving from a suburb to the city, into a much bigger place with a yard and way more space for B to cause trouble in!

The day was full of highs and lows for Babar; he was left alone for 10-15 minutes pretty frequently in a progressively-more-empty apartment, which floated over like a lead balloon... the poor little guy was crying his head off! Eventually, he exhausted himself and calmed down, but he was very happy to be able to come on the first big trip to Lowes to pick out paint colors.

Once we got Babar and all of his toys into the new place, he soon realized that we have no bed-frame set up in the house yet and he was thus able to lay on a human bed for the first time ever, he was pretty excited about it and was very nice not to pee all over the mattress.

Babar also had his very first puppy class! The trainer is awesome, and Babar immediately made friends with another Frenchie named "Reily", a hound mix named "Murphy", and a Newfoundland named "Tiny", it was pretty hilarious and Babar enjoyed showing off all his swanky tricks and even added "stand" to his repertoire.
We'll post pictures of Babar's new pad after we get completely moved in!

Babar is famous again!

2008-07-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Check out Babar on Petsugar!

http://www.petsugar.com/1785047

The Day of Two Posts: Because Babar is a Baby Genius!

2008-07-10T20:08:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness!

Babar is a genius. From the start, myself and Andy have been working with Babar every single day with commands like sit, "platz" (German for "lie down"), and paw! This has been very rewarding experience for everyone involved since Babar will do pretty much anything he can think of if he knows he can get food out of it.

Lately, we learned that one of Babar's Swiss counterparts (shown here in St. Moritz with me in January... he's a 2 year old Cocker Spaniel named Kyro-dog), learned a new command, and out of this competition comes our latest conquest, the elusive "roll over"... best of all Babar is bribed only with his organic puppy food! Well played, Kyro and Babar!

Eat your heart out, Lassie :)

Babar Fish!

2008-07-10T17:57:00.001-07:00

The swimming experiment.

Our hypothesis: Babar will consider play pool a giant water dish, but will tweak out if actually placed inside said pool.

Exhibit A:
The bribe- Hammerhead Shark Toy (cue the Jaws theme):

Exhibit B:
The objective- Kiddie pool:
Hypothesis partially right... while he uses it as a giant water bowl.... he totally digs the pool! I am so excited, he splashes, chases the waves, and loves his hammerhead floaty toy! Imagine the possibilities :) The rest of the summer, he'll learn to swim with his life-vest! Rock on, Mr. Babar.

Check out his moves!

Hoodies, Lifejackets, and Vet Bills!

2008-07-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, adorable Mr. Babar; how much money you cost your mommy. You have gone into the vet not once, but twice this week. It is a good thing you are cute.

Incident one: Babar is uber excited to be out on a date with Mommy at Joe's Crab Shack, and is under the table praying to all that is holy someone has recently dropped something edible. Once he has given up his search, he decides to play the adorably needy card and attempts to jump onto Mommy's lap. Since athletics are not his strong suit, Babar lands awkwardly before giving up his dream of hamburger. Since he was so well-behaved at dinner, he got a special trip to the pet-store afterwards, where we noticed he was only using three legs! So off to the expensive emergency vet clinic we went, where $100 later Babar has a re-located knee cap and was pumped full of pain meds. Poor baby :( He is much better now though!
Incident two: While taking care of business in my parent's bathroom (bad puppy!), Babar produced something a little out of the ordinary, resulting in another $100 and all kinds of medication for an intestinal parasite. Fortunately, adorable Babar is on track to feeling better and will be back to his fabulous self in no time.

Perhaps further draining on the budget is Babar's propensity for shopping; we'll go into a pet store just to browse and somehow we walk out with new things for Mr. Babar; he is just so cute when he picks things out and so happy when we get home. Here are some of the recent purchases:

Exhibit A: Adorable "big-boy" bed, which he promptly brought all of his toys into, and adores hanging out of in a long puppy puddle. Especially cute was when we put the beds on the floor, and Babar divebombed into this one and didn't want to get out.
Totally worth it, dude.

Exhibit B: Martha's Vineyard-style hoodie. While this was definitely not a necessity, is still way too big, and he eats it; Babar doesn't mind this particular puchase and he looks beyond cute. He is so stylish: anchors, away puppy.

Exhibit C: Continuing on our nautical theme, Babar also got his puppy-sized life jacket! Since Frenchies are known for sinking like rocks, he definitely needs this for water days. Unfortunately, he kinda hates it so far, but I'll update when he tries it out!

Babar is also getting some new digs, which he is super excited about and he promises to post pictures once he's moved in :)

babar is famous!!

2008-07-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

check it out everyone!

http://www.petsugar.com/1748414

babar is totally a superstar.

captain babar's busy day

2008-06-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

hello all!

babar had himself quite the busy past few days!

first, i officially registered him and now he is a card-carrying AKC pup! this is very exciting and he is uber proud of himself- he's been bragging to other puppies all day long.

second, we got his brand-new name tag in the mail! because of his obsession with firetrucks, we decided to go for the fire-hydrant look; very masculine and fashionable :) he totally hearts it, and wears it with pride. he did try to eat it, but that attempt was immediately thwarted.

most importantly, babar helped andy and i save a baby bird! while taking him out to walk around and do his business, babar ran over to a tree and started sniffing around; we soon saw there was a little baby bird who had fallen from his nest, but was breathing quite strong. the three of us rushed rocketbird (we named him) to the second chance wildlife center, where he was housed up with a bunch of other cardinals and he's been given a good prognosis. it was quite an adventure, and babar totally saved the day.

Babar Screams for Ice Cream

2008-06-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was at the grocery store and discovered the most amazing thing ever: ice cream for dogs:

Although Babar is on a very strict diet of snobby organic puppy food, I couldn't help myself and had to pick this stuff up; since the only ingredients are certified organic yogurt, peanuts, bananas, and water, I figured it would be a nice and very welcome treat. Considering Babar will eat cigarette butts straight off the ground, I thought it would go over well; so woo-hoo adorable and healthy dog treat; best of all, Babar totally hearts it.

updates!

2008-06-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

So Babar is adorable and still doing just fabulous; he loves and is loved by the family and friends he met in NH and has kindly reduced the frequency of making messes indoors to a minimum. As indicated by the above picture, he is clearly still a big fan of everything that is not a puppy toy, but despite an unfortunate growing fondness for trying to find and eat cigarette butts, he has not actually ingested anything gross yet.

He had his very first doctor's appointment the other day, and was very good while having his temperature taken (the undignified way) and a bunch of shots. Here his ability to eat everything played to my advantage since he eats heartworm and other meds like a champ. He so far weighs in at a whopping 10 pounds, and he already looks so much bigger than when we brought him home.

He also had his first foray into the city, where he learned that, yes, everyone is his friend. He had four people take pictures of him, for which he posed like a supermodel, and he also seemed super proud to be allowed to show off his brand-new leash-walking skills. Although he got mistaken for a cat and a pig, he maintained his dignity and even let sticky little kids pet him. What a good pup :)

More updates soon!

let's get ready to rumble

2008-06-06T08:53:00.001-07:00

In the left, we have Winston "Honeybuns" Mandeville. Hailing from Bedford, NH, Winston enjoys tuna, and pretending to catch mice. Weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds, he is 90% adorable fluffiness, 10% pure strength. He may look cute, but get anywhere near his feather stick and it's curtains for you.

On the right, from Rockville, MD, we
have newcomer Babar "the Chewer" Mandeville. Weighing in at at 9 pounds, he uses his powers of puppy cuteness to lure you into a false sense of security before pouncing. Babar enjoys eating tissues and teething on fingers in his spare time.

The pair were well-matched, sizing each other up for a few minutes before entering the ring. Babar, attempting to use said puppy cuteness, approaches his opponent several times, but the experienced Winston thwarts any attempt at friendliness by pouncing on the puppy.

In a wise counter-move, Babar escapes to the relative safety of my feet, and demonstrates his powers of teething on my toes.

Fortunately for everyone, the two decided it was a draw, and there was no bloodshed. Although Winston continues to stalk Babar at every possible opportunity, he really only attacks when he thinks no one is looking. Needless to say, Babar is learning how to bark.

After many little kisses, I think they'll be just fine :)

Meet Babar!!

2008-06-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

World, meet Babar!!

Babar is a brindled French Bulldog, born on March 7, 2008. He was one of six pups in his litter, and his mom, dad, brothers, and especially grandfather are all champions! He is quite a swanky little pup. He comes from this breeder: www.florestafarm.com, and he'll be the feature of this blog with all of his future antics!

And best of all... He's mine!! Saturday morning at a very early 3 AM, we packed up the Sherpa bag, got on the Super Shuttle, and landed in Ft. Lauderdale at 9 AM! We drove to Floresta vet to go check out my potential puppy!! The breeder, Dr. Jean Burns, was lovely and brought him in right away! At first he was shaking with ears down, but in no time at all he was snuggling, and licking, and playing like we were meant for each other, and I took that as a great sign. After playing for an hour or so, he fell asleep and started making these bizarre snorting elephant noises and at that moment I knew he was mine and that I would call him "Babar". For those of you who aren't up-to-date on your French children's literature turned American cartoon, this is the original Babar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babar_the_Elephant
So I signed the papers and he was MINE! He was an angel in the plane, got gobs of attention from pretty much everyone, and was a perfect gentleman by not peeing on me at any point :).

He gnaws at the corner of everything, loves his Iams bone, tries to play Wii Fit, and makes a reasonable attempt to humor me if I ask him to do something; he even eats organic, just like mommy! In short, he's the perfect puppy :)So far he has pretty much done his best to be the most adorable thing ever. Although repeatedly disrepecting IBM (note the picture to the left) and eating some paper, he has otherwise been great and issue-free. He did not love being hidden to get into my apartment, but he took it like a champ and did not bark, or cause any trouble. He's pretty much the perfect puppy for me, and clearly he finds it exhausting:

The search begins!

2008-05-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I've decided to get myself a puppy! After having researched tons of breeds, I've settled on French Bulldogs; in addition to being small enough to fly with and great apartment dogs, these things LIVE to make people smile and clown around. They also have that smushed-in-face-and-disproportionately-stocky thing I love in a dog :)

So after all my research on these guys, I am going to visit my very first potential buddy. He lives in Florida, so this involves a pretty big day trip for me and one of my best buddies ever!

In preparation, I've done my absolute best to make my apartment puppy friendly:

Here you'll see a stereotypical dog-bed which looks like I bought it for a baby shower; however, I couldn't help myself! Looking at all the dog beds out there, I figured he'll only be my "baby pup" (per the bone toy) for a few months and by then he'll probably have eaten said bone toy and most of the bed, so I should be good. Plus, there is a blankie.

Here we have puppy's Sherpa bag for the flight, which is apparently the Cadillac of puppy carriers. I got the huge one, since although puppy is likely adorable and compact now, I'm sure he will go out of his way to become the one 30 pound Frenchie out there. Planning is always key. We also have puppy bags, a great leash and collar, directions to the puppy's house, and books for me to obsess over on the flight. Also note the adorable monkey toy, which the puppy will get either way.

Unfortunately I live in a "no pets" apartment, so me and my little buddy would have to be incognito for a while until I am able to move, but it's definitely worth it if he's the right one!