Thursday, August 6, 2009

Long overdue (responses to tags)


So much has been going on here that I've had a hard time getting around to posting the awards/tags we've gotten.  Without further ado, here are our (somewhat well thought-out) responses to two tags from the last few weeks.

First, the wee Bonnie (from ScrapsofMe) gave us some homework: 

Pick a single photo from your pet folder that you haven't posted before, and tell it's story.  We are supposed to pass on this assignment to 5 furiends, but all of you are welcome to do it (hint: it's a great thing to have when your posting material runs a little thin...).  OK, here we go -


In this photo Brutus is about 7 months old.  It was an odd stage in his physical development, you might not even recognize him!  He was going through a growth spurt & teething, which causes an unusual side effect in Frenchies:  thier ears "curl" backwards.  Doesn't always happen, and no one knows why it occurs - maybe hormonal changes, maybe stress from teething??  It got progressively worse over a 2-3 month period; funny thing was, it was worse some days than others!!  What you see above represents the most significant curl Brutus had.  Our wonderful vet kept reassuring me (she has to do this a lot - Thanks, Lori!!) that his ears would go back up on their own.  Sure enough, after a few months of this Brutus' bat ears went back to normal!  Almost in the course of a day, actually.  Just one of "those Frenchie things" that I thought you'd all enjoy!!

Second, our pal Lexi the golden retriever gave us the Honest Scrap award:

Our task here is to list 10 things about ourselves.  As "interesting" as we undoubtedly are (whether we like it or not!), it is a bit of a challenge to come up with new facts we haven't used before!  I mixed up facts about Brutus with some general Frenchie facts, hope you all find this interesting -

1.  Brutus has 10 collars (shocking, isn't it?)

2. Frenchies are born without a tail - no physical alteration 
  ("docking") is done to make it look they way it is.
 
3.  Brutus hates being alone - he is very much a velcro-dog, always
   at my side!
 
4.  There were 5 puppies in Brutus' litter (amazing for a Frenchie). 
 
5.  Due to their shape (big heads, little pelvis) Frenchies must be
   born by caesarean section.
 
6.  Brutus favorite "toy" is an empty plastic water bottle.  Even with 
  all the things I buy him, it's what he goes most crazy for!
 
7.  Frenchies' are born with their ears floppy, but they naturally 
  stand up on their own (again, no alteration, required!).
 
8.  Brutus is a purebred (but, of course!), but is from an 
  unregistered litter (LONG story).  Therefore he has a "PAL" 
  (purebred alternative listing) designation with the AKC.  
  He can compete in all AKC events, except conformation.
 
9.  Brutus favorite trick is "high 5", where he'll give me a slap on the
      palm of my upturned hand with either paw (or both for "10").
 
10. Yesterday was our 60th blog post!  Wow - how time flies!!

Thanks to all our blogging buddies who think kindly of us & bestow such challenges upon us!  I can't believe how popular the blog has gotten in such a short time, and love to read everyone's comments, as well as all your blog posts each day.  Four months ago, I had no idea there was such a thing as the DWB community, but look at us now - I feel like I've made so many friends here :)  Keep on postin' everyone!!

Have a great day!  Michelle & Brutus

15 comments:

Achieve1dream said...

We're happy to have you. :) You picked some good ones for that second blog award. I loved reading them.

Also the backward ear curling think is adorable!!! I knew a lot of dogs like German Shepherds flop back down during teething, but I'd never heard of Frenchie's backward curl. Too cute.

Mack said...

When I was born, my ears were all floppy, now they stand up straight (pretty much)!

Cool info!

The Oceanside Animals said...

Interesting list -- lots of stuff I didn't know about French Bulldogs!

Astrid Keel said...

What a cute photo with your ears curled back!!! My ears started out floppy and now they're straight up... except during teething they went up and down and up and down, which drove my OCD Momster CRAZY! BOL!

Congrats on the awards!

Dexter said...

Hey Brutus! I totally nominated you for awesome blog of the month at DWB. I wanted to nominate your flat brutus adventures last month, but I was too late.

I think you are super cool and I love that you do agilities.

Regarding that puppy photo. It looks like you "grew" from smaller to just small. That whole ear thing is kind of weird.

Slobbers,
Mango

Mia said...

The curled ears are too cute!! We have a 'Frug' at Pug Club!! He is a French Bulldog/Pug mix. The momma says its the best of both breeds =)

Bijou said...

Hi Brutus,

Those are all VERY interesting things to know! Your curly ears were really cute!! Mom says Banjo has "lazy" ears cause they won't stay up like mine. BOL

Congrats on the awards.

Wags & wiggles,
Bijou

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Khongrats on the awards/tags!

It was furry khool to learn those fakhts about Brutus's breed!

I knew a few but not most of 'em!

Oh yes, this blogging fur our humans is khwite addikhting!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: My word is WHINE...imagine!

Sam said...

Hi Brutus - what an adorable picture your mom posted from your puppyhood! But we are most impressed with your Agility pictures - we train in agility so we always like to see others who have fun with it too!

Sam and MargeDog

Woodrow, Luna, MJ Campanella said...

Yes once you meet Khyra and Mango - the bloggie buddies snowball - so blame whoever introduced you to them :)

Bull Terriers have the same ear issues born floppy - stand up on there own - but flop over forward when they are teething and also when they are very tried!!

it is a pleasure knowing you - wish you all the luck in your agility career

Woodrow Sweetie & MJ

Martha said...

Congratulations on your Awards and didn't you do well with the tags.
It was nice learning all those new things about you. Some we can relate to - Martha is also a 'velcro' dog!
We were most impressed that you have ten collars - we are aiming for seven - that will be one for every day of the week!!!
Loved the puppy pic - it didn't look too much like you!
love
Martha & Bailey xxx

SEDONA said...

Great new facts about you, Brutus! My ears started to get really wonky right when I was teething too...so bizarre how ear cartiledge growth is related to teething, huh? You looked like the canine equivalent of an American Curl kitty :-)
Your pal,
Sedona

Molly the Airedale said...

Nice to meet another collar-aholic, Brutus!
Congratulations on your awards!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Oskar said...

Those are some very fascinating facts. My mom person would be worried, too if my ears turned backwards!

ScrapsofMe said...

Ahhh..what a cute baby picture! I love your ears! They look like little tulips. Soft and velvety. My folks were worried about one of my ears for a bit. I'll see if I can get her to find a photo later and post it. We should get together and compare wardrobes...I have a nice collection of collars too. Being fashionable is very important to my esteem. Now...I need to work on my leash collection. Maybe we should do some shopping, I hear the fall collection is in at PetsMart and the cute mall shop.
Bonnie