Flat Brutus: the World Tour begins!

Some of you have already guessed it! To celebrate post #200, we are sending Flat Brutus on a whole new kind of adventure. Coming soon to a mailbox near you: it's the Flat Brutus World Tour!

In case you haven't met him before, Flat Brutus originated last summer. My husband and I were getting ready to head out west for a vacation. Since we were flying, the dogs had to stay home and be (gasp!) kenneled. I had no choice but to miss Brutus, but I didn't want to miss blogging too. So I used a cartoon I commissioned from Lili Chin, and an idea I got from a grade-school project (see our recent Flat Stanley post) and voila - Flat Brutus was born!

He has accompanied us out west to several National Parks...

..and since then has had a few adventures, including attending an agility trial on our behalf when we were all away in Big Earl.

More recently he travelled to Arizona with me for a dental conference (and got into this prickly situation):

Before I get carried away with all the details for the Flat Brutus World Tour, I'd like to give credit to our good pals Benny & Lily (at Doggy Days blog) for inspiring the idea. What a hilarious pair of Frenchies they are - always up to somthing!

After reading our Flat Stanley post a few weeks ago, Ben & Lily asked if maybe Flat Brutus would like to come visit them. What a great idea! Wish I would have thought of that! It's all warm & sunny there in sunny CA, they live near the beach, and what's more fun than a couple of crazy Frenchies?

Next, Brutus' gal Stella got word of the fact that Flat Brutus was going to be in CA. Of course so she asked if Flat Brutus could make a stop at her house (she and Brutus are always trying to mail themselves to one another, so this was just the more practical solution). So Stella gets Flat Brutus for stop #2. He's already on his way to California, so we hope to be hearing form Flat Brutus soon!

Then I got to thinking, why let the fun end there? As long as he's out & about, why not let Flat Brutus go and visit whoever wants to host him? I mean.... He's 100% housebroken (unlike his 3D partner in crime), not a fussy eater at all, sleeps through the night without a peep - just a low maintenance little guy! Plus he travels light, and won't steal your toys or beg for extra treats!

Live it up while you are out there buddy!!

Finally, to give purpose to the project, I came up with the idea to donate $5 to the French Bulldog Rescue Network for each friend/blog that Flat Brutus visits. FBRN is a nationwide, non-profit network that does everything from rescue Frenchies from kill shelters, to fostering them until they are healthy enough to be adopted, financing the (often costly) medical care the fosters need, rehoming them into forever homes, and even providing hospice to those who are too old or sick to move on. Our pal Betty (Stella's sister) is a FBRN graduate!!

Sooooo... Would you like to host Flat Brutus?

All I ask is that you devote a blog post to his visit, just let me know in advance so I can link to your blog for everyone to follow along. You don't have to do anything fancy with him (unless, of course, you'd like to), but at least include a picture of your pack with my little Flattie. He can stay as long as you'd like, but try to send him on his way within a week or so - we don't want him getting too comfortable or overstaying his welcome anywhere, after all. Then just pack him up nice & safe in a business envelope (he's mounted on cardboard, so he won't fit into anything smaller) and send him on his way (the postage will cost less than a dollar). I'll provide the next destination info to you so everyone will know where to send Flat Brutus off to next.

Where's he going, mom??

If you'd like to be included, please email me your physical address to hrnchardds@yahoo.com. I'll put people on a list in the order I receive the requests (the Rocky Creek gang already got the first spot!). Unless there is a significant travel-convenience factor (there seem to be lots of you that live in little bunches in CA and IN), Flat Brutus will visit you in the order I receive the requests. Don't worry, I will only forward your snailmail to the person before you on the list so they know where to send him next. Plus it'll give me a great head start on collecting addresses for my Christmas card list this year!

I hope you'll play along! It'll be fun, supports a worthy cause, and will even give you blogging material!! Look out world, Flat Brutus is on the loose, and coming to a town near you!!

Take good care of my little pal, OK?