Mingo Hike and Flat Brutus

Hello and happy Monday!

We were graced with another beautiful weekend. Abundant sunshine and warm temperatures are making us believe that winter could possibly be gone for good - a dangerous thought here in Ohio! Even though we won't really be out of the (proverbial) woods until early May, Brutus and I just couldn't resist taking advantage of the perfect conditions yesterday to head into the (actual) woods!

Not Mango, MINGO!! Our Mastiff pal never would have made it!!

There tons of foot-trails in the nearby MetroParks, so we decided to conquer the "Mingo" trail (no RH, not Mango! You never would have made it big buddy). Our pal Courtney and 3 of her pack (Brute's lab pal Jaeger, as well as spaniels Sadie Lou & Taz) headed out for the challenging trial. It took us an hour and a half to cover the 3.3 miles, but not because we were just strolling along at a leisurely pace! I swear that we were going uphill 90% of the time!! There is a hill that Courtney calls "Buns of Steel". I'd like to rename it "Buns of Pain" considering how mine feel today! No wonder I was always bringing up the rear (no pun intended)....

Brutus, however, had boundless energy. This is no typical Frenchie I have, friends - his stamina just amazes me! Outfitted in a snazzy new harness and extra-long leash, Brutus had a blast. He always wanted to be in the front of the pack, loved trotting along next to Courtney and his buddy Jaeger! We made sure to take advantage of several of the streams we crossed as water breaks. Not sure why I carried fresh water along, as Brutus preferred to drink out of the stream (yuck).

It was great exercise and a fun time for all. Thanks to Jeager, whose strength literally helped pull me up one of the hills! In my defense, I had already logged almost 20 miles during the preceding week with Brutus - which must be some sort of world record for a Frenchie!! No wonder I keep getting behind on blogging....

Now time for a little Flat Brutus update. Remember that you can always check his whereabouts by clicking on the "Where in the World is Flat Brutus" tab in the nav bar. Last week he visited the home of Rocky Creek Scotties in Virginia.

Flat Brutus got to play with someone his own size, Rocky Creek's 6-week old Scotties! Can you see him all snuggled in the basket with them?? He blends right in! Here's Flat Brutus having a little one-on-one time with little Finlay:

If you don't know them already, please visit the Rocky Creek Scotties' wonderful blog - they were one of our first blogging friends! Make sure to check out their Flat Brutus post and find out more about Flat Brutus' visit to Virginia!

The other Bruti are in Pittsburg, PA (visiting our friend Nathaniel and his Frenchie, Biwa) and traveling overseas with Arlette in Istanbul, Turkey and Cologne, Germany. Photos from both those hosts coming soon! More requests for Flat Brutus hosting are still coming in, so I plan to "breed" a few more Bruti so everyone can play!

This project couldn't have come at a better time, as French Bulldog Rescue Network is really in need of donations. I'm making my donation incrementally (due to the substantial success of my project, and my pledge of $5 per visit), but really appreciate those who are also making their own pledges to FBRN as they host Flat Brutus!!!