Frenchie Tink

Two weekends ago we attended Downtowndoglover.com’s running of the bulldog event. It was a charity event (for the FACE FOUNDATION) in which all breeds of bulldogs and their owners participated in a 6 block course through downtown San Diego ending at the DowntownDogLover.com Launch PAW-ty. I wish we would have blogged about this event sooner so that all of you would have had the opportunity to join in on the festivities because it was an absolute blast. Imagine about 100 bulldogs running the streets of downtown (ok not exactly running) but it was a sight to be seen.

Here is a link to Animal Planet’s footage of the run. Tink is dashing across the lawn in the beginning of the video.

Chubs and Tink had so much fun meeting other frenchies and bully breeds. Chubs especially liked frolicking in the multiple kiddie pools they had set up throughout the course. And guess what, we even made the local news..

In the video you can see James and I walking Tink and chubs around the 18 second mark and Chubs in the kiddie pool around the 30 second mark. Combined this is our 3 seconds of fame :)

This past weekend we decided to take a trip to Pomona LA fairplex to witness first hand the San Fernando kennel club dog show. We have seen many dog shows on TV but have never actually been to one. We were especially excited to visit the Frenchie ring and see a bunch of full grown Tinks posing and strutting their stuff around the ring. We awoke early Saturday morning to begin our long day, we had a two hour drive ahead of us and most of our friends thought we were crazy for leaving San Diego on memorial Day weekend but we were as excited as could be. We decided to make a weekend out of it and stay in LA and visit my family so not only was this Tink’s first dog show this was also Tink’s first vacation. We packed up all her food, treats, and her favorite toys and proceeded to Pomona.

We arrived at the dog show at 8:30 so we had time to get all our belongings together and figure out where we were going. We were told that we were not allowed to bring puppies but that it was ok as long as Tink stayed in our arms the whole time, considering we always keep her in our arms in public places anyway this was not a problem for us. We put her in a little bag with her cute head popping up and hopped on the first available tram to transport us to the show. On the tram ride there we saw one of the competing show dogs. She was a cute brindle with a poka dot coat on, she was extremely well behaved and you could tell she had her “A game” face on. When we arrived to the show building we quickly rushed to ring 18, the French Bulldog competition ring. I sat in the back with Tink while James got up close to watch the show and take pictures. We met a couple nice people that were willing to talk to us and answer all our questions regarding the show but overall most of the people were very serious and focused on the upcoming show.

We loved seeing all the French Bulldogs up close and admiring all the different types and colors of this precious breed. We hope one day Tink could become a show dog however it is way too soon to tell and she definitely needs a lot of training before she will be as obedient as the dogs we saw in the show. After the French Bulldog competition was over we walked outside and visited all the shops and exhibits. We bought Tink a collar, a frog/tennis ball toy, and some jerky. All the store owners were so excited to see a little French Bulldog puppy and they all wanted to kiss her and smell her wonderful puppy breath. At Lola’s collar stand we ran into a really nice lady with two brindled frenchie that had competed in the shows. She was very informative and we talked to her for about 30 minutes about Tink and her dogs and she gave us all kind of tips. I got down on my knees and played with her frenchie Charlotte and she was absolutely adorable, she was licking me and jumping all over me, it was great.

More Videos at Our French Bulldog’s Youtube Channel

Today we took Tink on her first trip to PetSmart. At first we were reluctant to take her to a Pet store however we were told on a previous visit that we were able to bring her in and could even get her started on training classes. Apparently all the puppies as well as adult dogs in training classes are required to show medical records to prove that they are up to date on all their shots. We still are not sure if training classes are okay though please provide us with any input you can on when to start her, we thought we had to wait till all vaccinations are complete at 5 months, and our Vet recommends 3 months. We still held her the whole time to keep her safe. She had a ball exploring all the toys and looking at everyone. The employees and customers all turned their heads to get a peak at cute little Tink, we really felt like the proudest parents in the world. As I was walking through the store I peaked into the training class and saw another frenchie puppy. Immediately I yelled for James to come, this was the first Frenchie puppy we had ever seen in person besides Tink’s litter mates. The owner of the Frenchie saw Tink and was also excited to see another Frenchie puppy. Turns out her Frenchie is a 5 month old French Bulldog named Goose. He had fawn coloring and was absolutely adorable, it was amazing to see some sort of an idea of what Tink will look like in a few months. After discovering that Goose was up to date on all his shots and that it was ok for Tink to play with him we couldn’t resist the temptation to introduce the little Frenchies.

Tink loved having a real life friend, they were reluctant of one another at first but soon started playing and wrestling together. It was so great to watch Tink interact with another Frenchie, even though she was considerably smaller than Goose she still tried to hold her own. As the puppies played we got to know Goose’s owner and trade Frenchie stories with her. She told us that they are trying to teach Goose to roll over now but he doesnt like being on his back much, we laughed cause it seems that Tink’s favorite position is her back. Its funny that all Frenchies are the same in so many ways but yet they all have their own distinct personalities. We had a great day and of course managed to get Tink even more toys to add to her collection. We truly understand the word spoiled when we look at our little French Bulldog.

Shortly after this video, they finally started to play with eachother. Gotta Love Frenchie Puppies!

I never thought the owners on Frenchies could be so mean. Well, at least some of them…

After reading the last comment posted by CMatthews a few times and asking a few other people about it, I decided that Tink, FrenchieTink.com, my girlfriend and I were threatened. If I am over over exaggerating, please let me know.

Here’s the comment CMathhews left in response to a commenter found on our Visiting the Breeders post @ http://frenchietink.com/visiting-the-frenchie-breeders/2008/

“Sorry Kim, you are just as miss informed as this websites creator. There was no criticizing in Mr. Hans reply but the hard truthful facts you and Tink’s parents don’t want to hear. What is it Kim or Mr. Harrison about Mr. Han’s reply, were any of it untrue or lies? Where is Mr. Han’s reply to this posting and the others from past postings? If you continue to delete the truth from your blog by erasing honest, considerate and polite reply’s I can assemble 100’s of loving French Bulldog bloggers which will inundate this site and every posting it holds!! So be carefull.“

1. Mr Han has said very mean things, VERY. If I knew there was going to be such uproar, I would have kept his comments posted. Trust me, I have searched and searched for ways to bring his comments back. The only reason why you only see some of his comments is because I have kept the comments where he provides some really knowledgeable information, I believe he is very knowledgeable in the world of frenchies and has valuable information to share. Mr. Han could teach me all day about Frenchies and I would love the lesson, however he could’ve taken a much more professional approach, and avoiding attacking us. We also have developed a strong personal relationship with our breeder and did not intend for our website to be a tool to sabotage them. In contrast we actually intended it to be a tool for them to see updates on Tink and all the fun we are having with her.

2. If you continue to delete the truth, honest, considerate, polite???… Are you serious? It’s really obvious CMatthews hasn’t starting reading this blog until yesterday. You guys talked horribly about our breeders without even doing any kind of research. All you guys did was go to the French Bulldog club breeder listings, saw that our breeders’ names weren’t on the that list and jump to the most random conclusions. How do you guys know that our breeders haven’t tried to get on the reputable French bulldog breeders list? If you guys are so much an authority of French bulldogs then tell the French Bulldog Club that they need to fix their link to the French bulldog breeders code of ethics as it is currently broke. Or, is there a lock out to new breeders? You said something about advertising on the internet. Half the breeders on the reputable breeders list have a website. WAKE UP!! We’re in the new millennium; more and more things are done on the internet now. Furthermore how do you guys know if our breeders haven’t done their research? How do you know they didn’t consult with breeders in their areas? How do you know they haven’t spent months and months studying the AKC breeder page? YOU DON’T! Do some research!

3. If you still insist on hating us so much for wanting to have a cute site with our Frenchie then go ahead assemble 100 Frenchie Blogs to “inundate” our French Bulldog’s blog. Leave comments, spam it, hack it and bury it. BRING IT. I’m glad you aren’t a good researcher and haven’t done your research on ME. Because if you did, you wouldn’t be making such empty threats, your expertise may be French Bulldogs, however mine is the internet.

This is OUR blog and we have the right to share OUR own opinions. All we were trying to accomplish with this site is to give Tink the best life regardless of where she came from. I actually thought a lot of the advice you guys provided us with was very informative and useful. If you guys didn’t come at us with such mean attitudes, we would’ve encouraged your tips and criticisms and asked for more.

It seems as if certain people are reading our material like it’s a bible and were claiming were the experts on French Bulldogs. This was supposed to be a nice Frenchie site but you guys get mad when we delete disrespectful and mean things. So, go ahead CMatthews, inundate my blog with all your mean and hateful comments. No more deleting your comments. Send all frenchie lovers to our site. Show them how bad we are. PLEASE!!!

We appreciate all the feedback and comments we have been receiving lately however please keep in mind that we started this website to receive advice and tips on raising a French Bulldog. We are both first time dog owners and want all the advice we can get, however as you all know we cannot change the past so please stop denouncing our decision to purchase Tink. We love her so much and have no regrets whatsoever, waking up to her cute face every morning is all we need to ensure us that we made a good decision.

Perhaps we did not go about obtaining Tink the akc show breeder way or the way many of you would have, however once again we are first time owners and did not mean to cause any controversy in the Frenchie world. If we ever decide to purchase another French bulldog in the future we will heed your advice. But, as of now all we can do is love her the best that we know how to. So please give us advice on our current situation of raising a Frenchie so we can do all the right things. If you have recommendations of vet, food, toys, beds etc., we would be more than happy to hear tips from someone who has already experienced a French bulldog puppy firsthand.

Also please remember constructive criticism is the best kind of criticism. Instead of saying that we are going to the wrong Vet and that we made a bad decision, how about saying “You guys should really think about going to a Vet that specializes in brachial dogs, here are some great Brachycephalic Experienced Veterinarians in your area”. We did not think it was a great decision to choose a vet that is 1 ½ hours away because we thought that Tink’s doctor should be close by in case of an emergency would be the best decision. However once again we are new to all of this and we want to raise Tink the best way we can, so please let us know what we should do, we are more than willing to do whatever it takes.

*****IF YOU FEEL YOU MADE AN INFORMATIVE COMMENT AND NOTICED THAT IT HAS BEEN DELETED, PLEASE POST IT AGAIN. WE ARE HAVING SPAM ISSUES AND SOME COMMENTS ENDED UP DELETED WHILE BULK MODERATING*****