The Islay Belly Saga - "Lost Love"

So my little girl is sleepy, and sad. Her bff Scarlett went back to her other parents' house as they are back from vacation.

Now, Islay loves everyone, but she has a special attachment to Scarlett. Quite bluntly, I'm pretty sure that Islay sees Scarlett as the love of her life. And yet again we have had the phrase "too happy!!" ringing through the halls; born out of a long long time ago when my roommate (and still a bestie)had an african grey parrot that would repeat anything said too emphatically. 'No humping!' therefore was just not an option.... apart from the conjecture on how funny that just might have turned out. Well, the days of roommates are gone and have been replaced with the days of young children who, although equally funny in it's own way, do not need to learn that particular phrasing. And so I return to "too happy, Islay, too happy!". Poor, sweet, hormonally confused Islay. I love her dearly regardless. Scarlett, on the other hand, could take her or leave her. Ah, the trist of unrequited love.

And so the house is eerily quiet. As sometimes (almost freakishly) happens we have only Islay and one other pup here at the moment; and Mojave Cherry Bomb will sprout wings and fly to California within the week. And my poor Islay is lonely and missing her Scarlett pillow... At least for now she has Mojave to take out the sting. Mohave got the bath of a lifetime this morning as Islay's other new habit was to preen Scarlett over and over, as you might recall. Mojave, though, seemed to rather enjoy it - he is potentially a stud in the making.

Last night brought a new set of events into our lives, as frenchies so enigmatically seem to do. Islay, who eats raw, was given a yummy dinner of part of a beef roast, spinach, cucumber and romaine. Islay never turns away food; at least not to date. In fact in my experience even the pickiest of dogs won't refuse raw meat. So eating her meals hasn't been an issue and it's left me curious as to what will happen when and if she gets the morning sickness that hits most for a least a couple of days around this point. Well, suffice it to say I am no longer curious. After 45 minutes of repeated eating, gagging, vomiting and re-eating the froth, Islay's tummy finally decided that the plate would stay clean. I, on the other hand, was just about ready to join the festivities. Now, for those of you that have seen a dog vomit (which I don't highly recommend) leftovers, or kibble or grass... you know, the typical ick, and have been thoroughly disgusted: I will very strongly urge you to not feed large pieces of raw meat to a dog that may be sick at the stomach. I believe I may have psychological damage from the experience. All that said, breakfast went down swimmingly and I think I'll stick to ground meat for her for awhile.

I have noticed a bit of swelling of the 'ninnies' (a southern word for nipples that I recently learned from a breeder I mentor - another new bestie, a second pea in the pod, and the giver of great southern phrases) which is pretty typical of early pregnancy so I have high hopes. Linda, Islay's sister and litter-mate, recently had a gorgeous litter of 4 pups so I'm continually rubbing the belly and giving those babies a pep talk. My daughter (who has an uncanny ability to guess the correct number of pups in a litter) had a wonderful conversation with the Islay belly convincing her to have 7 puppies. I may buy her that ipad she wants if she gets the Islay belly to do it and they look like Linda's!! ;)

Well, off to rub that belly! More soon!


- another AMIaBULL 2 cents from owner Sheila Saar -

Islay x Wasabi - buns in the oven

Okay, so for you who have read this before I really mean it this time: I'm going to blog the step by step of this litter!

You can't imagine how excited we are for the litter coming from our Islay by Wasabi. Not only our first completely solid litter, but one that should have rare chocolate fawns in it!!! The extra added excitement is this: though most of our dogs are co-homed - a personal sacrifice we make to ensure that our dogs have the very best, including perfect, permanent pet homes, Islay is own of our very own family pets. Yep you got it: All ours!! So as wonderful as it is to share experiences with our other 'parents' its will be exhilarating to have this one all to ourselves.

A wee background on our Islay: Islay was born 'Polar Chocolate Ven Der Monarchia' and was given to us (and we are forever thankful) by Marci at Northen Bullies who imported both her and her sister(Linda, a gorgeous fawn pied girl). Marci knew what we knew: Islay would be a perfect match for our Fawn choco boy Wasabi who joined us last year. And so arrangements were made to add our first choco girl to the AMIaBULL program. And what a girl!! She was a knock out, of course, we knew that from the photos, but her personality was absolutely perfect for us here at our home. She was laid back and friendly, loving everyone, every dog, every child she met. Outgoing, personable, charismatic and very go with the flow she fast became a favourite and we knew she was never going anywhere but here with us.

My daughter, 4 at the time, was especially smitten. Islay slept on her bed, sat by her chair, you name it they did it together. I have great photos of the night her father sternly told her that if Islay was going to sleep on her bed she was to sleep at the end of the bed on her own bed, NOT under the covers like a stuffed toy! My daughter very obediently nodded and Islay (god love her) moved to her bed on the end like the good girl she is. Now, I'm not saying there was a plan involved with what happened next, if fact, knowing them both as well as I do I would guess it was only a sleepy, getting more comfortable thing.... but not ten minutes later when I went to check on our girls I found one with her gorgeous little head on the pillow and the other sleeping contentedly: head on the other's stomach. Yep you guessed it: puppy on the pillow, little girl using puppy as a pillow. When I showed my husband the photo I'd quickly snapped on my phone he just shook his head and smiled. It was then it became poignantly clear that we now had two little girls to reckon with in the house.

Islay has only two ..... well I guess 'negative traits'. The first is that she insists on letting my children treat her like a stuffed animal. The fact that my daughter can hug her around the neck lifting her off the ground and Islay has the expression: 'more please!' on her face will someday mean bad things for a new dog in the neighbourhood, I know it. The second is that she is a 'Houdini' - meaning that she can get out of almost any confinement you can think of if she wants to. She can climb fences, push barricades, jump baby gates and break plastic crates. She also mentors other dogs. Puppies have been taught to navigate out of pens, doors, and gates.... one mother was actually taught not only to open the handle of the puppy pen, but to close the door behind her so the puppies couldn't follow!! We are talking serious genius here. My neighbour one time called me over when I was out with the dogs to let me know that they had been eating breakfast that morning looking out over the lawn and enjoying the show: Islay and Kali had been opening the enclosure at the back of our deck, going out to run around the yard and letting themselves back in whenever they to heard me coming me check on them!! Thankfully my husband does extensive renovating for a living: a wooden fence was completed and a professional run installed shortly thereafter. Saar's won that war. We lost a good number of battles getting there, though I tell you!

Flash over to Wasabi: dear wonderful, lovable, energetic Wasabi. Wasabi was a boy I saw online from a breeder in South Dakota. I knew his daddy quite well - a very famous dark chocolate boy with a head that could sink a tanker: Annette Wood's "Wotan"! Kelly Johnson at Beggin' for Bullies was great to work with and we got him up here after a few weeks of drooling at his incredible photos. From the get go he was just a super joyful little man. More energy than I'm used to in frenchies, healthy as a hog, and a way of winning everyone over. One of my girlfriends recently commented when meeting Wasabi and Islay together that she like them both but if hard pressed she preferred Wasabi!! Now - don't get me wrong, Wasabi is..... well phenomenal... but every person who has ever met Islay in this world has wanted to keep her for their own. So when she's known Islay for months and meets Wasabi and says that you have to respect it!

As an AMIaBULL stud, or rather when he was younger a 'to-be' stud,co-homes are an automatic must. I tried for years to keep a male here because I've always been a sucker for boys, but it's just too hard on them. When girls are in heat in the house it's a hormone game that's just not fun to watch. Now add the factor of any litter not to be sired by that boy has ANOTHER intact male come into the house and THEY get all the fun!!! Nope. Not a good scenario. It's hard enough to deal with one stud that smells the intoxicating scent of a woman: they stop eating, start puking, peeing, pooping, whining "I want my momma" like the dogs on AFV. No - multiplying that by two isn't good for anyone. So like my other boys, Wasabi has his perfect permanent pet home where he's loved... and spoiled.... and shown off, and I take over for vacation times (when I can), visits, and yes the 'scent of the women' moments. Wasabi's co-home is perfect for him - full of love and laid back but strict with expectations, and complete understanding of his fervent love of the world. I couldn't ask for more. I know they love them every bit as much as I do.

So last week was Honeymoon week for the two of them and it was quite a sight to see. Two very amiable AMIaBULL's flirting and playing up a storm. They truly enjoy each other's company and it was so nice to watch them play. Breeding on the other hand is never an easy feat for frenchies and there always seems to be some strange new glitch involved.

Now, Wasabi, god love him, is many things: loving, beautiful, energetic, and an incredibly healthy little stud-muffin..... but in the end: not the brightest bulb in the pack. In terms of breeding and knowing his job he's a bit of an idiot savant. He learned very quickly that in AMIaBULL terms...well..... I'm the girlfriend. That is to say Frenchies are very often impregnated via artificial insemination. Which means the stud is 'collected' from and that sample is used to inseminate the female. We have a saying here at AMIaBULL: "What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom". And with the exception of our mentoring program (yes, Cara at Blue's City, I'm talking about you being very professionally scarred by witnessing the process) we don't really share the details of that process. Needless to say I will not go into the play by play of HOW Wasabi came to the clear understanding that it was me he should run to when a certain level of excitement is achieved. :\

What I will share is that Islay was not impressed. In fact the poor girl became so frustrated with him running over to me every time she expected (and frankly I also expected) him to try to mount her that she would sweep him every time he tried to run away and mount HIM from behind. It really was as if she's just had it and figured she knew how it was supposed to be done. Poor girl.

Well, all the vaudeville routine aside: the deed was done(...yes... by me. lol). And now we are at one week in the very exciting process of Islay's first pregnancy.

Do I feel she's pregnant? Yes. Absolutely. And her best friend Scarlett (who is visiting for the week) can attest to Islay's very motherly instinct of bathing her every time she's within reach... a new and interesting mannerism born with her hormones. (Scarlett is a Shelby keeper to be bred later this summer, and is another of my favourites.) She and Islay love each other dearly, but Scarlett would choose people over dogs any day. Oh, she snuggles and plays with Islay and enjoys every minute, but the look that she has on her face when Islay preens her is like a girl stuck on a bad date!

I will keep my eyes peeled and my typing fingers ready - more on the unraveling of this exciting AMIaBULL time soon!

AMIaBULL Boleyn x Viking Litter 2012 at 4 days old

Boleyn's Xray : Baby News!

So our xray this week has shown us what looks like 4 bright big and beautiful babies! Our due date has been firmed up to the 17th or 18th of July (though only that belly knows the real day!)! I will be sure to send out an update with any new information as we go - but should have warm tidings of bouncing babies by Wednesday next week.

More soon...

Boleyn x Viking: Next week the fun begins!

So here it is: our first official update - Boleyn has her xray scheduled for Tuesday which will give us an approximate head count and maybe even let us know a more exact date for pups to be born! Our Bella Boleyn is starting to get uncomfotable these days and is kind of in the '8 month' phase we go through as women:... is it almost time yet?! She's been healthy and gaining nicely throughout her pregnancy and started to show a little early so for everyone who is waiting in the wings to see who we have, but didn't manage to get in on official reservations spots, we have hope yet for a couple of amazing pups like last years for some. For the moment, I'm sticking with my original projection of the 15th - 18th of July, but I'll reserve final guesstimate for after xrays when we can all have fun counting little heads and spines and see how solid they are (the more solid on the xray the closer to due date). A birthdate of July 15th would land us for a mid-September home time for those of you planning time off with pups... but if you can hold off another week or two to book those dates I can firm those up when the pups arrive. I'm getting very excited to see what combination of blue brindle pieds and blue fawn pieds we'll have this year and to start my sleep deprive Rorschach interpretations. ;) Everyone cross fingers and toes (so to speak) and join us in our little chant for this pregnancy: seven, seven, seven. (I'll settle for healthy healthy healthy, and just like last year - big, beautiful, robust and great natured!) More soon....

Why Blue and Chocolate?

What do you think: Are breed standards static or gradually changing? Should they be static or gradually changing?

I see the horrific battle between the "do's" and the "do nots" of 'rare' coloured bulldogs out there and have stayed on the sidelines for years. I do my own thing - do it well and with confidence, and by staying quiet I procure some ability to stay low and out of musket range. Have I been asked why? Yes. So, to take my chances of coming into the melee combat and getting bludgeoned: This is my reasoning:

I do it because we had the same bias in Danes for years. But good breeders with amazing ethics produced some serious quality in colours like blue and merle and the standards changed. The quality, health and conformation of those once DQ'd colour is indisputable - and there are many multiple champions now of both colours.

I believe that with the right ethics and determination the same can be done for French Bulldogs. Blue has forever been my favourite in any breed... or species for that matter. I try my very best to help further the breed by creating unbelievable quality in 'alternative colours'. Please note that there is a major cost involved with doing this. The investment of the level of quality in a dog of the highest caliber French Bulldog breeding dog in a 'regular colour' can be daunting. Then track down recessive genes. Not just 'rare' colours but say, maskless, or bright red. Each of those are more difficult to produce and the prices match the fact that you may try through four litters and get one specimen in each (if you're lucky) and THEN you need the rest of the package (in conformation, health soundness) in order for that dog to be considered worthy of breeding. It must be an absolutely remarkable specimen of a dog. This is not an easy feat.

Now look for MORE recessive traits for that remarkable specimen.... you get the picture.

Please note that not all of us charge 'designer prices' for alternative colours. Bad breeders that look for the almighty dollar are not a question of colour, but of ethics - unfortunately there is a magnetic draw to anything that unethical people can try to get ahead with. But keep in mind that there are those of us who ARE investing sizable amount of money.... more than I care to admit to even myself... to ensure that if this is done some of us will do it wisely. By NOT charging those high prices I can (and do) take big financial hits. Do I blame the ones that price twice the amount for their blues than I do? No. Not at all. We all have to try our best not to lose the battle while we lose our shirts. But a few of us do choose to take hits financially to work toward killing the 'designer pet price' that tattoos the rare coloured world with such a nasty face: Greed. Am I taking the wiser course by pricing lower - I'll let you know if I make it through. ;))

The truth is that there are many out there that are led by greed. They cut the corners and lie about what wonderful genes their dogs 'carry'. But don't believe that every dog out there with a $5000 price tag is being sold by a hack. It is absolutely viable that the breeder has spent that amount (or will) in the generations, testing, and additions to breeding stock that got that litter here. Is it possible to tell the difference? ..... I'm still finding that out myself. It's a tough world out there and we all have hungry mouths to feed. I have seen too many that have done unbelievable things to get by. By the grace of God may we all learn to stand more firm. Truth be told even breeders, who have so much more experience than the 'average Joe', try so hard to sort them out and still get taken advantage of, shocked, and dismayed along the way. Money and the magnetism thereof is another topic for another philosophic heart. One that is stronger than mine. I'm the kind that feels the burn of the iron to learn my lessons (as do many others) and do not necessarily judge the intentions of others that well. My being 'Honest and trusting' can mean: 'broken-hearted and taken advantage of', yes, but it also makes me VERY proud that I have nothing to hide. And I have great respect for those few that I continue to have great dealings with. It's not easy to do the right thing. But someone has to, and so we try. Oh, I'm not claiming perfection, here, let it be known that my pedestal is as broken and stained as the next guy's. We all make mistakes in life, but I'm also not talking about a group of people that are making typos in ads or (somehow?)do not know the parentage of their dogs. We know that there are liars and cheats out there. What I am saying is that I am not one.... let me prove it to you. :)

...To add a thought on 'rare' genes. There is a school of thought that the rare colours do not have a large enough pool from which to draw. It important to remember that these are merely 'double recessive' and dogs who are genetically capable of producing blue and chocolate are actually pretty common, they just don't happen to have both sets of the recessive gene so they do not actually HAVE that coat colour. Although on another gene strain, cream works much the same way; maskless as well. There is no issue finding good genetics now when we can so easily look worldwide at pedigrees and communicate across the world via computer in seconds. To add to that, the pool can be filled to the brim with new carriers as soon as any double recessive dog bears a new blood line's puppies. More expense? Yes. Worth it? I think so, yes.

I think we need to stop and honestly evaluate how the dogs in those faded black and white photos and the hand drawn likenesses from a century ago would fare in the show ring today! :s In my mind the standards are living and breathing and if we refuse to work toward bettering the breed in a living breathing sense we will not have wonderful healthy purebred dogs of ANY breed. It is certainly not unethical to breed healthy, well-bred, well-formed and purebred dogs on a very limited basis - of any colour. Bad ethics are out there in any circle: dog breeding is only one in several million ways to express what your ethics and morality are.... or are not.

To steal a famous quote: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" in dogs as in any other thing. But good health is not.... The good structure of a dog, his good character, his longevity, and the great experiences of those who love them: that is the centre of it all. If I love a colour and can find a way to breed it ethically, lovingly, and with thought for the breed, it's character, it's long-term health, and it's loved filled life, then I believe that musket has some better targets.

... another rambling thought from: Sheila @ AMIaBULL

Unauthorized use of AMIaBULL name

Please note that after repeated requests for the content containing our company name to be removed from CKC Rare Color Frenchies (aka Juggernaut Rare French Bulldogs, aka Henessey's Rare Frenchies) website they have continued to refuse. Please disregard comments you may read as those documented with the AMIaBULL name on that site as they are misleading and do not accurately reflect the relationship between AMIaBULL and CKC Rare Color Frenchies. I apologise for the public nature of the statement, but realize that we do not all have the time to call each reference that is posted on a website. Please note that AMIaBULL is in no way affiliated with any other kennel and does not recommend, refer, or guarantee the legitmacy of any breeder or dogs other than the ones AMIaBULL themselves produce.