This week we had a whole bunch of French Bulldogs at work. I love them. I adore their bizarre vocalizations. Some of them sound like movie gremlins. Others seem to be always grumbling. We have one Frenchie who sounds as if he’s saying, “Hubba, hubba!” as he trots around the yard.
Frenchies have an international past. The breed was created in England, refined in France, and they acquired their bat ears in the United States.
The breed began its journey in 1835, when Britain outlawed the brutal sport of bull-baiting. This resulted in less stringent breeding laws, leading to smaller bulldogs. By 1850, London was full of these small dogs.
The lacemakers of England, in particular, favored the little bulldogs. Some speculate that the lacemakers could only afford small living quarters, and that these dogs made good “apartment dogs”. In any case, when the Industrial Revolution brought an end to the hand-made lace trade in England, many of the lacemakers moved to France, where their skills were still valued. They, of course, brought their beloved pups with them.
The French loved the little bulldogs instantly, but no one was as enthusiastic about them as les belles de nuit were. In Montmartre - the famous Parisian neighborhood where artists and writers lived and nightlife thrived - bulldogs were legion. Toulouse Lautrec painted many portraits that included dogs. One of his canine subjects was Bouboule, a "French Bulldog" owned by Madame Palmyre, the proprietor of La Souris restaurant. Here's a painting Lautrec made of his own dog, Fleche:
Sex workers were the first to call the newly developed breed “Bulldogues Francais”. The association between prostitutes and Frenchies was so strong that many Frenchies appeared on risque postcards of the late 1800s alongside their scantily-clad human companions.
Of course, it wasn’t just the demi-monde who loved the Frenchies. Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanov had a beloved Frenchie named Ortipo. Tatiana was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. Poor Ortipo faced the Bolshevik firing-squad along with the rest of the Romanovs. (Anastasia - Tatiana’s younger sister - was the Romanov who supposedly escaped).
In the late 1890s American tourists began bringing Frenchies to the United States. The Rockefellers and the J.P. Morgans were two families that owned Frenchies. They pushed the AKC to recognize the breed.
The 1930s brought a decline in the popularity of Frenchies (as the popularity of terriers rose) but in the 1980s, Frenchies rebounded, and now they’re the fourth most popular dog in the United States (according to AKC registrations). They are hands down the most popular dog in New York City.
Although the dog who portrayed Toto in the film The Wizard of Oz was a Cairn Terrier, R. A. Neill, who illustrated The Road to Oz and The Emerald City, drew Toto as a Frenchie. Here's a photo of a Cairn Terrier:
French bulldogs are unable to swim. Their enormous heads and stubby legs make swimming nearly impossible. Other breeds who usually can’t swim include Dachshunds, Pekinese, and Basset Hounds. A Frenchie named Gamin de Pycombe went down with the Titanic. (Here's a Basset Hound):
Frenchies, for the most part, do not breed in the wild. They are born as a result of artificial insemination. Males have a nearly impossible time reaching the females. They become overheated and exhausted with the effort. The AKC estimates that 80% of Frenchies are born by C-section, as the moms have trouble delivering on their own. These are just two of the reasons why Frenchies are so expensive.
One last fun fact about Frenchies: they have noxious gas. In fact, they are famous for farting, turning around and encountering their own gas, and being so shocked by the stench that they actually jump into the air and run from the flatulence cloud. I’m not making this up.
I can’t leave this post without a Bonz update. We have discovered dog parks! Who knew there was such a thing? I thought (when I heard friends talking about dog parks) that they were neighborhood parks just like any other municipal park. But, of course, they are secure, fenced areas where you can let your dog off-leash to socialize with other dogs. There are all kinds of regulations about vaccinations, all kinds of etiquette.
At the dog park, you chat with complete strangers while you watch your dogs romp and tumble. You share dog toys and take turns filling the water dish. Dog parks are a bastion of civilization. In the face of our crumbling world, I am grateful for the quiet conversation of people who are concerned with making the best life they can manage for their canine companions.
