Le bouledogue français

The French bulldog

The Frenchie

I am a sucker for French bulldogs. They have a cuteness that isn’t sweet and pretty like spaniel puppies, or like kittens, they have a cuteness that comes from their funny deformed face, that holds so much expression, it’s hard not to giggle when you see them! English bulldogs have this sort-of cuteness too, but the French bulldog is smaller and therefore, in my world, cuter. Plus they have those adorable bat-wing ears!!!!

The French bulldog is descended from an asian “mastiff” type of dog, that have a flattened muzzle and a strong jaw, but the race was really developed from the British bulldog.  Mixed with the bulldog brought over to French by British workers around 1850, and bred with the terrier dogs or the “doguin” dogs that the butchers would have around their shops to keep the rodents away, it was reduced in size.

During the siege of 1870, bulldogs were used to kill rats, with one clamp of their jaw, so that people could bring them home and cook them. The city of Paris was starving and even the animals in the zoos were not spared. But the bulldogs proved they had a function, so lucky them….

The artist Toulouse-Lautrec loved these little dogs, and many other celebrities and personalities of history also helped make them a popular pet, such as Josephine Baker, Mistinguett, Colette et Yves Saint-Laurent.

A kennel club was formed as early as 1898 for the breeding and promotion of the particular race.

Poupoudou (pronounced Poopoodoo) has become a star of the Flickr-sphere… and it’s not hard to see why… he embodies the adorableness and the spirit of the Frenchie which is irresistable and beyond cute! (Photos by K. Pujol)

Poupoudou has a twitter, a Facebook fan page, and a blog… he’s a very popular dog… but just try to resist his cuteness! Just try! Impossible.