French Bulldogs: flimsy film fancy?

Dear Dog Lady,

Oh my gosh, I just saw the cutest dog in a movie and I want one of my own. In “Bringing Down the House,” there’s a French bulldog who’s the most adorable creature I’ve ever seen. Where can I get one? How much do they cost?

Larry, Detroit, Mich.

Larry, dogs aren't the sort of items that lend themselves to cash and carry. Just because “Bringing Down the House” has raked in millions at the box office doesn’t mean you should rush out and pay top dollar for a Frenchie.

Yes, Linus, the dog star in the movie, is cute. The dog is probably the reason why this forgettable flick starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, packed in the house. Defying critics, “Bringing Down the House” topped the box office for nearly a month, reaping close to $100 million. But that’s the amount you might have to pay for a healthy, well-bred French bulldog.

French bulldogs -- with their standup pink ears, wise eyes, comic mugs and squat compact bodies -- are the must-have accessory dog of the moment. Everybody wants one because Steve Martin fooled around with the canine clown in “Bringing Down the House.”

Dog Lady seriously reminds you, Larry, that when a dog breed is hot, it spells huge trouble for the dogs, with greedy breeders rushing to meet demand. This means that puppies are churned out with no regard to their health or temperment.

With Frenchies, there is concern that puppies are being milled in Russia and shipped over here for sale in pet stores or over the Internet. The founder of the French Bulldog Rescue Network, Charlotte Creeley, painted a grim picture for a recent story in New York magazine: “A good deal of the dogs from Russia have no veterinary records. They’re often taken from their mother at four to five weeks, well before the eight to twelve weeks required for small dogs. This can lead to enormous health problems.” The author of the New York article had a Russian-bred Frenchie. The dog keeled over and died when it was one year old.

If you are determined to acquire a French bulldog, then, please, do your homework. Read everything you can about the breed. Do research about where you can acquire a healthy puppy. Do not order your dog through the mail or buy it at a pet store. If at all possible, visit the breeder in person. You might have to wait months or years before you find your dog. By then, your Frenchie fixation will surely have passed. It sounds to Dog Lady as if your interest in French bulldogs is merely a fast flight of flimsy film fancy.

Posted by Dog Lady at March 25, 2003 06:48 PM