This. Is Lola. Our French Bulldog. Frenchie, Bully, Frogdog or BatPigs (that's a favourite of mine!) as many owners fondly call them.
I found a quote just last night about them from an International Dog Show Judge:
"Their character is the antithesis of the character of the dog which is sweet, loyal, dignified and trusting. Yellow eyes are reserved for dog breeds that serve to protect or warn. The average French Bulldog will welcome strangers into your home."
Lola is stubborn, attention seeking, selfish, sometimes lazy, sometimes hyperactive, pernickity (sometimes she won't eat her food because the bowl's a bit dirty and she won't sit down outside because the ground would dirty her bottom...), she's dominant, a bit of a brute, a bit of a bully and judt downright demanding.
Lola wasn't originally ours. Just a few weeks after we got married David's sister told us that they had made the decision to give Lola away because they coulnd't afford to look after her and since Lola had grew up with David, (they all lived together before we were married) immediately David thought that we could have her. I was a bit harder to convince as I'd never had a house dog in my life but we decided to keep her in the family and here we are today! Despite (I'm not sure if it's 'despite' or 'because of') all her craziness, we wouldn't change her for the world. She is a character and a personality and everyone loves her. She's friendly and cuddly and just loves to be with people. Her face is on a strange edge of ultimate ugliness and ultimate beauty but now we think she's adorable. She has her routine, as we do ours and she really is part of our small family.
Many times when I'm sitting preparing classes in the morning while David is at work, she comes to
me with a sock (or something else she shouldn't have) to play with and I can't help but look at her at wonder at God's creation. Creatures are amazing and the relationship and feeling of responsibility we can have for them is almost like that of a child. On a different level of course, because we can't communicate but if she's hurt or if's she's hungry, we feel a pulling at our heart to do good to her.
I think back on what it must have been like for Adam and Eve, wondering at all their complex designs and thinking, 'I have a responsibility for these creatures'. They are a part of God's design and reflet His glory. Even with faces like this! >
