The Petersens: Our first "child"

French bulldogs are a very interesting breed. I don't think I would really consider them full dog. Anyone who knows them, knows how stubborn, smart and human-like they can be. I don't think we knew what we were getting ourselves into back in March '04 when we got our first frenchie, Max. (All old photos of him are in print - before the days of digital cameras! Will post some when we buy a new scanner.)

The differences between other dogs and Frenchies was quite apparent early on. We had our first snowstorm in Holland when we got Max at 3 months. Training him was quite difficult because he didn't like his paws being in the snow and did not like getting wet. He would not move. Not typical dog behavior.

Then there is the sleeping under the covers... never taught to him but I guess he just saw me and Thomas do it enough that he started doing it himself as well. Yes, that's him below under the covers and yes, head on pillow. Not typical dog behavior.

The stubbornness continues with wetness. Living in India during monsoon was obnoxious for many reasons but this tops the list.... As we know from above, Max does NOT like to be wet or have his paws wet (he does however like baths - he likes to be clean... again weird). Taking him for a walk or as it turned out dragging him for a walk was a bitch. I ended up very wet, Molly would be thoroughly scared (the little Indian kids and all the honking scared her) and Max would just not move. So, we thought maybe if we got him a rainjacket that would help. It seemed to work well in Holland and Denmark. And while we're doing that might as well get booties since we can't see the ground - don't want them to step in something bad. That was fun. He walked a for a bit but his head and "tail" were uncovered so as soon as those got too wet- walk was over. Not typical dog behavior.

And my favorite Max behavior.... must sit/sleep not on ground. What?! Yeah, King Max refuses to just lay on the floor like a normal dog. No, no. he will find something, anything else that he will lay on/in. Case in point... Sophie's bassinett, a pillow on the floor, Sophie's exer-saucer. Is this normal dog behavior? I think not!