Interview with Maureen Bootle

How long have you been in Frenchies and how did you get started?

Having bred Bassets and Beagles for some years Peter and I found ourselves taking more and more interest in French Bulldogs, watching them at shows and attending breed club shows, and we finally bought our first Frenchies in 1967. Gradually as the older hounds passed on the Frenchies took over and we can no longer imagine life without them.
Our first bitch was mainly Bomlitz breeding and mated to the Swedish import dog Foleyfarm Ullah’s Orfevre who lived for some years here at Tommyville. She produced the mother of my Tommyville Tweed Effect. We incorporated Benhook’s lines through Benhooks Sweet William (a son of Ch. Benhook’s Cider Cup, BOB at Crufts three years in succesion) and have continued since there with, in our opinion, the best lines from Britain and Europe. We were lucky to have among our foundation bitches two litter sisters bred at Cedarwood, grand-daugthers of Ch Bomlitz Edwardbear y de Ch Snowman of Quatt. These girls were at least third generation self-whelpers, something very important to us.

Please tell us something about the Tommyville kennels

We are not keen on the word kennels, as buildings are sadly lacking, just two kennels and runs for the pups during the summer months. However we understand you do not mean the word literally. As all the dogs live en famille we only keep a few, about a dozen, all living happily together, from the youngest to the oldest. Our first champion was the result of a father to daughter breeding, Benhook’s Sweet William and Dogwood Caprice bred by Mrs Wright Ashworth, she was Dogwood Impromptu, French Bulldog of the year 1973. We used William successfully on several bitches and kept a son of his, our Tweed Effect, sire of six champions and several CC winners, and now just five years old. Tweed’s grandchildren are enjoying success in the showring also. His first Champion daughter, Tommyville Thistle Motif, now jointly owned with Moa Persson of Stockholm had her title here at 16 months. She then went to Sweden and took her title there, and later Finland and Norway. She was from the first litter Tweed and Dogwood Lyric of Tommyville. There were four bitches in the litter, the other three being Tommyville Toasted Muffin, Nordic Ch Tommyville Mistle Thrush and Finnish Ch. Tommyville Tartan Medley. Tweed is very much “top dog” here and another favourite is his wife, our Ch. Flitchstar Donna a daughter of Ch Benhooks Jonathan of Flitchstar, bred by Mrs Welsh, she , like Impromptu, goes back to the sisters of our two Cedarwood bitches.

How long have you been a judge? do you judge other breeds?

I first judged Frenchies in1973. I do not judge other breeds, although I have judges Bull Breeds and Any Variety classes in small shows.

What Frenchies do you feel have contributed most to the breed?

As I am keen on studying the history of the bred I would love to have the space and time to answer this question at length. However it is perhaps wiser to stick to the post-war years, when there can be no doubt that the Millhouse, Moorings and Elmsleigh kennels had a tremendous effect on the breed. A dog must be judged not only on what he is, but on what he produces. Names which spring to mind are Howter Marksman, sire of Ch. Edward Bear of Bomlitz and Ch Chasewood Chatfield, great champions and sires in their own right. Edward Bear sired at least eight champions including Ch Chaseholme Souvenir; Chatfield sired several, and was grandsire of Ch Benhooks Cider Cup. Another notable dog who sired several winners before his untimely death was Ch Chescott Eros (a son of Souvenir), father of two recent winning dogs over here, Ch. Benhook’s Jonathan of Flitchstar and his younger brother Ch Benhooks Joshua and again in turn these two dogs are successful sires. My own Tweed held the FB club’s annual trophy for progeny for two years. Most of the dogs mentioned so far are brindles; fawns must include the Millhouse strain, more recently the Mismees strain, predominantly fawn, Ch. Benhook’s Cider Cup of course and last year’s progeny winner Mismees Boulot of Bomlitz. Top pied dogs must include Snowbee of Quatt, Ch Snowman of Quatt and Ch Quatt Popinjay.

Please tell us what the ideal Frenchie is

A well tempered dog is of paramount importance, followed by one with overall balance, not too low to the ground but well proportioned with a nice spring of rib, a roach but not too exaggerated and a well muscled active dog. Head properties are very important, a good turn of underjaw, well set, well carried bat ears, dark eyes and a broad muzzle. Well boned so that the dog appears cobby without being coarse.

All lines of dogs have faults. What faults do you see most often in the Frenchies in England?

A difficult question, and I don’t think any one fault is predominant in British dogs. We must be careful not to get our dogs too close to the ground, and we must also be careful not to lose the roach. Lack of neck length is obvious in a few and some lack of upsweep in the underjaw.

What fault do you think is hardest to breed out?

Bad mouths perhaps. Occasionally a pup will appear with a wry or extremely undershot mouth, and can only be a throw-back to many generations.

In America our frenchies cannot be over 28lbs. how do you feel about large Frenchies and would you like to see"not over 28lbs" be part of the Frenchie standar?

Our standard reads “ The ideal weight is 28lbs for dogs and 24lbs for bitches but soundness must not be sacrificed to smallness”.
Ideally a small dog, or bitch, with good bone and substance plus sound movement is what we want. However I would prefer a large, sound well-boned dog to a small weedy specimen which moves badly. We must not get the breed too big,perhaps the Pug standard could apply – Multum in Parvo- a lot in a little.

What is your favourite colour in Frenchies, and as a judge does colour influence you?

I prefer a well brindled dog, followed by a good fawn., preferably with dark features, and least of all pieds. I feel a poor fawn or pied detracts more than a poor brindle. Colour should not influence any judge, so long as it falls within the breed standard.

How important is a pedigree in your breeding programme?

Absolutely vital. A dog or bitch is more likely in my opinion to produce what he or she carries, rather than what he or she is. It is essential to study pedigrees, and the faults and virtues of the dogs in it, before any mating.

Is artificial breeding used in England? How do you feel about using it?

Someone once said England and America re divided by a common language! Perhaps this is an example as I’m not at all sure what is meant by artificial breeding. At a guess, artificial insemination?
That, to the best of my knowledge is not used on dogs in England although semen has been exported for use on bitches abroad, in several breeds. I would not use it in this country, I will not even force mate a reluctant bitch, we feel nature knows best. As I have said previously, most of our bitches self-whelp, but I would like to say quite firmly that should a Cesarean be necessary it be performed. We have excellent vets who will self-whelp a bitch with a little help if possible, failing that they perform a Cesarian quickly and efficiently. I don’t really care for anything artificial.

How has the breed improved since you began?

I think the last twelve years or so has seen a small improvement in the breed, ear placement is better, e have darker eyes and nails generally. Perhaps the dogs have a little more substance too.