French Bulldog"Luck"

It’ll be hot today. Thank goodness the boss, always so careful, gets up early to take me for a walk. Of course I help a bit. Good and early I was whispering in her ear, “ Come on come on. No more sleep, it will be hot today.” For us Frenchies the heat is not easy to deal with, we are brachyacephalic, flat-faced. With such a short airway it’s not so easy to breathe and combat the heat…. It’s almost a miracle. If we also are stressed for whatever reason: playing, anxiety etc. well accidents can happen.
But I’m lucky, we’ll take a short walk before it gets really hot, she’ll wet my neck and belly. It’ll be a good early stroll.
After, the first meal of the day, I don’t feel like eating too much, but I’ll try to get a bit of biscuit. She usually only gives me a bit, she says I’ll get fat. Fat Frenchies lose their agility and it puts a strain on the bones. That’s not a good idea, our wonderful look is based on a rather delicate structure, even though our bones are so strong. We are achondroplasic, that is we have a dwarfism gene. This gives us our charming look, and causes a few problems. But that is a subject for the vets, I don’t want to hear about it. And, if you’re fat you lose the pear shape. We get like big sausages on legs.
Then they go out. In the house all is silent and shady. I take the opportunity to take a nap, with one ear out for strange noises. In the afternoon, it’s time for a good brushing. She doesn’t usually give me many baths, she says I don’t get very dirty because it all just slides off me. But I get brushed at least once a week. A rub down with a rubber glove and the dead hairs are gone, then a smoothing with a piece of velvet. I’m lucky, my coat stays shiny just with this.
Of course shows are different, in that case she trims my whiskers, any stray hairs anywhere…… I look like a model, it embarrasses me sometimes . But a point is a point. The worst of all is the shiny spray. I don’t need it! They say it smells nice. Bah!
But the absolutely worst thing of my personal care is the nail-cutting. Ow! I don’t know how to convince her to leave my nails alone. Their sensitive! But they do get a bit hard at times.
But I must repeat that I’m lucky. When I was a pup she used to cut the nail even shorter.. I remember one time when she drew a bit of blood. She nearly fainted at the sight but it was nothing really. So the Boss decide to find a better system to keep my nails neat. She found it. An old breeder that told her, instead of scissors she could use a small metal file from the hardware shop. It was a blessing, since that blessed day I have a nap while I have a manicure. Or should I say pedicure? Well…
When it cools down a bit we’ll take a stroll along the beach. That will be great because paddling in the sea is one of my great passions, when they let me. She never takes her eye off me. She says I could sink, but the truth of the matter is that I swim very well. Not for long and in a sheltered spot with no waves. It’s marvellous! The day is coming to an end, she’ll give me my supper, put down some fresh water, and…..
Before going to sleep the Boss and I have our penultimate ritual: clean the eyes and ears with a special preparation. I know the routine so I put my head in her hand and let her clean and dry my wrinkles and put a spot of Vaseline on my nose and wrinkles. If my nose is very dry due to the wind or the cold she rubs a bit of vitamin E on it.
So I can go to sleep, but we normally get in a few games first. With such a good routine life passes sweetly. I’m a lucky dog, don’t you agree?