Time to give you some more details of our lovable pup. Just who is Obi?
An introduction to Obi
Let's start with the breed.
Short, stocky, snorting Obi is a pedigree French Bulldog, often known as a Frenchie. Some less knowledgeable passers-by have mistaken him for a Boston Terrier (most likely because they typically have similar face markings to Obi), and even a Pug. Shame on them. We're quick to fill in the blanks of their canine faculties, but as far as we can tell he doesn't take too much offense himself.
He's pied, which means his coat has a base blanket of white with coloured patches. In Obi's case, those patches are mostly black with cute tan cheeks and eyebrows. Both his eyes and ears are covered by black fur, which give him a very classic Frenchie look. He's got a very distinctive black spot on the right side of his body, and otherwise has one large black patch running from his shoulders right down to his hips on both sides. If he was a bit bigger he could quite possibly be mistaken for a Friesian cow when seen grazing, as he often loves to do.
Why did we decide we wanted a French Bulldog in our lives? Well more on that in another blog post soon, but needless to say he definitely lives up to his expected characteristics, and I couldn't find a more apt description than the Kennel Club's own "Full of courage, yet with clown-like qualities".
La Familia.
Proud lilac and tan coloured Dad Boyce, and caring brindle Mum Olive gave birth to a litter of eight on 4th October 2018, but sadly as is quite common one little pup didn't survive. Both parents were health tested to at least the bronze standard, which means that they have been checked and cleared for common hereditary diseases that often affect Frenchies. This was a really important factor for us when choosing the right breeder and puppy, and you'll be able to read more on this in another post soon too.
One of the great things about our breeder was that they setup a WhatsApp group for all of the new puppy owners from Boyce and Olive's litter, so we're still in touch with all of Obi's brothers and sisters. We're planning to get as many of them together as possible for a meetup on the weekend of their first birthday's, which we're really looking forward to. We already managed to reunite with one of Obi's brothers a few months ago at a local monthly Frenchie meet, and I'm sure they recognised each other.
The siblings have grown at different rates, and we think Obi is towards the heavier end of the group. Currently weighing in at 16kg, he's a pretty big example of his breed which has an ideal weight for dogs of 12.5kg and 11kg for bitches. I guess we'll find out when the litter reunites in a few weeks for a snort-fest.
Hello, what's your name?
Obi is pronounced Oh Bee, and his full Kennel Club name is Trustabullz Optimistic Obi. His human Dogfather is a big Star Wars fan, who settled for naming a pet after the greatest Jedi of all time - Obi-Wan Kenobi - since pushing for a human child to one day bear that name was facing strong resistance from Obi's human Dogmum.
We obviously had to dress him up in a Jedi outfit on international Star Wars day:
It turns out his name isn't as unique as we thought it would be for a Frenchie boy, and we also come across other Star Wars themed bulldogs such as Skywalker and Vader. Bravo guys, bravo.
I hope this gives you a bit more detail about our pup today, who is currently enjoying a neck rub from his Dogmum who he's cuddled up to on the sofa. You'll learn more about Obi and his character in future blog posts, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing.