English vs French

On today's episode of Iron Dog, we have American vs French bulldog. It's an exciting crowd here in Family Room Stadium. Lots of beer, chocolate chip cookies and a new flat screen tv with surround sound.

Introoooooduuuuucing, challenger American bulldog Dover Piratsky! 4 year old, white, male.


Dover Piratsky, it's an exciting weekend here in family room stadium. What do you have to say to the current Iron Dog holder; french bull dog Basil Brown?

ARF! Well, I think American bull dogs are better. The french are stuck up with their punched in noses and they have small qui quis. Their bat ears are pompous in my opinion. They say "Aye, look at moi. I em so cute cuz I em frrrench." I may have allergies too, but as an American, I'm taller, bigger and I still have my tail.

Those are strong words from American bull dog Dover. We will see if he can live up to the challenge.

Challengers. You have one hour. Play!

Happy Thanksgiving

We are so thankful for Basil this year. He's brought such a light to our life.


Basil playing with his cousins Winston, Murphy and Maui. Murphy is similar in playing style so they are having loads of fun.

Thanksgiving Prep

Keith and I have been talking about what to do with Basil during Thanksgiving when human food is plenty and the kids like to "accidently" drop it on the floor where the family dogs *just happen* to be. We recalled how much Basil liked Maui's big bone. Assuming, he's not allergic to it, we're going to get him a big bone to keep him distracted while everyone eats. Hope that keeps him safe and healthy.

Any other suggestions?

Basil's first crush

I spy a little girl who has a crush on you!


Our friend's daughter kept hugging and gently kissing Basil throughout the night. It was the sweetest thing to watch. She's also learning her words now and said the funniest thing. She pointed to his belly and said "pink". Then she said "wee wee". hahahaha


This was so cute. I think she was really in awe that he was her height and size. She's 27 lbs and he's 24.5. She was giddy as she grabbed his ears and pinched his cheeks.

Basil & Santa Claus

Basil had his photo taken with Santa Claus today! One of the malls had a 2 hour window where you could have your pet take pictures with Santa. We think that stuff is cheesy, but we were curious. It turned out to be so much fun. There were so many good looking dogs. Basil took such a great photo too! We're not showing it to you on the blog. You'll just have to wait until Christmas!


Here we are waiting on line. Basil really wanted to sniff the mall but we couldn't let him. Honestly, it seemed a little stressful for him to keep on the leash and wait all that time with all those other dogs. He did get to meet some awesome dogs.


Here's Santa. Santa really knew how to handle the dogs. Basil took a great picture! He looked nervous when Santa put him on his lap because he didn't know what was going on. He gave me the sappy eyes like "Mommy, what's happening to me?"

Basil goes courting

We had another play date with Cadens (the Boston Terrier). Since they are in the same size range, they play really well together.


I actually got a picture of her this time. She was slightly calmer than usual. Cadens' dad was getting his room doggie proofed because she might be ready to be left out of the crate now. Yay! Let's hope all goes smoothly with little collateral damage.


Cadens got a new toy today that is supposed to be super tough. Although they managed to rip it in about 20 seconds of having it. They played really well with this toy together. They played tug of war. Then Cadens would run with it and Basil would chase her and snatch it back. It was really entertaining to watch.

Basil Purrs

Basil purrs a lot. In the morning when he first wakes up and stretches, we pet and give him a good back rub. He'll purr as we rub his back. Then sometimes as he naps, I'll pet him and he purrs to the petting. When he naps, as he breathes he does this inhaling and exhaling like a cartoon cat...Let me describe: inhale "snooooorrrrrtt" exhale "we we we we we" inhale "snorrrrrrttt" exhale "we we we we we we" It's the funniest thing.

Basil Meets Chewbacca

My friend N brought over her Pomeranian Chewie short for Chewbacca. He is just the cutest dog with his little walk and panting.



Basil playing with Chewie.

Easy Like Sunday Mornin'

It was surprisingly warm today so we took Basil out again to Historic Yorkshire for a stroll.


Bundled up and ready to go. Come on mom! Let's go!


So much grassssss


How rude! Unlike some dogs, I don't go when I'm on a leash.


Mom. Dad. What did I do to you to make you put me on this tree stump?


Boo ahahahhahaa I scared the scare crows! ahahaha

Spoil-ed Alert!

He holds his bone between his paws and then gnaws on it. Recently, Keith has been helping him get a better grip and leverage by holding the bone for him. So now he'll start chewing on his bone and eventually he brings it over to Keith to hold it for him.

Spoiled!

Basil Meets Jake

Basil had a play date with Jake over the weekend. Jake is about 4 years old and also a rescue. He's the sweetest boy and very mellow.





Basil was less playful with Jake. He was more interested in sniffing the yard. He ingested a few things and eventually rejected it. At one point of the play date, he got this crazy burst of energy and tried to dominate Jake. Jake was really scared, poor fella.

Video: Basil Caught Napping

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Health Update

Basil has been off his antibiotics and steroids for 2 weeks now. He weighs in at 24.5 lbs today.

Since he's been off his medicine, we noticed immediately that he was licking his front paws again a little bit. We called the vet and she said if it's real bad, then give him benedryl. Otherwise, it's just something we need to deal with and treat by cleaning him off after from coming outside and keeping up with his regular baths.

We still bathe him once a week with the medicinal shampoo. We clean his ears once a week (or less if needed). He LOVES getting his ears cleaned. I gently introduce the cotton balls to him so he knows what I'm going for. I start by wiping the inside tip of his ear and then he realizes it's soothing. So then I go for the gold and get all in there. He loves it!

Keith is the one who bathes him. He put a towel at the bottom of the bath tub which helps Basil feel a little more comfortable. He still runs away though when we turn the shower on. As soon as he's done, he comes running down the stairs and into my lap like he's running from a scary monster.

Over this last week, we noticed he's a lot licking more and scratching his neck. He's licking his front paws on the top side and his groin area. Then we saw a hot spot in his groan area and his testicles look a little raw. *I* have been wiping him down with a warm wet towel and spraying him with the anti-itch spray. He doesn't like the spraying action. He runs as soon as he sees the bottle. But he takes it well from me but runs from Keith ahahahahhaa He loves me more!

He's been sleeping all over the place - the couch, the rug, the carpet, his bed (which we never washed first), and our bed covers. I'm going to wash everything with hot water this weekend and no fabric softener and see if that helps. The rug is hard. I vacuum once to twice a week, but I'm sure there are still allergens.

Otherwise he's doing well and I hope he doesn't break out.

Happy Halloween

In all our excitement, we forgot to post Basil's Halloween photo. I sent it to everyone via email and forgot to do it here. He looks adorable!

Video: Tego, Chully & Basil play

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Playdate with Tego and Chully

Basil had a play date with his latin cousins Tego and Chully today! It was loads of fun. We took video of it so there's more to come...

Basil goes to Work

A typical work day for Basil and dad.


In the morning, dad and I start with some video game playing.


Then we spend the afternoon washing and detailing the car.


Then we go for car ride.


Then we roll around and play.


Then we take a nap together.

It's a hard life, but some one has gotta put the bones on the table.

Mona Basil

The little girl G next door drew Basil this picture. It's her in her blue outfit and him because he's all black.



She came over to our house and laid the drawing upside down onto his crate and said "Put it this way so he can see it from inside his crate" Kids!

Here he is admiring his drawing.

Basil Scratching in the Sun

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Fun in the Sun

Basil looooves that sun! We went out this morning and he sat down and just soaked in the sun. I could tell he was really enjoying it. I don't blame him. We've had some cold bitter weather lately. Fortunately, he's getting used to it. He's not shy about going outside now be it rain or cold wind.


Basil soaking up the sun.


In the afternoon, we just left the door open for him to go in and out. He fell asleep out on the deck under the sun. It was so cute.

Tid bits: Pears

Basil had some delicious Bosch pear last night. We could tell that he really enjoyed it compared to the apples and cheese and his regular treats. He's so cute when he's enjoying a special treat. Speaking of treats, he's been spending more and more nights in bed with us now. Some times his snoring is tolerable but most of all he keeps the bed snuggly and warm for us!

Basil and Carmel

Carmel is only 18 months himself and lately his humans have noticed a great change. He's a tad calmer these days although still rambunctious and hasn't chewed up as much around the house.



Since Basil and Carmel are going to be neighbors, we thought we would introduce them again for some good play time. Basil can get used to a big dog and vice versa.

Looks like Basil won because Carmel was begging for the toy and Basil wouldn't give it up.

Carmel was being really good and kept giving Basil the toy because he wanted Basil to run with it so he could chase it.

Carmel was very good. They got rough twice but Carmel just wanted to play with him. I learned how to get Carmel's attention if he got too rough. We'll have to have him over again.

Basil meets Maui

Basil met his cousin Maui, the boxer! Maui is a precious 11 year old boxer and also a rescue. Named after his human's honeymoon spot. He's very mature now, but still sweet as ever. They were so cute together. Everytime one of them heard something, they would bark together. He was really excited to meet Basil and wanted him to chase him, but Basil was a little occupied as you will see...


Maui - He's got a white face now.


Maui letting Basil drink from his big mixing bowl. Basil seemed to really like it so we're thinking of elevating his bowls.


Maui got jealous when his dad was petting Basil. Maui came to check out the situation. Also, we suspect that he was abused by his previous situation because he's fearful of men. He's also VERY protective of the children which we love about him!


And then Basil found THE BONE...


He picked it up and ran off with it and was obsessed with it for the rest of the night. We couldn't pry him away from it. He was in love with it.

We told Basil that he was a good boy, maybe Santa will bring him something special this year.

First Comes Love

Then comes marriage. Where it all began...

Anita & Keith from FilmJones on Vimeo.

Potty Bell Success

We've successfully trained Basil to ring the potty bell when he wants to go potty. By day 6 and 7, he was fully ringing it each and every time he had to go potty. We are so proud. We encourage everyone to try this!

3 Ladies and Basil

Basil had a wonderful play date with Caidens, Sadie and sometimes Zoe. Three lady dogs and one Basil. Oh they were beside them selves.


Caidens and Sadie loved Basil and played with him non stop. Caidens is the Boston Terrier (16 months) and Sadie is the Jug (2 years).


They were jumping around all night. I finally got a picture of them after they stopped and were tuckered out. Here's a close up of Sadie. She's definitely dominating.


Here's Caidens. Caidens is VERY active and kept egging Basil on to play. She chased him and he chased Sadie.

Basil learned to beg from Caidens and Sadie. Here they are trying to get some potato chips from baby.