Sunday 6 March 2011

Isn't she lovely?

I believe it was Woody Allen who said
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans".
Well, yesterday we hadn't planned on adding to our small family of Mr Ben, Mr B & me but then God laughed and now we are four.
O.K.maybe we were tempting fate by taking a drive over to Caen to visit the Chiot Expo taking place at the large exposition centre.

45 different breeds on show but how likely was it that one of the hundreds of wriggly little furballs, competing for our attention, would capture a heart?

Can you hear God laughing now?
This is our new addition, a female pedigree Berger Allemand a.k.a. German Shepherd a.k.a Alsatian, almost five months old, born on the 14th October 2010.



The breeder had not previously named her that honour went to the new owners, us, and so in keeping with the "one letter per year" system and F being the letter for 2010 we decided to name her Fleur.
Fleur de L'Ange Quentin to be precise!

Getting to know you
Until 1926, there was no rule in France for naming a dog registered in the LOF. From this year, the S.C.C. decided that all dogs born in the same year would have a name beginning with the same letter, which would simplify the work of dog genealogists. The letter "Z" was excluded because one though that the choice of names beginning with this letter was not big enough in French. One should be aware that for several years after, some breeders didn't follow this new rule.

Her Mum's name is Diana and Daddy's is Chips!

The only change to this system happened in 1972, when the Commission Nationale d’Amélioration Génétique (National Committee for Genetic Improvement) decided to standardize the yearly letters for all animals. Five letters (K, Q, W, X, Y) were removed, for the same reason which had lead to the exclusion of "Z" in 1926, and it was decided that "I" would be used for 1973.

Note: with the use of typewriters, the French Kennel Club decided to use only capital letters for dog names, not including accents and special characters. Today it is still the case, and many letters used in French cannot be used for dog names: À, à, Â, â, Æ, æ, Ç, ç, É, é, È, è, Ê, ê, Ë, ë, Î, î, Ï, ï, Ô, ô, Œ, œ, Ù, ù, Û, û, Ü, ü, Ÿ, ÿ.

Coming home yesterday afternoon after checking out the new location

Here is a table summarizing the dogs' names in France since 1926:

1926 A 1936 K 1946 U 1956 F 1966 P 1976 M 1986 B 1996 M 2006 B
1927 B 1937 L 1947 V 1957 G 1967 Q 1977 N 1987 C 1997 N 2007 C
1928 C 1938 N 1948 W 1958 H 1968 R 1978 O 1988 D 1998 O 2008 D
1929 D 1939 M 1949 X 1959 I 1969 S 1979 P 1989 E 1999 P 2009 E
1930 E 1940 O 1950 Y 1960 J 1970 T 1980 R 1990 F 2000 R 2010 F
1931 F 1941 P 1951 A 1961 K 1971 U 1981 S 1991 G 2001 S
1932 G 1942 Q 1952 B 1962 L 1972 V 1982 T 1992 H 2002 T
1933 H 1943 R 1953 C 1963 M 1973 I 1983 U 1993 I 2003 U
1934 I 1944 S 1954 D 1964 N 1974 J 1984 V 1994 J 2004 V
1935 J 1945 T 1955 E 1965 O 1975 L 1985 A 1995 L 2005 A

(Source Braque de Bourbonnais)

New kid on the block
What more can I say, she's beautiful, intelligent, obedient and ours.
Mr Ben meanwhile remains unconvinced
 that this was a good idea!
Joining Mary @the little red house for Mosaic Monday, click here, or on the sidebar button to see who else is participating this week.

20 comments:

  1. She is gorgeous! You are so lucky to own such a precious animal. 8>)

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  2. Maggie,

    She is beautiful to be sure. I no longer have dogs but I sure love the ones my friends have!

    Have a wonderful week with your new family member.

    Carol

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  3. You are right, she is quite a 'looker' a real sweetie.....

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  4. What a beauty. My sister has an Alsatian - so intelligent and obedient. I wish you years of fun walks together - and I hope Mr Ben comes around!

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  5. Oh, Maggie! Fleur is just beautiful, I could squeal! I am not allowed to get within 100 yards of a puppy or I want to bring it home with me! lol!

    She looks bright and obedient and very calm. And I think she is going to be quite big! I hope Mr. Ben takes a liking to her soon! Keep posting pictures of your new 'little one'!!

    XO,
    Jane

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  6. Oh, Maggie, wait till I forward this to Mr. A. He has been talking of dogs again since Westerminster. Happens every year. ;-)
    Fleur is indeed beautiful. I'm sure Mr. Ben will begin to accept the company and they will soon be fast friends. What a lucky puppy to get to go home with you! I'll be eager to meet her and Mr. Ben. ~ Sarah

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  7. I'm such a sucker, that I'd have done the same thing!
    She's a lovely animal...and poor Mr. Ben will have his nose out of joint for a while, but then perhaps will see her as a playmate. Hopefully?

    (My favorite Paris restaurant has always been Chez Georges. My daughter lived there for 6 years, so I got to know the city well. Have never been to Chez Denise; will put it on my list. Thanks, Maggie.)

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  8. Oh I am glad you took her home with you to your happy home.

    Lets hope Mr Ben looks at her soon as a new playmate.
    Interesting French system I knew nothing about. So we do learn something new every day.

    Happy days together.
    Sue

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  9. She is pretty....and I love the story of the letter and the names. Very interesting!!

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  10. Maggie She is beautiful how lucky you are. Have a great week
    And thank you for stopping by my blog.
    Sue.

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  11. Your new dog will bring you much joy. I was interested to read about the naming regulations in France. Fascinating!

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  12. Maggie, she's an absolute charmer. And I love her name!! Of course I would. I can see why you were smitten with her and surely Mr. Ben will warm up to her in time.

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  13. Fleur is adorable - you were right to take her home! And the French naming system is fascinating. thanks for visiting my blog on mosaic monday and leaving a sweet comment.
    amy of four corners design

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  14. Fleur will win over Mr. Ben's heart. :))

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  15. Oooh, how sweet! I just love your new pup, Fleur! She's a beauty!
    And how interesting to learn about the French system for naming dogs. I never knew any such thing.
    Just love your posts. They are beautiful and so informative at the same time.
    Enjoy your new sweetheart. :)

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  16. before long they'll be happy to be around each other as well. Fleur and Mr Ben will be great pals. I can just picture them running along the beach together.

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  17. Beautiful Fleur. Poor Mr. Ben! His nose is out of joint it seems. xxoo Jenny

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  18. I can't say I am surprised to read the news. She is beautiful and she's one very lucky pup! Congrats, Mum, Dad & Ben!

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  19. Oh, she is BEAUTIFUL, Maggie! Congratulations!
    xoxo

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  20. That is so interesting about how the French name their dogs. Thanks for sharing it. It was certainly a lucky day for Fleur when you came along.

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Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!