Attack of The Cute

I had a close call the other night, y'all. The most adorable little girl who lives across the street from me and whose name is, I kid you not, "Angel", came over to show me her dog's two French Bulldog puppies that look EXACTLY like this:


I was totally ready to take the pair (brother and sister!) due to the fact that Angel told me that their price had "dropped" to $100. So, Angel may not be a rising star in the world of Finance. It seems that she got $100. and $1500. confused. Could happen to anyone! Unfortunately, now I'm spending sleepless nights trying to figure how I can take out a third mortgage on my home. I'm completely lost. My cats would be plotting my death if they knew what I was contemplating.

So I spent most of yesterday cruising the internet for pictures and info on "Frenchies" and I came across this site wherein a puzzling bit of trivia caught my eye (emphasis mine):

The French Bulldog was originally developed in England as a miniature version of the English Bulldog. In the 1860's, French dog breeders imported some of these very small Bulldogs from Great Britain and bred them with French Terriers. Streetwalkers in France greatly admired the imports and this led to the name French Bulldog. When the breed was eventually brought back to England for exhibition, the English made a big uproar about the name French Bulldog, since the Bulldog was originally an English Breed and because the Bulldog was a traditional symbol of English culture.

WTF???

UPDATE: From Wikipaedia:

As the new, smaller bulldogs gained popularity in France, they became favorites of the Parisian "Belles De Nuit" - the street walkers. One reason for this is that when strolled, the exotic looking dogs brought attention to their owner, and gave potential customers a legitimate reason to chat with her. Another is that the docile breed was content to nap for short stretches when brought to hotel rooms, without making a fuss. Breed historians can still sometimes turn up notorious "French Postcards" bearing images of scantily clad French prostitutes posing with their little "Bouledogues Français". The aura of notoriety that ownership of the little dogs conveyed made them a fashionable way for the well-to-do classes to show off how daring they could be, and they soon became favorites of the "artistic" set across Europe.

Photos dating to around this time show the Russian royal family posing alongside their French bulldogs, and they imported several of the little dogs from France. Other famous fanciers included Toulouse-Lautrec, the author Colette and King Edward VII.

That's it. I've got to have one.