She exudes a rockstar attitude with a strong, mezzo-soprano voice that matches her namesake, the influential miss Janis Joplin. Janis is a short, sturdy english bulldog with an intense underbite and eyes that will melt your heart. 

Janis Joplin spent 3 months at a municipal shelter, just waiting. When we took her into our care everyone was swooning over her. If you were having a rough day, all you needed to do was visit with Janis. I was lucky enough to have her as my office dog and certainly appreciate all the times her fat little paw swatted my leg for attention. 

Unfortunately, it immediately became clear that Janis was constantly struggling to breathe. Brachycephalic is a term that describes dogs with “shortened heads” or short nose, flat face dogs such as pugs, shih tzus, boxers, bulldogs, etc. Janis is, of course, one of those dogs. Dogs that are poorly bred for these extremely exaggerated features can lead to severe respiratory distress, which can quickly become life-threatening. Janis was simply not okay. 

There were many days, actually every day, that I’d have to stop working to glance over and make sure she wasn’t going to turn blue. We could only give her short, five minutes or less walks. She had to be fed with her food watered down and spread around in a large pan because often she couldn’t breathe and eat at the same time. 

Thankfully, we are truly fortunate to have such wonderful networking partners across the country. They say if you need help, just ask. It works! A bulldog rescue in North Carolina wanted to help us and Janis Joplin. Opie’s Bulldog Rescue specializes in SPECIAL NEEDS english bulldogs JUST like Janis! And after just a few weeks of preparations, they secured volunteers to pick her up from us in south Louisiana and drive her all the way to North Carolina. She will eventually be having surgery to improve airflow through her nostrils so that she can BREATHE again! We are so excited for her and all the amazing possibilities that now lay out in front of her. A huge thank you to Opie’s Bulldog Rescue. 

We love you Janis. If you need me, you know that I’ll always be around. – Janis Joplin