EL DORADO, Calif. – French bulldogs are often known for cute costumes and big city living, but one divergent Frenchie traded the dress-up for a walking harness and the big city life for the mountains. Eben defied the small dog status quo with his daring and bold adventures, including summiting Mount Tallac on more than one occasion.

“I’ve never heard of a Frenchie doing what he did, and he wasn’t struggling, and he loved it,” Renee Baffert said, who rescued Eben in 2010. “He always got made fun of on the trail in Tahoe by people with big dogs.”

Eben didn’t let the gawks, age, or a five year battle with cancer stop him. In fact, at the age of 12 and in the middle of his fight with cancer, he climbed Mount Tallac for the second time. That’s an 11-mile hike and a roughly 3,200-foot elevation gain.

He maintained his passion for the outdoors and tenacity, even to the very end, hiking three miles the day before he passed away in 2024.

“We have these vulnerable parts that feel small, and we also have these very big, larger than life parts, and I think a lot of people put down what is small,” Baffert says, who created a short film that captures Eben’s fearless spirit and demonstrates that you don’t need to be a big dog to do big things.

Baffert, who has labeled the film a “dogumentary,” produced and wrote the film to capture the chapter of her life with Eben and to also relay her heart philosophies as she endured anxiety and anticipatory grief at Eben’s diagnosis.

Told through Eben’s perspective, the approximately 14-minute film offers valuable reminders for humans, often exemplified by our K9 companions. Being present and grateful within the limited time that we have and not letting size or other limitations stop us are just a few of the powerful lessons Eben guides the viewer through.

The dogumentary was an idea stirring in Baffert for about five years. She had frequented many film festivals and took note of the animal-human connection stories, often featuring a man and his big dog.

“I think there’s a story here about a woman and her small dog,” she had thought, taking in the van-life shared by her, her partner, Michael Morse, and Eben. Morse, who narrates the film, has a career as photographer, which takes them many places.

The story of Eben, a small dog, hitting the big road with Baffert, Morse and eventually a second Frenchie, named Lassen, has touched over 6,000 viewers, and is making its way through multiple film festivals.

It won the Deb Bauer Unsung Hero Award at the 2024 Catalina Film Festival, which honors individuals whose dedication and hard work often goes unnoticed but are crucial to the success of a community. The festival is known for being a creative outlet where many celebrities submit their creative works. Surrounded by these stars at the festival, what struck Baffert was how Eben’s story sparked connection.

“There’s all these famous people,” she recalled, “it didn’t matter that we’re the poor ones, or we’re nobodies, they all just wanted to come up and show me a photo of their dog. That love, that understanding cut through all barriers.”

Bafferts finds it hard some days to watch the film after Eben’s passing, and other days it brings joy and laughter. The grieving process has moved her to create a supportive space for others grieving their pets, bringing in her decade plus experience in human grief counseling.

For more information on pet grief counseling, visit petloss-journey.com/.