Franklin Friday

Franklin has been getting along better with Lindsey lately. They've cuddled in the chair, and they've sunbathed together.

BFFs?

More Lola's bed - twin style

Our friends at Two Pitties in the City often talk about how their dogs have melded into one over the years. Lola and Franklin have lived together for two years, and I don't think they're ever going to look as related as Mr. B and Ms. M, but they are starting to share mannerisms.

All Lola's bed posts here.

WW

Lola makes new friends

Lola has been working on her stranger fears, and continues to make great progress.

Here are a few friends she made over the past few weeks.

This is one of M's best friends. He visited for a few days, and yes, Lola did bark at him a few times, but she also let him give her pets and love.

Lola got so relaxed on a water break at SociaBulls that she let a stranger pet her tummy.

and most impressive of all, Lola did patio-yoga with her new young friend L.

Go Lola!!

Inappropriate snuggling?

The weather this weekend was amazing, so Lola and Franklin went for some long walks. Here they are practicing sit stays at a traffic light.

We met tons of dogs and people on our walk. One man asked if he could pet the dogs. Lola seemed afraid of him (he was very tall and big), so I told him that she was shy, but he could pet the little one.

He crouched down, gave Franklin a few pats, then...

picked him up

cradled him in the crook of his neck

and started kissing him.

While I understand Franklin is really really cute, this struck me as very strange. Most people seem to be able to control their need to cuddle Franklin. But this guy apparently couldn't.

And speaking of really cute Franklins, we met a 12-week old husky named Franklin. He was ADORABLE.

Franklin Friday - cute overload

ok, that might be redundant as a subtitle for Franklin Friday. But check this out:

Yes. That's Franklin and Lindsey, sitting together. Almost cuddling. I never thought I'd see this, much less that the moment would last long enough to get a picture. I can't even handle this.

Lola's bed - part 13

It's been a few months since an installment of everyone's favorite series: Lola's bed.

Sometimes Lola gets to use her bed. And gets to hang out with her best friend.

Even on her bed, with her buddy, she doesn't look so happy. Lindsey sure looks comfy.

Wordless Wednesday

A typical Sunday morning

Lola and Franklin showed Maya and Hildy how they have fun on a Sunday morning. The cresties are not city dogs and were a bit overwhelmed by the noises, bikes, runners and crush of people at the Farmer's Market.

Neighborhood dog-friendly bookstore

Lola loaded up with peaches, zucchini and tomatoes

Lola getting love from a total stranger. They even asked to take her picture!

once we got home, the little dogs got a shift downstairs, but Maeby wasn't sure she wanted them there.

Dog visitors

It's not often that we have other dogs come stay at our place. There's a good reason for this, Lola is not the most gracious hostess. She's great with other dogs on neutral ground, but gets very protective of her home and her people. So when M's mom and her two Chinese Cresteds came to visit, we tried to do everything right. I took Lola and Franklin for a walk when the arrived, and we met them down the block. Everything seemed fine. We walked back to the house together, walked inside slowly, stayed on leash, and then Lola lunged.

No one was hurt. But we kept the dogs separated for the weekend when in the house. We did get to go on a few adventures together, and all the dogs got along well when not in the house. Saturday went to the lake, and Lola and Hildy went to the New Leash on Life alumni family reunion. Here's some pics from Saturday. Come back tomorrow for Sunday's adventures.

it's really hard to get 4 dogs to pose!

my new favorite picture

3 adults, 4 dogs one car = me and Lola smooshed in the backseat with babyseats (MIL does a lot of grandchild transport when she's not on vacation at our place)

and Franklin relegated to little-dog-land (AKA the way back)

Hildy's glamour shot

Franklin Friday - any guesses

We've debated getting Franklin breed tested, but have realized that knowing what he's made of wouldn't change anything, and would put an end to our favorite game of guessing what kind of dog(s) he might be.

At first we thought he was probably some parts Schnauzer and some parts Shih Tzu.

We now have a new diagnosis.

We've decided he's a very miniature Sheepdog. At least until he gets a haircut. Then he'll probably be a Schni-Tzu again.

What do you see in Franklin?

More home improvements

We redid our kitchen years ago, but ran out of money and inspiration before putting in new flooring. We finally checked that off our list of things to do to our 120 year old house.

We spent a few days looking like we were auditioning for Hoarders, with everything piled up in the living room.

Then a few days looking like we were going to hold a dance in our dining area (as the glue cured)

Then we finally got our new and improved kitchen back!

The pets approve.

(we had Marmoleum installed - as we make improvements to the house we try to use sustainable products whenever possible, with so many sharp claws prowling around we figured cork might not be a great choice and researched other options, landing on this.)

Wordless Wednesday - who's the boss? edition

Happy (observed) Birthday Franklin!!

Of all our pets, we only know Lindsey and Maeby's birthday for certain. They were born in captivity, so they have an official birthday. Lola and Franklin however, lived on the cold hard streets of Chicago, or had other families before ending up at Animal Care and Control before being pulled by New Leash (Lola) and Lovin Life Rescue (Franklin), so we're not sure when they were born.

We adopted Franklin in June, and the vet determined that he was probably around 10 months old. We decided to round his birthday to September 1. So young Franklin celebrated his third birthday this past weekend.

He got a bath, and once he was extra fluffy and clean-smelling,  got to visit with one of his biggest fans. She and I toasted his birthday and wished him many many more.

He also got a bunch of treats, and a lot of love. But that happens pretty much every day when you're Franklin.

Franklin Friday - vacation souveniers

Franklin brought home his couch sitting habit.

At least he's tolerating Lindsey...

Special privileges

Lola and Franklin aren't allowed to hang out on the couches at home, but all rules seem to vanish on vacation.

Not only did they get to lounge on couches, but they got to enjoy bonfires, licking s'more sticks, and enjoying campfire singalongs.

What rules do you ignore on vacation? 

The saddest thing I saw on vacation

Really? So sad.

You can't capture magic twice

Last year on vacation I took my all-time favorite picture:

I tried to recreate it this year, but Lola and Franklin wouldn't cooperate.

They're still awfully cute, but the wallpaper on my phone will remain the 2011 portrait.

What we've been up to

It's been a very busy summer! I decided to take two classes in my second quarter of grad school, while working a demanding full-time job. And just in case that wasn't enough, I decided to find a new job - so the summer was full of interviews, endings and beginnings, culminating in a return to the vacation house we found last summer and returned to over the winter holidays.

We did some beach, a lot of walks and a LOT of lounging on the porch.

Lola and Franklin quickly remembered the joys of the doggy door, and of the huge, gorgeous yard. And we quickly remembered how nice it is to pretend to have a vacation home that you don't have to worry about when you're not there.

Wordless Wednesday

NEW TOYS!

 A while ago  I was bragging about how I proud I was that the holiday toys have lasted into summer, and suggested that maybe the dogs had earned new toys.

They got them. I bought two cheap stuffed squeaky toys, just put them on the floor and let them figure it out. Franklin adopted the alligator

and Lola the elephant. They've somehow each claimed one toy and are not interested in the other.

 For now. 

Fat Franklin Friday

Franklin went to the vet over the weekend.

chilling in the waiting area

He's up nearly 2 pounds since his annual exam last year. While two pounds doesn't seem like much to you or me, it's more than 10% of what he SHOULD weigh.

We were not surprised by this news. After his haircut, we could tell that he was still rounder than he should be. We just assumed it was all fluff pre-shearing, but realized that our little guy was not so little.

SO

Franklin is on a diet.

His kibble ration has been cut, and he's supplementing with carrots to get more volume. (The vet suggested green beans or carrots, and carrots were available in bulk at Costco, and easier to pre-process and freeze).

I cooked a few pounds of carrots, smashed them up, and made carrot ice cubes, so that each week I can defrost a few of them for him to eat over the course of the week. This way I don't have to worry about buying carrots for him all the time, and don't have to do anything but defrost.

p.s. Franklin has yet to meet a food he doesn't like, so he's gobbling up the carrot mush.

p.p.s. the vet couldn't stop kissing him and saying how cute he is (duh!).

I do find the ambassador comment a bit funny, because I didn't realize that adorable moppy lap dogs had an image problem and needed ambassadors. (new vet. hasn't met fallen in love with Lola yet)

Maybe we should've asked them about the rennovation

When we renovated our bathroom, we didn't think about the impact it would have on the cats. They've shown their displeasure in various ways, but have adjusted to the new sink.

Before:

After:

 it's a smaller sink, and perhaps a better fit for one cat

But they're sisters and seem to like smooshing on top of each other.