Franklin Friday - sharing the love

Unlike Lola, who loves Lindsey, Franklin doesn't love the cats. He occasionally likes to chase them and be chased by them, but he never  cuddles with them or lets them groom him.  

Until now!

I got a lapful of adorable, and a front-row seat to watch Lindsey groom Franklin.

This does not mean the chasing has stopped, but there have been glimmers of love.

One of the best things about the little dog

In last Friday's post I wrote about learning to love a small dog. From the comments it looks like Franklin should get a job as a small-dog publicist, because he seems to be changing more than just my mind.

What I didn't write about was perhaps my favorite thing about having a small dog. As Two Pitties in the City commented, the looks we get when people realize that Lola and Franklin are life partners are amazing!

Often on our walks we see matched sets of dogs.

And some of our friends have coordinating pairs, like the fabulous Mr B and Ms M., who are sometimes mistaken for twins.

So people sometimes have a hard time wrapping their heads around our mismatched pair.

This usually happens at the farmer's market when M takes Franklin and goes to one vendor, and Lola and I go to another. When we come back together and put our purchases in the same bag (or in Lola's backpack) and people around us realize that we're one family, they usually start smiling and giggling.

I thought we had a pretty unique pair, until I virtually met Skye and Parker.  I bet they make people smile wherever they go too!

Wordless Wednesday - more cuddling

Walk gear - part 2

Yesterday I wrote about all the stuff I carry when we go for long walks.

Sometimes I don't carry anything. I make Lola do all the work.

Photo by A@Two Pitties in the City

Lola has an Outward Hound backpack that I'll load up for longer walks. She loves to carry water and snacks for herself and Franklin,  In the summer, she helps us out by carrying produce home from the farmer's market. We've loaded her up with about 10 pounds of apples and onions and greens, which she happily hauls home for us.

Walk gear

Taking two dogs for long walks requires a lot of stuff. Even taking one dog for a shorter walk takes some gear.

I've discovered that my past as an endurance runner has left me with a bunch of equipment that makes dog walking easier.

I repurpose my running belts. I use my SpiBelt for treats, and tuck pooh bags into the band, and carry a small water bottle in a ziploc bag - the bag serves two purposes: sometimes the bottles leak, so the bag keeps me from getting wet, and I use it as a bowl for the dogs to drink out of.

If I'm going for a longer walk, I'll upgrade to the amphipod belt, and clip on a few bottles of water. Treats in pouch.

And, if it's chillier out, I'll pull out the jacket with the back pockets. I got this years ago, it's windproof and stretchy and really comfortable, and has two big pockets in the back. I loaded it up for yesterday's SociaBulls walk and fit the following comfortably in the pockets: keys, phone, pooh bags, water bottle.

What tricks have you found to make walks easier?

Franklin Friday - little dogs

Before I met Franklin, I was anti-little dog. I had no use for them. I wanted a dog to go running with, a dog to make me feel safe, a dog that when we cuddled, we CUDDLED.

Then I met Franklin. I stopped to pet him at an adoption event, and he looked at me with those button eyes and ripped out my heart. I had to have him in my life.

He's totally changed my mind about little dogs. He's always happy. He's fun to pick up and carry around like a baby. He doesn't take up much space. He doesn't shed. He doesn't eat much. He has teeny tiny poops. His little legs work really hard to keep up with everyone else. He's the perfect cuddling size, he warms your lap without numbing it. And, if you haven't noticed, he's adorable.

So if you're thinking about getting a dog, don't rule out the little guys. They can be nice too.

Lola's bed - part 11

This is the only dog Lola wants to share her bed with.

Catch up on the Lola's Bed series here:
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
part 7
part 8
Lola's OTHER bed
part 9
part 10

Poor drugged up Lola

Lola had her teeth cleaned for the first time on Tuesday. While she was out, we also had this nasty little blood blister removed. It's been there for months, didn't seem to bother her, but was concerning.

it looks like a bug. But isn't.

She was nervous when I dropped her off at the vet.

I got a call midday that she was awake and did great and that her teeth cleaned up beautifully. And that she was just hanging out with the staff at the vet's office, out of her crate. Charming everyone.

She was however, really drugged when I brought her home.

I tried to get her to drink some water.

and the best she could do was dip her ear in the bowl. Poor girl.

I'm sure she'll be her usual self soon.

The power of sunshine

The fantastic weather has sent sunbeams streaming in to light up our mornings. No one can resist the sunbeam.

First only the dogs were basking;

 Then Lindsey came to soak up some rays. You can see Maeby in the way back of the picture, hanging out in the hallway, mustering up her courage to join the party.

Which she finally does. Not quite coming in the same room as the rest of the group. And not squirming around for attention like her sister, but poking one paw into the magic sunbeam and hanging out with the rest of the gang for a little while.

Porch Sitters

As those of you in Chicago know, the weather this past weekend was amazing. A bit freakish and a sign of the apocalypse, but amazing.

We decided to do some serious porch sitting. Margaritas in hand, reading material ready, we secured the porch pooches and prepared to relax.

Lola and Franklin didn't quite get the "relax" memo, and stood guard. Protecting their turf and trying to lure all passing dogs up the stairs to play. Including my current neighborhood obsession, Bento, the 3-month old French Bulldog who might be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

standing guard

Eventually the gentle breezes soothed them into relaxation, at least until the next dog walked by.

How did you enjoy the weather?

(this post written from the porch)

For more Lola and Franklin, like them on Facebook.

Franklin Friday - stairs

I know I'm veering off the "A Franklin a Day" mission, and focusing more on the rest of the family than on Franklin. To remedy that, I'm starting Franklin Friday. This means the little man will get at least one day a week all about him.

We really don't know anything about Franklin's life before he came to live with us. One thing was clear when he got here. He had no idea how to go up or down stairs. For the first few days, we had to carry him up and down stairs.

We quickly learned that he loves both treats and affection, and used those tools to lure him upstairs. He learned to hop up and down like a pro.

When your legs are only a few inches long, and stairs are about the same height as your legs, it can be challenging. And our stairs are especially treacherous. I've spent months on crutches in the recent past, and know exactly how tricky these stairs can be.

I'm happy to report that he now races up and down the twisty stairs many times a day, sometimes with a giant toy in his mouth.

Wagging the whole way. Because he's Franklin. The waggiest little dog around.

Happy Birthday Lola!

It's pet birthday month here. While we know Lindsey and Maeby's real birthday, Lola's birthday is more of a guess.

Shortly after we adopted her, we went to the vet. It was early March, and the vet said she was probably close to a year old. So we decided that her birthday would be March 15. So it is.

Happy birthday sweet Lola!

And yes, I checked the dog age calculator too - she's 40 in people years.

Wordless Wednesday - a favorite

Nothing keeps me away from a cute dog

This picture was taken 8 years ago today. The day I married my favorite person.

Photo by Andre Vospette

Yes, that's me, in my wedding dress, squatting on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago petting a dog that happened to be walking by while we were taking pictures. Can't keep me away from a cute dog.

Kind of looks like Franklin, doesn't it?

Bag Cats

Our cats love few things more than sitting on stuff. A pillow, a piece of paper, a lap. But their favorite things to sit on are bags. More specifically backpacks.

Lindsey on my bag

Maeby on M's bag

Amazing how comfortable they make a gym bag look.

Where do you critters like to snooze?

Say cheese

It's really hard to get a good picture of all 4 pets.  I have one picture where they're all in one place at least kind of looking at the camera. 

This is my latest attempt. 

Family photo fail.

Lola the mind reader

Lola knows when I want her to go to her crate. When I'm getting ready for work or to go out, she heads to her crate the minute I close my jewelry box.

She also knows when it's time to go for a walk. And to save me the trouble of bending down to put on her leash, she assumes this position.

We call it "the leashing step"

My girl is a genius.

I didn't think we were almost the same age

Today is Lindsey and Maeby's 5th birthday. According to calculatorcat.com that makes them the equivalent of 37 human years.

We don't know Lola or Franklin's actual birthdays, but we do know when the kittens (as we still call them) were born. Their mom was taken in as a stray by Precious Pets Almost Home, and had a litter of kittens on March 7, 2007. We met the mom, and all 5 kittens. They were all very sweet, but one little tabby girl was very outgoing and picked us. We then, very superficially decided to get the other kitten who looked just like her and took home a matched set.

They were 4 months old when we got them. Look how cute and tiny they were then!

Like Maeby, Lindsey and their friends on Facebook for occasional extra Frankliny goodness. 

When you're this cute you get away with stuff

Franklin is not supposed to get on furniture uninvited. He's allowed to come cuddle with us only when we invite him up.

He was not invited onto this ottoman.

But when you're this cute you get away with being bad sometimes.

From Ms Flo to Lola

Back in the infancy of this still very young blog, I wrote about how Franklin got his name. Since we're in the middle of Lola's origin story, I figured I'd write about how she got her name.

When we met her, she was Ms Flo. That just felt a bit formal, and shortening it to Flo took us here:

(this was before the Progressive girl). 

We spent the first week or so that she was with us trying out different names. We'd see if she turned her head when we called her. We'd see if it just felt "right". 

We thought about staying in the Arrested Development genre, but had used up the good girl names on our cats, and "Bluth" just felt like more of a boy name than one for such a pretty girl. And I'd known a Lucy who wasn't my favorite dog. 

It came down to Chloe and Lola. As you know, we went with Lola. We wanted to also name her after Emma, but Lola Emma sounds dumb. So we just gave her an initial. Her full name is Lola E. But we only call her that when she's in trouble. 

Like Franklin and friends on Facebook for occasional extra Frankliny goodness. 

Real world training

I've noticed that Lola and Franklin are really well behaved at home and at class. They know lots of commands and are really good in a distraction-free environment.

Too often walks are no more than a quick leg stretch and a poop before work, with no treats and no training.

We're trying to do more training on walks and teach them that sit means sit, even when there are cars and people passing by.

Doing the fun tricks with an audience is one thing:

But holding a down stay on a corner with other dogs and people walking by is really hard.

Especially for Franklin, who only recently mastered "down"

But he did it, long enough to give a good "watch me".

Good job guys. Treats for all!

Too pretty for her own good?

Our friends at Two Pitties in the City devoted a recent post to Lola, sharing our story of how SociaBulls has helped her become less afraid of strangers.

One of their readers made a comment to the effect of "with a face like that I can see why strangers would approach her." It's really a problem! People think she looks like Petey from the Little Rascals, or some other cartoon dog, just see cute, and think she's happy to be squished and petted and approach with no realization that she might have issues.

Photo by Teresa Dardis

Usually I warn them that she's afraid of strangers and ask them for space. If they seem to get it, I'll try to make a teachable moment out of the encounter, asking for a sit, and allowing them to approach her calmly and give her a treat. They always ask what kind of dog she is, and always look confused when I say that she's probably some kind of Pit/American Bulldog/something mix. The response is often "but she's so cute" (unsaid "she can't be a pit bull").

I'm not surprised when strangers on the street have this response. But I had a similar encounter at a dog training class. There were two other beautiful white-with-eye-spots pitties, who were well behaved, smart, awesome dogs in Lola's class. I was walking into class one night with one of the other dog/person pairs (gorgeous purebred pup) and the person asked what kind of dog Lola was. I gave her my usual answer and she said with a kind of disgust "you mean like those other two?".  I replied that yes, most likely all three of them were made of the same parts in different combinations, and weren't they all great!

This was only a few sessions in, and I'm pretty sure that by the end of the class she'd noticed what great students the 3 pitties were, and how much their people loved them, and how much they loved their people.