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.