The story of Frankie part one

I have thought for a very long time that I should write the story of Frankie.  He was a terrible awful wonderful dog who caused us great pain and brought us great joy for almost 10 years.  Maggie recently commented that he was the best that dog ever.  The problem with writing stories about Frankie is there is no happy ending.  And, I know that in writing the story I will be subjected to criticism for not doing more for this dog.  The people who know me know that I did the best I could for Frankie. But that will not stop the haters from harassing me and belittling me for his Ultimate end.  In retrospect, I can honestly say that I should never have brought him home in the first place.  But, having realize this very quickly I did try to do right by him and find him a new home.  However, that part of the story comes later.  

Frankie was first introduced to me by a friend from Kentucky.   She had been the president of the dressage club to which I belong when I lived in the Indiana/Kentucky area. I had previously bought my mare, Delicato, from her. She had raised Jack Russells for many years and this dog was not one of hers. I believe the story goes something like this: my friend was asked to pick up this dog from a show him. He was one and a half years old and had been showing but have been replaced in the bring by a dog that was deemed more suitable for showing.  The good news was that he had been raised indoors instead of exclusively kennel raised as so many JRT dogs are. He was supposedly housebroken and very good with children. This is a good thing as my daughter was only six. We had traveled to Kentucky for a Shagya Arabian conference.  My friend was there and told me she has a dog that she thought would be good for our family.

When I first saw him huddled in his crate I knew I had to bring him home. He looked so much like Lacie, who had been such a great dog.  Of course, he was nothing like Lacie. His smile and tail wagnwere a deception. He was so cute. There is no way I could have resisted his charms. 

Frankie is still here

Well, an amazing thing happened today...We had to go out to the Flint Fall Festival and I hated to leave him locked in a tiny crate in the house all day long. So, I had the bright idea to take the portable kennel outside and leave him in it in the backyard since it had four sides and he wouldn't be able to escape...

well, he did escape...only he didn't leave. Frankie dug a whole in the yard and got out through the smallish square at the bottom of the crate, but he didn't leave our yard. He didn't jump over the short fence where he could have, and he didn't dig out of the back yard when he normally would. I was amazed! He is currently curled up at my feet. Of course, this means I still don't have a reliable way to contain him, unless I put the crate in the garage, but it's nice to know he really does want to be here with us!

I took Dixie over to the Flint Fall Festival today. It was the most popular event with the longest line...I'm very tired. I made endless circles. My feet are killing me. I think Frankie and I will have to get in shape together.

Frankie's return

I got Frankie picked up at the shelter and he acted just like he knew I'd come. He was very subdued at home last night. I figure he's just happy not to be in the pound anymore. I'm going to keep him on a short leash (literally) for awhile. He slept with maggie and seems to be taking his confinement well.

The Return of Frankie

I never thought I'd really think about Frankie again. I thought he was long and gone. I figured when he went to the pound last winter that he hadn't been adopted and that was the end...only, the last few weeks I have been having dreams about Frankie. I dreamed he was looking for me. I dreamed he was in the backyard with a fence full of holes and he didn't run away. I dreamed that he was Lacie but then he turned into Frankie. I dreamed that he was sitting at my feet.

I found out today that he wasn't put down. I found he had been adopted and then given away and then ran away and is back in the shelter. Tomorrow I will go back and get him out of the shelter and bring him home again. My only fear is that he will be put down before I get there tomorrow afternoon.

I have no idea how I'm going to make it work with Frankie back home, but I confess I have really missed him.

Frankie at the pound

Cat took Frankie to the pound for me today. They seemed to think they'd be able to place him without too much work. I'm going to mail his papers to them so that they can pass them along. I never knew it, but he's microchipped...just that the chip was never registered to anyone. I hated sending him away and I"m praying that he'll find the right home. I just can't continue to change my life to suit the dog. Everyone said that they couldn't believe I'd kept him this long. I thought I was being a good dog owner, but evidently I was a dork b/c he can't be trained by me.

The house is really quiet tonight with him gone. It was nice to not have to worry about locking up every morsel of food. I set something down on the table and didn't have to carry it from room to room.

I will miss his fun. He was a great trail dog...I wonder if I could still train Scooby to go on the trail and not chase the horses?

Playing Catch up again

Frankie and Willie had another go round this week. My friends say that the only reason frankie is still alive is b/c i love him. They are problaby right...I've never known a dog that is this big of a pain. I talked to the vet about putting him to sleep b/c of his aggression toward other dogs, but they urge me not to. I have tried, once again to find him a home, but I'm having no luck at all. No one wants him. If I tell people about him, they really don't want him...I can't imagine him being here for the next 10 years of my life, but then I can't imagine putting him to sleep either. I feel like if I just could get him enough exercise we'd be ok...so I guess more exercise it is.

I spent the day grocery shopping. My Christmas cooking is very expensive and detailed, but I won't be buying anymore groceries after this is over! I have food to be able to cook in the next week or two and that's good. I've been eating out way too much! After hitting a low of 198.8, I'm up to 204. I haven't done anything different that I can tell either, so I don't know what's different. I hate that! I lost it easily and gained it just as easily. sigh. I'm back to weighing each day b/c I find it helps me stay on track.

We have a nice couple of days planned...My food is mostly cooked in the crock, which will be nice. We're having a crock pot version of Cioppino for Christmas Eve and Shawn is coming over. I'm making Rachel Ray's Christmas pasta on Sunday. Both will go well in the crock so I won't be tied to the kitchen. Usually we go to the barn to play with our new horsey toys on Christmas day, which we will do again this year. Alexa is coming over for the Christmas dinner portion of the day...I have to get to the barn for a little while anyway...I'm not sure we have times set for eating yet.

The day after Christmas, we are going to rearrange our house as we often do this time of year. We're going to put the living room in the front room, like it was in the original days of this house. Our couch just fits in the room so that will be cozy. We were talking about how we need a flat screen TV to put in the room...but I don't think we'll be doing that this year. We're going to clean really well for my dad coming and move our office back into the big room so we have more space. We have a lot of "stuff" that will go into the room that we now use as a bedroom and it will be for music and massages and just a "quiet" place. I've already started to dump a lot of stuff like books and just other stuff. I get new stuff at Christmas and then I purge...or I purge before I get.

I finally got Peter something for Christmas that he'll like...took me awhile to find something. I did have one thing i forgot to buy b/c Cat was with me and i just got distracted. But, I did get him some things he'll like I think...More on that later.

We have my computer working for now, but it's not great yet. all of a sudden the wireless is working (don't know why) but it's still not burning cd's. If it keeps working, I'll try to get around in the next day or two and say hi. My sims are still going...they've been fun.

I had a lesson with Liberty yesterday. He's just doing ground work for now and he's going to be great. I have been paying Renee, at my barn to help me with him. She's a fantastic horse trainer. I hope to get with her again next week as well, but I have to wait and see what the weather is going to be like. I have been doing a ton of clinton anderson stuff and he's doing it really well. She's teaching him more John Lyons type stuff and he's learning that quickly as well. He's so smart!