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While shopping at Sprouts today, I had a guy in the next checkout lane actually whistle at Frankie. WHAT?! He whistled to him like he was calling the hounds back from the barn. Then he went to reach for him. I actually placed my hand on this guys chest and said: "He's not a ranch dog, you shouldn't be distracting him, he's working." Mr. Cowboy didn't even apologize... but he got schooled! Oy.

Here's the difference between Willie and Frankie when it comes to having a drink of water: Frankie - drinks until HE'S done. Willie - drinks until THE WATER is done.

I know this is old, but I found this document hiding on my computer. This is an "official" report given to us by our SWAT friend who assisted us in training Frankie. It's so official, it's cute! ------------------------------------------- FRANKIE 8-18-04 Frankie was taken to different venues in a crate to expose him to its use. It will serve to queue him he is “working” with me when he is placed in it. Walmart Frankie was taken to Walmart and exposed to plants in the Garden area. Short down-stays were done with me frequently going out of sight for a duration lasting 20-30 seconds. Frankie was downed in an aisle while I “shopped” and dropped items above me to the floor near him to test his reaction. He did not start in fear, just looked at the items with curiosity. Again, down-stays were conducted as I shopped. I went out of sight to another aisle several times. I was out of sight for up to 30 seconds. He maintained his down with no breaks noted. Frankie was do...

Now that Willie is retired, he still has one very important job in the house: he retrieves the three heavy food dishes for me. I sit in our pantry where the dog food is stored and he brings me the dishes one at a time... usually with much enthusiasm. It's what he lives for. Today there was a flashlight laying on the floor where the dishes were. After Willie brought me the dishes, I used my laser pointer to target the flashlight and asked him to bring it to me. All the while, Frankie was in a down/stay next to me at the pantry. After Willie brought the flashlight, Frankie got up and wanted me to give him the flashlight. So I gave it to him. He walked away with it, then came back to me and gave it to me. "See, Mommy, I can do that too!"

Our bed is up on risers, making it pretty high off the floor. It's pretty kewl because it gives us space to store stuff underneath, plus it makes the bed nice and tall for tall-drink-of-water me. Last night, when climbing into bed, Frankie came along side me and put his front paws on the bed (leaving his rear paws on the floor). He stretched as tall as he could (which is pretty dern tall since he's a tall boy) and looked at me as if to say "mommy, can you pick me up onto the bed?". That would be a No. So I talked to him, saying "hup", trying to get him to jump into bed like he always does. Did I mention it was 2 a.m.? I moved about a foot to the right of him and kept encouraging him to jump onto the bed. He decided he was too tired to jump up, and instead moved sideways over to me and leaned on me. Pretty cute. For a doofus... I mean the dog. Oy.

... except for one hotel, which I'll talk about later. This past holiday, we decided to make the big trip (3 days driving!) back to the northeast. With our new SUV and my mattress in the back, I rode in complete comfort. Even with all our stuff, we were able to fit both doggies (Willie and Frankie) in the back with me. Here's a few of our experiences: For the first day of the trip, Frankie was a bit stressed. He developed stress-related diarrhea (luckily no accidents!), and had a hard time settling down. But by day two, he was much better. We did find that Frankie wouldn't eat much in the hotel rooms. Not sure why, but he's not big on eating anyway. If there's a distraction, he's not interested in his food. Willie, on the other hand, would eat if the world was ending. Oy . We did have to stop more for doggie outings, which take longer than human "outings", mainly because you want to walk them a bit and let them stretch out. As far as hotel exp...

Yes, my friends, such a thing exists. Rarely seen (smelled?), this elusive entity has finally been spotted, confirmed, and explained. A few months back, Frankie had some butt surgery . Yes painful, yes inconvenient, but also very necessary. After the surgery, he did have some issues with his "anal tone". Needless to say, I had never heard this terminology (which is probably a good thing). It means that he had some issues with holding in poops and farts (oh yeah, WARNING: this article may ruin your appetite.) When he farted, it would make noise. Lots of it. That was funny. But when he would bark, sometimes a small piece of poop would come out. Not funny. For the first 2 weeks after the surgery, I slept with him out in the living room. This was to keep him from jumping up on our bed. He had to wear a doggie-diaper, especially during the evenings. There were a few mornings I would wake up and find a small piece of "dirt" on the towel he was sleeping on. It l...

Last night, my buddy Frankie, who's become so bonded to me, decided to sleep on the floor next to my side of the bed. As I closed my eyes, visions of soft clouds and calm oceans filled my thoughts. Sigh. Cough.... Cough.... COUGH! UGH! Frankie farted. Not once, not twice, but three times. All made noise like my grandpa used to make, and all were thick, deadly, noxious gas attacks. I had to sleep on the couch. Of course, Frankie followed me out there and slept with me, but at least that room is bigger and not closed off like our bedroom. So there was plenty of space for the gas to dissipate. I think Frankie is one of the missing WMDs.

Frankie had his butt stitches removed yesterday. And his "anal tone" tested. Not sure which note he hit, but he passed the test. Oy.

I took Frankie for another bus outing yesterday afternoon. Although it's obvious he still needs more practice, he was much improved. Much less shivering, wasn't as afraid of the mechanical bus ramp beeping , and was able to settle down quicker. In fact, I think his biggest problem is with the constant motion. I can see that he's trying so hard to "grab" onto the bus floor with his claws while still maintaining a down/stay. He's such a good boy. I don't know why, but these bus rides wear me out. Maybe it's because yesterday some guy got on the bus with a chainsaw. No lie. Austin is weird. PS. For all you worry-worts: That guy turned out to be a nice guy!

This weekend was a monumental weekend. We learned two important things about Frankie. On Saturday, we finally tested Frankie to see if these last six months (yes, SIX months!) of Bonding With Mommie have paid off. For those of you following this saga, you'll remember that I've been sleeping in our guest bedroom with Frankie. Just the two of us. Also, I've been the only human member of our family interacting with Frankie. And I've been the only one training Frankie. Did I mention that I've been sleeping in another room, just me and Frankie, for SIX MONTHS! Long time. Back to Saturday. This was deemed to be the day we tested Frankie to see if this long bonding process had been successful. Me, the Hubby, and Frankie went shopping. The test was to see if Frankie would be distracted by the Hubby, if Frankie would maintain his focus on me when the Hubby left us, and if he would still pay attention to me when the Hubby came back to where we were. Frankie passed wi...

Went to the vet today to have Frankie's ass checked. He has a small issue still with farting when he barks. Loud Farts. Human-sounding Farts. Funny. The vet says he needs better "anal tone", so he needs to start on a steroid for a while. Anal Tone. She didn't say which note, but I'm thinking Frankie could hit a high C. Oy.

Frankie is slowly improving from his surgery . He's been on some extra pain meds that have helped keep him from needing to lick his "area". He is such a long, nimble dog that he can actually lick his own butt... WHILE WEARING THE FREAKING Elizabethan Collar!! Oy.

Frankie is recovering today from his butt surgery . The vet had said that I would be able to work him after 3-4 days of rest. But he has a shaved ass with stitches in it. I think I'll wait.

Ok kids, today's post is two stories in one! Both with the same title... see above. First story: This past weekend, Frankie and I went to Walmart. It was going to be our last shopping outing for about a week (see Story #2 for the reason why) and I wanted to just tool around Walmart with him. Even before I got inside the store, I saw trouble a-comin'. It came in the form of a Walmart Greeter With A Walmart Smock. I was sitting in my chair in the entrance changing my sunglasses, when I saw out of the corner of my eye this Walmart Greeter With A Walmart Smock walking quickly and purposefully up to me. I sensed trouble, kemosabe. Walmart Greeter With A Walmart Smock: "We only allow Seeing Eye Dogs in here. Is that a Seeing Eye Dog?" WHAT?! Walmart is one of the few stores that has a big sign on the outside doors that says "Service Dogs Welcome", even though legally, they are "welcome" anywhere I'm "welcome". Me: "No, this ...

I was ready. I thought he was ready. But I was wrong. There, I just admitted in writing that I was wrong. Make a note. Frankie has been doing very well lately with his training. And it appeared that the bonding process was also going well. He still pays some attention to Rick, but the majority of his attention goes to me. The hubby has been off work for the past week or so. These past few days we've gone out, but I've haven't been feeling well enough to shop, so I've stayed in the truck. I decided those times we went out to take Frankie. Even though I didn't need him to work, I kind of wanted to show off Frankie's excellent behavior in the vehicle. The hubby hadn't had the proper tools to do this training (remote shock collars rule!), so when Frankie was transferred over to me, this was one of the first areas I started working on. I demand Civil Car Behavior from my dogs. Well, on these outings, Frankie's Car Behavior was spot-on. The hubby was...

For Christmas this year, the hubby got me a speedometer for my scooter. I had wanted one so I could see just how fast my scooter really goes. I think it kicks ass... ! Of course, I used it today to clock the doggies. Here's their times: WALKING Frankie: 9 mph Willie: 6-7 mph Barney: 4-5 mph RUNNING Frankie: 12.5 mph (as fast as my scooter will go on a slight decline) Willie: 9 mph Barney: You've got to be kidding! I think it's funny that Willie's top speed is Frankie's walking pace. No wonder Willie can't keep up with him!

When your dog is most excited, what are they actually saying? Here are my doggie's famous quotes: Willie: "Ball-eee Ball-eee Ball-eee Ball-eee...!" Frankie: "Watch me... look what I can do!" Barney: "Love me NOW!" Willie : "At your service, ma'am" Frankie : "Whatareyoudoing Whatareyoudoing Whatareyoudoing?" Barney : "I didn't do it... it wasn't me" Willie : "Fooooooooooood" Frankie : "Yeah, sure, I could eat a little something" Barney : "Do you realize it's 2 minutes past dinner time?"

From: Frankie Willaman [frankie@dogzrule.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 1:51 PM To: 'Jack' Subject: Your visit Hi Jack! I really enjoyed our visit. I liked wrestling and playing tug and running around. I wanted to ask you if you could please stop humping me though. Stop humping me when I'm walking around, you can't reach anyway. And stop humping my face. That's gross. Well, I have to take a nap now, I'm really tired. Bye. Frankie ============================= Re: Frankie emails Jack Frankie: Thanks for letting me come over and play! I think its cool that you play like I do, and tell the others (Willie & Barney) thanks for being patient with my playing. As to the humping - I am sorry that I hump you, and will stop doing it if you either let me be alpha, or tell me your alpha. Right now I'm fairly confused! Love and lots of doggie kisses, Jack

How many nicknames do you have for your dog? Here's mine: Willie Wiggle Butt Buddy Boy Big Head Big Boy Villie Villaman Frankie Frank Franklyn Franklyn Green Beans Raymond (see story ) Wiggle McWiggles Dick Head (that's the hubby's fave) Little Boy Barney Bernard Barn Barn Super Barn Barn Barnmeister Doofus Lump Head Handsome Boy Little Man I'll add more as I remember them... What nicknames do you have for your pets (please give original name too)? I have one friend out there (you know who you are, girl!) who better reply. She has TONS of dogs with TONS of nicknames for each and every one... and expects me to keep track!