Eight years ago today Franklin came into our family, a rescue dog from the SPA in Rodez we drove to see if they had a dog to re home. He had been there a month after being left tied to a bin in the town centre, chosen because he didn't bark, he came to us to say hello and was completely different from the dog we had lost days before Christmas.
120 Euros he cost, a young boy still a pup, very thin but with a look of take me home please. A collar put round his neck, forms completed, cheque handed over and a kiss from the manager and he was ours. Five minutes down the road in the car he threw up.
Five minutes in the house and he had weed up the settee and collected an assortment of treasures including socks, toilet roll inner tubes, tissues and soft toys all placed in a pile under the table and garded. He ate at an amazing speed, fearing he would loose it to our other dogs. Then he started to bark, he has a fine bark on him. He barks for his tea, when a visitor arrives, the heat lamp on up with the piglets, the sheep who he hasn't seen for a while, the cat when she looks like she is going to 'steal food that has been put out of his way', when he wants to go out, walk time......
He had a habit of chewing - a lot, a liking for socks which he would hide and the worst habit of stealing food. Nothing edible could be (and still be) left on the side. He wouldn't tolerate his feet being touched. How he has changed now his reached an old boy mellowing out, he still has his moments of craziness running around and a few socks go missing but a lot of the time is spent sleeping and waiting for the log burner to be lit, occasionally he is a bit grumpy too.
He still has to be walked on a lead as classed as a hunting dog we have a 700 Euro fine over us if he (and Milo) are caught running with the hunt. However he does occasionally go AWOL, when a gate or door have been left open, often being brought back by our closest neighbours where he is found going down their cats sac of food. - We have just come back from a 'sorry' offering of wine and a promise of I won't do it again from Franklin, until next time that is.
He is such a character now, life would be so much easier, cheaper ( he now is a regular at the vets for his diabetes check) and quieter without him but I wouldn't swap him for all the tea in China.
Great post! And quite right too!
ReplyDeletethanks Anita, it was very quiet here yesturday as he spent the day at Huggies. think they were glad to say goodbye to him at the vets - he was barking away in the cage when i walked in, took 3 of them to take his last blood sample and that was him wearing a muzzel - his such a baby!
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