The Precious!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! This is MY precious!! Frankie Claus!

This photo was a wonderful "happy accident" when my husband & I were trying to shoot our annual doggie holiday photo for holiday cards. Frankie is not the best at sitting still for such things as holiday photos, but we try our best. In this shot, he's wearing a Santa hat, complete with attached white beard, and a red holiday t-shirt (which happens to read HO HO HO on the back, but you can't see it in photos). He hated nearly every minute of wearing the hat & beard, I assure you! The garb was designed for cats, but our Frankie is a small guy & it fit him perfectly.

Mike had Frankie perched atop a red blanketed coffee table for this shot, with our Christmas tree in the background (not that you can see it too well). We had the mini tree (seen in Frankie's face) and we were moving it in front of him & he turned away because it annoyed him & magically, I shot the photo just as Mike moved the tiny tree & it looks like we have Frankie posing & playing shy. I assure you, this was totally unplanned & a true photo happy accident. We almost used this shot for our holiday cards, but we wanted his Santa suit to be more visibile since it was so cute.....so this was simply a fun back-up photo for our enjoyment & now for yours.

Frankie is the most precious little dog I have ever come across....and for those that know me, you know how strongly we felt about our beloved Phoochie girl (RIP 6/3/05). While we miss Phoochie terribly, Frankie is really something else!

Frankie came into our lives purely by accident. I guess you could call it another "happy accident". It was 1 week before Thanksgiving in 2006. We had not even been in our new home a full year yet. The house was far from being a completed project & surely we had NO time to raise a dog! We were up late on a Friday night......still managed to wake up rather early & venture out for some weekend grease in the way of breakfast at a diner in Burbank called Frank's. We're sitting there, minding our own business & the waitress calls out to inquire if the little dog outside the door belonged to anybody. Of course we took a look.....filthy little mutt staring inside, hoping someone would open the door & let him in. No such luck. No one claimed him & soon after, he wandered off. My stomach turned as I watched him dart out into the street & disappear.....luckily at that hour, no traffic on a normally busy Olive Avenue! Our food came & while we fell silent, we were both still thinking about this poor little dog wandering out in the cold. About 10 minutes later, there he was again, outside the window by our table (he had just come across the busy street again). I told Mike I could not stand it....I was so worried he would get run over. I had that happen to a dog once on that very boulevard several years earlier & it pained me to see this little guy out there. I got up & went outside & he came right up to me, licking me furiously as if I was his long-lost mother! He smelled something fierce!!! He was very thin, bones sticking out, his fur in dreadlocks & flea infested like you cannot imagine.....and shivering because it was probably 40 degrees outside! Mike soon joined me while our breakfasts grew cold inside. I told him we just had to take the little guy to the shelter where he would be safe. We put him in the bed of our truck & took turns eating (inside the restaurant) & running out to try to feed him. What dog does not jump at the chance to eat bacon or sausage? This one! He literally had no clue HOW to eat!

We finished our meal, went out to the car & Mike wrapped the little guy in a sweatshirt so I could hold him on my lap without getting fleas all over myself. Next thing you know, we are driving to the only vet we knew was open on Saturdays in Sun Valley to have him checked out. The mutt fell fast asleep in my arms as Mike drove off towards the vet office. I was shocked at how at ease this little dog was with 2 strangers....that he could just go to sleep that way.

"What's your dog's name?", the desk clerk asks at the vet office......Mike & I just looked at each other. He had no name. We just met him! Then, Mike blurts out "Frankie", in honor of the diner where he found us. Little Frankie weighed in at only around 9 pounds, he was malnourished to say the least! He was determined to be 7-8 months old, which surprised us a bit. We thought he was older. Must have been the filthy coating! :( Anyhow, he was otherwise healthy, aside from being underweight, flea infested & having a foxtail wedged down deep in one ear. We had to leave him behind for the vet to sedate him to remove the foxtail & then they would drop him off next-door at the groomer for a flea dip & bath.

We drove home & crawled back into bed. It was only about 9:30am, after all. We woke up when we got the call to fetch "our dog" from the groomer. We were worried he would not know us after we had showered & freshened up....but, another surprise, as soon as he heard our voices in the groomer's salon, he came running out, jumping up at the counter, trying to reach us! It was wild!!! I have to admit, we were both freaking out on our way there.....what were we doing adopting a PUPPY???? We will have to train him, housebreak him, he's gonna chew our stuff, etc. What have we done? But, seeing his little happy face again made it worthwile. We were doing a good thing.

We lucked out in that he WAS housebroken & no matter what little "bad" thing he did, he learned SO quickly not to repeat it. He was SO eager to please us it was unreal. And, to this day, he still remains overly eager to please us. How can you not love this little guy??

The story goes on, but you get the point. He is "the precious". He is MY precious. He is Mike's precious. We love the little guy tremendously & while on the surface it appears WE did some good deed in taking him in, the real good deed is that he found us. He adopted us. He brings us so much joy each day. Frankie is the best boy ever!

My friends all want to come back (as in reincarnation) as my dog. They think we treat our pups (past & present) so well that they'd be lucky to come live with us. Perhaps they are right? I don't know. We try to make a nice life for Frankie because he is NOT "just a dog".....he is part of the family (and the only part of the family that is truly NO trouble).

Happy Holidays everyone!
Happy Holidays, Frankie boy! (the frankster, little Frow-frow, baby boy). We love you!