Something that many people reading this blog may not know is I have one dog of my own, a Boston Terrier named Fran. Leaving her behind for three months to document this journey was one of the harder decisions I had to make. Leaving my boyfriend and friends were very difficult, but I have to say leaving Fran truly broke my heart. I fortunately had the kindness of my roommates and boyfriend to take great care of her, all of whom knew her quite well. Hanging out with Kathy’s dogs as well as her lap dog Charm felt like I was betraying Fran. I know I know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true. Here I was hanging out with 28 dogs and poor Fran had to stay back in Los Angeles.

When I came back for a brief visit in February Fran seemed a tad disinterested in me at first, but then after a few minutes warmed back up. Fran is one of the sweetest dogs. Granted every owner thinks they have the best dog because well they do. Fran is sweet, but she is crazy. I am the first to admit it. She has a Napoleon complex, hates small dogs, is very dominant even with big dogs, she licks everything all the time, and she jumps up when meeting people. She has definitely settled down a lot since I first got her, and she could definitely use more skilled training. As her owner I always warn people about her and she is stubborn, but all in all a really good listener when I give her commands.

The story of how I came across Fran is one of my favorite stories to tell. I was looking to adopt a dog and initially had planned on adopting a pug or pug mix breed. I had down a lot of research and knew they would be very loving and playful. I had my heart set on a pug mix, a male I had seen at an adoption, but someone claimed him. So I kept looking. Upon my research I also looked into Boston Terrier breeds. They were more active than pugs and apparently smarter and easily trainable. One day when I was looking at petfinder.com, an online pet adoption site I found a Boston Terrier, not a mix, which was rare to come across. She was at the Baldwin shelter and the moment I saw her I thought this dog is MINE. I called the shelter, they told me to come by, and to remember it’s first come first serve. They closed at 6pm and the earliest I could get off work was a little before 5pm and the shelter, though only about 25-30 miles away was at least an hour away in traffic. I left a little before 5pm, sat in bumper to bumper traffic and got to the shelter at 6:01pm. The shelter was now closed and no amount of pleading helped to let me in to see my new dog.

The next morning I called the shelter and was told that someone had picked up the Boston Terrier I was inquiring about the night before. I was heart broken. There was something about the look of the dog that was perfect and someone else had taken her. So my search continued… or so I thought.

That day I got a call from an organization called Boston Buddies. I had filled out an application a few weeks prior on a whim. They said they received my application and had rescued a Boston Terrier last night from the Baldwin Animal Shelter, a pure bred, and if I would be interested in taking a look. I was shocked. Boston Buddies had my dog! The next day was a Friday and a representative came to my home to make sure it would be suitable. I was asked various questions and after was told I could meet Fran tomorrow, which was Saturday. I met the Boston Buddies rep and Fran at the Community Vet Center in Burbank. The vet tech told me they had found over 100 ticks on her and that she was a bit timid. There was suspicion that she had been beaten because when you went to pet her, she would cower, turn over on her back and almost play dead as a defense. The vet had named her Francesca. The vet tech brought Francesca out to me and that was it; I had found my dog! I filled out some paperwork, the Boston Buddy rep took me to Petco to get her a crate, a harness and collar as well as a tag, some pet food, bowls, toys and treats and let me go. I decided I would call her Fran for short and it seemed to suit her better. This was October 2005 and have loved her since.

In the almost five years I have had Fran she has been with me through two moves, travels cross the country twice, she has seen her fair share of bee stings and subsequent cortisone shots. She got into one scuffle with another dog when she got loose during a party and the first week I got her I thought I lost her when I had accidentally left the front door to my apartment open and she was nowhere to be found. I went all around the building and then down the street, called her name and off she ran towards me! I grabbed her, hugged her and made her promise she would never do that again. She never did. Anytime I call for her she comes no matter where she is. If she is in the backyard playing in the dirt, if she is rummaging through the trash or if she tries to go into the neighbors yard, she always comes running to me when I call her name.

The last few days I have been here in Las Vegas visiting my parents who have two beautiful cats. However the cats and Fran don’t get along. They just don’t know each other well enough. Two days ago when Fran was in my room I opened the door just enough and she was able to get out tearing ass through the house and getting into a scuffle with the cats. My dad grabbed Fran and put her back in my room. I checked her out and she looked ok, just a little red in the back from what looked to be a scratch. Well suffice it to say, three vet visits later, Fran had been bitten, is fighting an infection and is back to the vet once again today to get some stronger medication. I know she will be ok. Fran is really resilient, but this is the first time she has been sick for more than a couple hours. It is heart breaking and maybe one of the most stressful experiences a pet owner can go through, having a sick pet. The biggest concern is that Fran is allergic to almost everything. Plus unfortunately as I have learned in my research, a cat bite is worse than a dog bite in that the bacteria from a cat can cause some pretty nasty infections. I am back to the vet yet again today as the infection Fran has seems to have gotten slightly worse even with the antibiotics.

What I took for granted is Fran’s pep and zeal for everything. She is lively and jumpy and though I often treasure the times I had to board her at the cage free facility so she could run and play and get tired so she would sleep all day, right now I would give anything to have her back to normal!

So this post is dedicated to all the pet owners out there and especially to Kathy who had to take care of so many dogs and whose heart broke anytime one was injured or sick.

More later…