Frankie #2 Silver Labrador Retriever Female 5 Years Old ID #3215

Hi all! Frankie here again. I have been having such a fun time at BCK and have made lots of doggy friends over the last few weeks. She is also playing with Lucky who is another Brookline dog at BCK.

My trainer says I am doing so well meeting new dogs. I am becoming more and more playful with them. I really do love running around the yard with my friends!

I am also becoming more and more comfortable meeting new people. Everyone is so proud of how much progress I have made since I came to BCK! I’ll update all of you again soon. Until then…Hugs and kisses!Frankie

Hi everyone! It’s Frankie here!

I came back into foster care with Brookline a little over a week ago. This time though instead of going back to my foster mom’s house I went to this really cool place called Canine Kamp, so that I could build more confidence and have controlled socialization and new experiences and outings.

I have had so much fun in the past week! I have met lots of people and have done really well with them all. There are so many people here to give me love and attention. I met the trainer, staff, and other Brookline volunteer, and I have even met people who were dropping off their dogs for doggy daycare in the parking lot while I was on my walks. I give hugs and kisses and snuggle up with them for lots of pets. I got to meet another Brookline dog Cece and play with her too, but she just left this weekend to go to her forever home so I will be introduced to more dogs this week and get to make more friends! I got to play and run around in the big yard and even do some of the obstacles.

My previous foster mom came and visited me this past weekend and kept saying over and over again how excited she was that I seemed so happy, comfortable and confident after just one week. I overheard her and the trainer talking about taking me out on some short outings this week to a small park nearby. I guess I will be telling you about all my new adventures in my next blog update. Until then, hugs and kisses to all.

Look who has decided that our Bubba is fun to play with now…

Frankie continues to bloom while in foster care with us. We see more of her personality with each passing day… her loving nature and playfulness.

Her skin is looking fabulous on her snout and ears with the balm we have been applying twice daily and the supplements she gets at dinner time.

Frankie also had a family visitor this weekend to our home and she was shy and a bit scared at first but within five minutes she was at her feet getting pets. By the time she left, Frankie was practically in her lap soaking up the attention and love she received.

Frankie is learning some independence and confidence too. When we are busy, she will either find a bone to chew on, play with Bubba now or go lay down and take a nap. We find she only jumps up on us when she gets excited which is when she first gets let out of her crate in the morning or when she is getting ready to eat. This sweet sweet girl is almost ready to start looking for her forever home. Look for her to be posted sometime over the next week or two.

Frankie has been with us in foster care for two weeks now and she is such a sweetheart. Her first two years of life were rough, but now she is learning that she is safe and living the good life in a loving home. She soaks up all the attention and pets she can get from our family. Frankie’s favorite thing to do besides lapping up attention from us is to chew on an antler bone. She does definitely prefer the humans in our home over our resident labs. She does not play with our dogs per se, but she is content with them and she will lay around on the couch or floor with them.

We are continuing to work with her on her manners. She does awesome on a leash now. She walks right beside me. She will stop on the walk occasionally and need a little bit of verbal encouragement to get her going again when strangers get too close to us on our walk. She is also doing great with the counter surfing as she has not attempted to get on the counters since the first couple days, she was with us. Her jumping has also improved. She does not jump up as frequently now as she did at first in foster care. We are continuing to work on her self-control in general, but especially when she wants pets from us as she will get a bit pushy for attention.

Frankie visited the dermatologist this week regarding her skin issues, and we found out that she has a hereditary condition called Hereditary Nasal Parakeratosis of Labrador Retrievers. Her condition is more severe in that she has it not only on her snout, but also the outer margins of her ears, and surrounding the pads on her paws. This is a condition she will have for the rest of her life, but the good news is that this is a manageable condition that can be treated with over-the-counter products and just a yearly to semi-yearly follow up with a dermatologist. The goal is to keep the skin in these areas from cracking and bleeding and possibly becoming infected so as not to cause her discomfort and to avoid the need for multiple doses of antibiotics. Her skin in these areas do not bother her at all unless they are cracked and bleeding. We have started her on some nutritional supplements that she will take daily along with a balm to rub on the affected areas to keep them from cracking.

Frankie continues to do well settling into our home. She is all about the love and being with her people, well and getting her paws on any type of food she can.

She still does not really interact with our resident boys much but instead co-exists peacefully with them.

She does look to them for guidance when she is not sure about something, like stairs for example. She was very unsure of the stairs for the first day and a half and would not go upstairs to our second floor. But last night she surprised me showing up upstairs with Bubba and Charlie when they can upstairs to check out what I was doing. Bubba has been trying desperately to get her to play with him. He will bring her a ball or a bone as an offering and she just looks at him like nah you do your thing and I’ll do mine, but this morning he finally broke through and got her to chase him for a bit around the yard.

She is definitely still a bit shy around my husband and teenage son. She will go to them for pets but if they try to take her outside on their own, she pancakes and waits for me to come and get her. Even treats won’t get her out with them if I am not there. If I am around, she is absolutely fine with them and laps up the attention they give her.

A few other things we have learned about Frankie since her arrival…

She has a bit of a prey drive and chases squirrels.

She will happily sleep in her crate when you are in the same room as the crate, not so much when you are in another area of the house. Only time she has barked is at night when she woke up in her crate and realized she was downstairs by herself. I have been sleeping on the couch in the same room with her downstairs and then she is content and sleeps.

She is very velcro with me and is often underfoot.

She does not really pull on walks unless she sees a squirrel and even the zig zagging is improving with each walk.

She has quite a sniffer and often comes to a dead stop on a walk and raises her nose in the air as she catches a scent.

She loves to sleep on the couch.

She loves peanut butter and even gives Bubba and Charlie kisses trying to get any peanut butter they may have left behind on their snouts. She loves her Peanut butter-filled Kong that we give her in her crate while we eat dinner.

I expect she would be housebroken if it was not for the high dose of steroids the vet has her on. When she goes out and you tell her to be a good girl, she always goes potty.

Learning her new name is a work in progress and as she continues to become more comfortable in our home we will also work on her manners and basic commands. She kind of knows SIT and will do it most of the time for a treat.

Frankie has an appointment next week with a dermatologist for her skin issues. Hopefully, we will be able to get a diagnosis and a solid treatment for her soon. She does not itch or scratch but every now and again she will rub her nose on the furniture or the floor trying to get some relief.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for updates as we learn more about Frankie as she comes out of her shell more and more each day.

Frankie (fka Charcoal/Charlotte), is an 80 lb ~2 yo silver breeder mama who was residing at Smoketown Vet Clinic while they started care for her skin infections over the past couple months. She had her freedom ride today to her foster home. She is a LOVE!!! This girl loves to give kisses and thoroughly enjoys her pets. Frankie will give you full on hugs. She jumps up for attention quite a bit and she will need some work on her manners while in foster care.

We went for a short walk this afternoon and she is ok on the leash. She does like to zig zag across where you are walking. She did get spooked by a couple kids playing and tried to back away from where they were.  After a bit of coaxing and encouragement, I got her to walk past the kids. She has also been out in the yard exploring a lot today. No accidents in the house so far. Yay Frankie!!!

She is VERY food motivated. We ended up having to crate her while we ate tonight as she was very pushy about trying to get to our food once she caught the scent.

She has been ok with our two resident boys so far. She has pretty much ignored them so they are just co-existing right now. She just really wants to be with the humans in her home and soak up all the love she can from them.

More to come on this sweet love of a girl as she settles into our home…