Franklin, Our New Furry Friend!

Over the past few weeks our resolve to wait until next summer to adopt a dog has wavered. Both Brandon and I had spent time on shelter websites and Petfinder. Even though I am now busy planning classes and working part-time in addition to school, I have been lonely with Brandon busy studying all the time. When we discovered that the largest local shelter was having a half-price adoption weekend, we decided to head over and "just look." We met four dogs, and weren't set on adoption until we met the fourth one, Franklin.

Franklin riding in the car today

Franklin is just over a year old (they estimate his birth on 10/10/10!) and is a bit larger of a dog than we had planned on adopting, but he won our hearts with his playfulness, goofy run, and big kisses! The shelter believes him to be a German Shepherd/Corgi mix. Franklin came to Kansas City from Joplin, where he may have been a dog affected by the tornado this past spring. He is a total "momma's boy" so far, following me everywhere. We believe he had a negative experience with a male, as he is hesitant and jumpy with Brandon. However, the shelter volunteers are primarily female as well, so this could play into it as well.

We took Franklin with us today as we revisited the shelter and PetsMart to pick up some essential supplies. The shelter from which we adopted him, Wayside Waifs, is not only the largest shelter in the area, but just finished renovations, and so it is very nice. They have a shop with toys, beds, etc. that are discounted for families of new adopted animals and there is a Bark Park there too. Franklin got a crate for crate training and a toy package that included 5 toys and 5 visits to the Bark Park - a fabulous deal. They also recommend a trainer who has classes at the shelter and out a bit closer to us. Since he is up-to-date medically, we have enrolled him in classes already, as there is only one at a time that will work for us and conveniently starts November 1st. Hopefully he will be sitting, staying, etc. by the time he meets our families this Christmas!

One thing we learned very quickly is that Franklin is afraid of the car -- he won't get in and he won't get out -- but he rides well! He is a very quiet dog - we heard him bark for the first time about noon today, and have only heard it one time since. The shelter does a temper/behavior test and reported that he got along well with other dogs, but really wants to play with them. We haven't experienced that yet, but he does love to sniff everything. Most of his time here has been spent sniffing the house and yard. Franklin looks forward to meeting all his new doggie and people friends in the near future!

Our first family photo with Franklin today at Wayside.