"Really Mom?!"

Needless to say....she doesn't LOVE her new costume for Halloween.

Frankie and Elmo sitting in a tree.....

Farewell Summer!

Oh Summer....where have you gone?

We have been so busy having fun, we almost forgot about the BLOG world.

But alas, we are back! (for now)

Frankie is getting BIG! She turns 6 months old on Friday. She's lost all her puppy teeth (thank GOD!)

Since our last update, Frankie has been to a friends cabin, where she spent the ENTIRE weekend free from her leash. She was able to come and go from indoors to outdoors. She enjoyed many boat rides, went swimming, and got to play with her older "cousin" Bailey (another Cocker).

She got to spend a weekend with the Stawarski family. They have a doggie door (yet no doggie?!) with a fenced in yard, so Frankie was in heaven! We feel bad coming home after she's been somewhere that's provided her with so much freedom. OUR PUPPY NEEDS A FENCED IN YARD!!!

We continue to enjoy the dog park, especially now that it's cooled down a bit during the days. She loves to bounce and bound through the tall weeds. We're hoping to catch this in some photo's later this week. She's showing promise that she just may become a hunting dog after all. Hunt 'em up Frankie! Hunt 'em up!

no melting for this little pricess...

She swam! She swam!!

My whole goal for this past weekend was to get Frankie into the water so she could try swimming. I didn't doubt she could do it. She didn't seem to love it...I'm hoping that changes over time. After all, she's a spaniel...and they love water!

been a long time...

Frankie's blog hasn't been updated since July 1st!! Just to let everyone know...she's been busy!

We've been to the Murschel's (twice) where she got to play with Buddy and Molly.

She spent 4th of July up at the lake, at Aunt Jane's and Uncle Steves. By the way... she's indifferent to fireworks.

Last weekend was the big Rodeo weekend in Isanti. We spent the night at the Murschel's and she somehow was able to claim an entire full size couch while a 6+foot man had to sleep on a love seat - HA! (good job Frankie!)

This weekend we're at the cabin in Buffalo City, WI...visiting Grandma and Grandpa. She went on a pontoon ride, met a sunfish, and eat some sunflower seeds and drank some beer. She's sleeping right now....she's one tired pup!

Sugar and Spice.......

Yesterday, Frankie got her first haircut. Jeff dropped her off at 9:00 with the groomer and picked her back up at 11:30. Apparently, she is a very unruly customer! HA! When Jeff picked her up, he asked how she did, and they basically told him she was the worst of the worst. SHE’S A PUPPY!!! And you just brought a scary sounding clipper close to her body and head. I would be a little unruly too! They told me she would be getting a “puppy cut” her first time in. That meant she would get her nails trimmed, ears cleaned, and maybe a little trim up to get her use to the idea. Oh, and it was be ½ the normal cost. Well…..she came home with a full cut, and it cost $50!!!! So I’m glad she was a brat – serves them right! However, we will have to work on her behavior so it gets easier – for whoever cuts her hair.

At any rate, she looks adorable! She’s all trimmed up and even came home with little pink bows in her hair. Ah…our little princess.

just pictures....

She likes beer.

She's growing up....

Yesterday I noticed that she lost her first tooth! She also had one loose that she lost overnight, and now has another loose one. All in the front…. My baby is growing up!!!

Our little helper

Frankie was helping us paint our bathroom on Wednesday night. She was right in there with Daddy. Thankfully she didn’t get too close to the paint. I was sure I would be cleaning up yellow paw prints at some point, but that never happened. We did have a close call when “Houdini” snuck through the gate we had up, but luckily we intercepted just before her little nose reached the paint can.

she's so cute...

She just loves hanging out the window!

Frankie + Porterhouse = happy pup

(taken with a cell phone)

Last night we were invited to a very lavish dinner with Jon and Libby. Jon and Jeff had HUGE porterhouse steaks while Lib and I had AMAZING filet mignons. We also had crab stuffed portabella mushrooms – YUM!! After Jeff was done gnawing (and I literally mean gnawing) on his steak, he held the bone for Frankie as she went to town! Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the meaty bone coming towards her. She was using all her might to strip away the meat, even growling at times. She ate like a queen last night! Soon after dinner, she cuddled up in Daddy’s lap and it was lights out. She slept the rest of the night there, the whole way home and like a champ all night. I am so glad I didn’t have to take her out for her first potty break this am!! HA!

149th Street Dog Park

It’s a dog park on 149^th Street! Last night Frankie got to play with 9 other dogs right on our very own street! We took her for a small walk to the end of our block to get the mail. Here she met two adult female Cockers named Freckles who is black and white – just like Frankie and Tootsie who is black and buff - looks like a tootsie roll. She also met Colby who is a male buff Cockapoo and Eddie who is a black and white Cockapoo. After the dogs checked each other out and the adults ran out of mundane chit chat, we were on our way back home. Our neighbors were out enjoying the somewhat warm weather, so we decided to join them. While we sat around with our beers, we watched five dogs play, chase, and jump all over each other. Those in attendance were: Oopsie who is a little Jack Russell Terrier, Danner who is a golden Lab, Ox who is a nine week old Boston Terrier, our Frankie, and big Frankie who is a buff colored female Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull). Yes, there are two female Frankie’s on our block! This was not the first time these five pups have gotten to play together. Big Frankie and Oopsie live across the street from us and Danner and Ox live a few blocks away but visit often. It was fun to watch the dogs play and it was even more fun knowing they would all be super tired for bed time!

poor thing...can't catch a break

Frankie had hiccups all night and all morning. She also sounded like she was a little congested. Poor baby girl....

bbq fun

a day at the horse show

Last Saturday I took Frankie to Cambridge for Kiley's horse show. She had a blast! We got good and dirty! We were both soaking wet and covered in mud by the time we went home. She even discovered the sublime delicacy of horse poo. Mmmmm!

HI!

Just saying HI!

first walk

Today we took our first real walk. Frankie was very tired by block six, but she was a trooper and made it home. She was so good. She just bopped along. She's yet to figure out she can actually walk ahead of us. She's always a few steps behind. It was a nice family moment.

Frankie the ferocious...guard puppy?!

Yes folks...we have ourselves a guard puppy! And...she's finally discovered the power of the BARK!

5AM - every morning - Frankie wakes up and decides it's potty time! So this morning, I woke up to the "alarm clock" named Frankie as she chewed on my hair -one of her favorite past times - and brought her outside. If you were up at 5AM, you know it was danged windy outside. She ran into the yard and peed without hesitation. Then rather than waddle around looking for the perfect poop spot, she ran back to the door. Meanwhile, I'm outside looking like a jerk in a short sleeve shirt, fleece pants, and my husbands size 50 slippers. I tried, and failed miserably, to get her back in the yard to do her thang. She was having none of it. She kept running back to the door. Finally she came to stand by me about six feet from the door. She then started to growl and attempt to bark at....the wind?! She was very upset!

I tried to get her to go to the side of our yard thinking she would finally do her business. Big mistake! I just brought her closer to the enemy, only now, the trees were getting into the rumble too. They were creaking and making all kinds of noise in protest to the wind. She really found her bark now. She was barking and growling and kept moving to stand/sit between me and the woods.

Finally, I gave up on the poop adventure. I scooped her up and brought her back inside. She had her treat and we tromped back upstairs to attempt to sleep a little more before the real alarm clock started shrieking. Instead of going back to sleep, she sat right next to me staring out the window. She would growl and bark occasionally. Jeff was irritated, after all, he was still sound asleep until this point. I kept telling her good girl, because let's be honest...who really needs a dog that will bark at strange noises in the dark when they are home alone....this girl...that's who!

So yes, we have a guard puppy. A noble, beautiful guard puppy.

Scary moment

On Friday night we had to bring Frankie to the emergency vet.

I got home from work and she was fine. We played for a few minutes, then cuddled up on the big chair for a nap. I slept for about 20 minutes, then moved her off my chest to the chair so I could get up and do some things about the house. She slept for about 30 more minutes before waking up. When she woke up, I was sitting across the room watching her. She sat up, wobbled a bit, then fell back over. I thought...uh oh... that's not normal. So I went over and picked her up. Her head rolled back like she couldn't hold it up. I set her down on the floor and she stumbled to her left then layed down. I started to panic. Jeff and I both tried to rouse her, but to no avail. I ran upstairs and looked up the emergency vet phone number.

I couldn't stop crying. I was so scared. Jeff called the vet and they told him to bring her in. We drove the 15 minutes to our vet with me holding and cuddling Frankie the whole time. I had tears constantly streaming down my face.

The minute we got there they took her back. They checked her vitals, blood sugar level, and drew blood for tests. Everything came back normal. They checked her for any neurological problems, still nothing. They fed her a little bit of kibble which she promptly vomited up. That turned out to be a good thing. The vet was able to see what was in her stomach. Nothing out of the ordinary. They gave her some fluids and told us we could take her home and what to watch for during the night.

We got home and she slept for about an hour before I woke her up to go potty and try to eat something. Within about 30 minutes of waking up, she seemed back to normal. She started to eat, play and had that normal glint in her eye. 180 degree difference from two hours before that.

I think she got really nauseous from playing with Jeff after she ate and it caught up to her after we took our nap. Since I have nothing else to go on...this is what I am diagnosing.

We have her regular vet appointment today, so I'm sure if they found something, we'll know about it.

Fun with photoshop

Tonight Frankie and I had a little photo shoot so

I could play with my newest toy...Adobe Photoshop!

Uncle J

I just witnessed the sweetest thing.

Jeff's friend Jason is over hanging out tonight. He didn't see me watching from the stairs, but....I watched him fold Frankie's blanket, lay it in her bed, pick her up from the floor near Jeff's feet (she was sleeping...again....) and lay her in her bed. He then pulled the blanket around her and tucked her in. How sweet is that? He played with her and even held her in his lap while she slept for a while. It was so touching to see how gentle he was with her.

Our friends really are like our family.

hard at work

On Monday, Frankie went to work with Daddy. She got to meet everyone at the Northland office. She spent her day playing, sleeping, and eating. Actually, she spends everyday doing this.

Meeting the Murschel Girls

On Sunday, Frankie, Mommy and Lyso went to a fantastic BBQ at the Murschels.

Frankie got to meet Kiley and Grace among many other new friends.

Everyone got to hug and squeeze Frankie. Her size was surprising to everyone.

"I thought she would be bigger" was the theme of the day.

Frankie didn't "do" much while visiting. She slept..a lot! She really only got going when we went outside. Then she was hopping all over the place, and I literally mean hopping.

I think she thinks she's part bunny.

She also met Buddy the Golden Retreiver. That didn't go so well.

They may not meet again until Frankie has some more substance to her.

All in all, it was a good day.

all photos courtesy of Lyso

Home

Today we brought Frankie home. We drove to St. Cloud to pick her up. The family (Don and Chris) we got her from drove down from Eagle Bend (near Alexandria). We met at Petco. Don was holding her, and brought her to me first. The minute I had her in my arms, she started nibbling at my ears and licking my face. That first wiff of puppy will forever be welded to my memory. After a few minutes of instructions and well wishes, we were off towards home.

The drive was pretty easy. She whined a little at first. I put a few pieces of puppy food on the blanket on my lap, and she got busy gobbling it down. After eating she poked around a bit then crawled into the space between me and the center council and promptly fell asleep.

Before we got home, we stopped off to introduce her to some of her new family.

First, we stopped off at Uncle Pat's work. We walked into the AT&T store and everyone started "gawking" at us. We heard lots of "aawww's". Pat held her for a few minutes (no sneezing! YEAH!) and then we headed off to meet Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.

Scott and Kathy instantly fell in love. How can you not? Grandpa held her first. She got busy licking and nuzzling before she was passed off to Grandma. After the initial introductions, we brought her outside to potty. She went right away. Then it was back in to snoop around and get down to some serious play time. When we first set her down she started to limp a bit, which immediately caused concern. We quickly realized her leg had fallen asleep and after a little wobbling around, she seemed to have walked it off. Whew...my first mommy scare.

Her routine for the next few hours was as follows:

Play

Sleep

Potty

Play

Sleep

Potty

She's very good about going outside. We've only had one accident all day and that was our fault, not hers.

After "Mommy & Daddy" finished dinner, it was time for the Anderson's to head home.

Frankie slept the whole way home cuddled up next to daddy. Once we got home we went potty outside again, then headed in to get familiar with our new home.

Frankie has lots of new toys and a very plush new puppy bed. We played for a while then it was nap time again. She's sleeping right now cuddled up next to me as I write. She is absolutely precious! We couldn't be happier.

Tomorrow we're going to a BBQ at Katy and Keith's where she'll meet lots of new friends...human and canine!

and we have a name...

Frankie. Ain't that cute?!

I plan to spend tomorrow "puppy" proofing the house. I'm not that excited about the chewing random items, peeing on the carpet (and the other) along with the first sleepless night. But...in the end it's all going to be worth it. I also want to go shopping and find her a little pick collar, possibly with some bling and I want to get her a little princess bed. I was never girlie as a kid, but as I get older...I'm definetly a girlie girl. I plan to spoil our first "baby" with all the best!

AH! I can't wait!!

And the winner is........

We pick her up on 4/12! I can't wait to get my sweet little girl!

tough choice

very adorable boy

super cute girl

oh puppy, oh puppy, where are you???

Trying to find the perfect puppy is so HARD!!! The hunt has begun....now the questions that need answering:

Boy or Girl??

Cocker, Cockapoo, ????

What color???

And what about a name???

ahhhhhhh.........