Francis’ Origin Story – 2023

2023 was a very difficult year for our family and Francis joining our pack was just what we all needed. We lost two of our pack within months of each other; Remington on Christmas Eve 2022 and Kiara in June of 2023. Going from a pack of 4 dogs down to 2 was a huge change for us, especially since our lives the past year centered around Remington and Kiara since their health was declining.

Danny and I talked and decided we were not ready to bring another dog into our home. Everybody is different in how they grieve and neither of us was ready. We all needed to heal. Our two remaining dogs, Emma and Charlie, were also grieving. Charlie was closer to Kiara, and Emma to Remington.

Charlie seemed to bounce back fairly quickly, and we thought Emma was doing better too. She wasn’t as playful but in the past few years she had her own set of health problems, and we chalked it up to that.

In October, we took Charlie and Emma to North Carolina to go gem mining. The day after we got back, Danny and I had our first local vendor event hosted by a rescue group to sell Remington’s Pup Memory Passport.  

Of course, our booth was less than 10 feet away from several pens of puppies that needed homes and fosters. Danny kept wandering over, but I held firm. I knew that if I went over to the puppies, we would be going home with one. We hadn’t even finished unpacking yet!

By the end of the event, Danny had convinced me to see the puppies- knowing exactly what would happen. We went over to a pen with 6 siblings. This litter was named after the dwarfs in Snow White. One puppy in particular (Dopey) was just trying to sleep but his siblings wouldn’t let him. They were actually playing pretty rough (lots of scabs from biting each other).

This litter was turned in by a ‘good Samaritan’ who said they had been without food and water for days. They survived by eating their own feces.  The rescue believed the puppies actually belonged to the people who finally brought them in.

Danny and I are suckers for an underdog- that’s how we got our ferret Rin. So, we saw how miserable Dopey was and agreed to bring him home to FOSTER. Within 48 hours we knew he was ours forever. Emma suddenly was happy and playful again though Charlie took a while to warm up to him.

Dopey picked his new name by himself. We were going through names, and I was convinced that his name should start with an “F”. When we got to Francis he got up, tail wagging a mile a minute, and ran over to us.  

Of course, our dogs all have middle names and Francis Frederick just seemed right. On the 4^th day, we completely gave up and paid his adoption fee. He was officially a member of our pack.

Over the last year and change, he has definitely tested us as dog parents. We forgot how much work puppies can be! He is so happy-go-lucky, it’s ridiculous. On the one hand, he brought much-needed joy back into the house. On the other, if he does something wrong and we get mad- he thinks it’s hilarious.

He came to us deathly afraid of vehicles- moving and parked. This is a challenge since we travel so much. With lots of work and “car parties” in our backyard he is doing much better. We’ve gone on two big road trips, and he does great apart from car nerves. We are proud to say that Sir Francis officially became a BARK Ranger at Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore at 6 months of age.

He flew through potty training and never chewed on furniture until we fostered another puppy who taught him all sorts of bad habits. He wants to be friends with everybody and everything and doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. He is just starting to learn that not everyone wants to be best friends with him. This sometimes makes him depressed, especially on walks when no one says hi to him. We do still need to work on loose-leash walking but honestly, that’s on us.

Francis is most happy being near us and prefers to lie down so that he’s touching as many of his pack members as possible. As he gets older, he is getting more security conscious and needs to let us know if anyone enters our street.

He’s our little weirdo. For example, Francis went through a phase where he needed to put his feet up to poop- potty squatty style. We made lots of calls to our vet to make sure his weird habits weren’t signs of a medical issue. It’s also a constant struggle to break his habit of eating poop. Ew. However, at this point, he only does it for attention if he gets bored outside.

We are so happy that we found Francis and can’t wait for him to continue to grow with us. We needed him just as much as he needed us.

If you want to hear more about how our other pets joined our family and more about their funny personalities, check out the origin stories of Remington, Kiara, Charlie, Emma, Jack, and Rin.

Pin For Later: