Our Decision to Adopt FRANKYPANTS!!

When Gilbert and I moved into our apartment in February 2010, we had full intentions of bringing along Gilbert's dog Benjamin to move in with us. Gilbert adopted him when he was just a teeny tiny puppy. Here are some photos of this guy when he was little.

 

As we were getting organized in the apartment, we noticed the Benjamin had some problems with the idea of relocating. He started to whine consistently, bark when we left, and scratch at the door once we were outside of the unit. We paid the pet deposit, installed a doggy door, and we committed to having a dog of our own in this new home we were starting. The first time G left Benjamin in the apartment by himself, he had such intense separation anxiety that he tried his hardest to escape right through the front door and ended up scratching pretty far into the wall around the door jam. The poor guy was so upset. There was no way we could leave him alone during the day while we were both at work. 

 After some serious consideration about what was best for him and what was a reasonable amount of training that G and I could complete with our work schedules, we decided that moving him back to the home he was used to was the best choice. Although we paid the pet deposit, and kept the doggy door, we had no dog. Once G started to talk about maybe moving the doggy door over to where Benjamin is, we had a conversation about looking for another puppy.

I found Franklin on the PetFinder iPhone app that was suggested to me by my friend Sam. I searched for a baby or young male dog that would stay small when full grown so that he could live comfortably in our 1-bedroom apartment. I also selected the options to only show dogs that were housetrained, up to date on vaccinations, and microchipped. This would guarantee that there would be no additional costs associated with an adoption fee. It took me less than 2 days to filter through all of the search results and find Franklin. He is a dachshund terrier mix that was adopted at 4 months old but was returned to the shelter for some undisclosed reason. I scheduled a date with the shelter to meet him, and it was love at first sight. We adopted him when he was about 9 months old.

After showing him how the doggy door worked, he had no problems taking himself out to go to the bathroom whenever he has the urge. He doesn't have any serious behavioral issues other than those that are totally typical of a puppy. So far he's only had a few chewing issues while we're gone during the day, but he hasn't completely ruined anything too serious. He has a few best friends at the local dog park, and is awesome on a leash. 

We are happy new dog owners to say the least. Since we adopted him, we have discovered that he must be at least part Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen. I took him to a groomer that showed me a dog breed book, and the similarities are undeniable. I guess that's what you get with a rescue dog. You can never really be sure what breed the puppies are. He's had a hair cut, and I have started to explore the fashion options available with a puppy this small. Here is a picture of his favorite(and only) tshirt.

I am determined to find him a San Diego Padres jersey and a Chargers uniform. He does this trick where he'll sit up on his hind legs and when you throw him a stuffed animal and say "touchdown pass," he'll catch it between his paws. It's adorable. It would just be perfect if he did it in a Chargers uniform. Would it not?

So there he is. The latest addition to our pack... Frankypants, the PBGV

San Onofre Camping May 2010

I guess I could say that this summer officially started with the camping trip I took with some friends and family to San Onofre on Memorial Day. The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there. There was a pretty significant marine layer in the morning to allow us to sleep in comfortably in the tent without burning alive, but then it burned off by late morning and let us enjoy the sunshine.


That's a picture G took while we were on a late morning walk. This is typical coastal scenery in southern California. These bluffs are really interesting to examine because they show several different layers of sediment over hundreds of thousands of years, I'm sure. It's like staring right into a history book. When the sun goes down, the landscape totally changes color schemes.


We spent one entire day on the beach with sunshine, way too many games of bocce ball and not enough sunscreen. We flew kites, went surfing, walked down the beach, busted the bocce balls, and barely escaped death by an amateur kite flier next to us. Just getting down to the water from the campsite is quite an adventure. The trail was pretty steep and successfully made carrying anything to the sand a challenge. The water was pretty cold as it was May, but there's no way you could spend that much time in the sunshine without cooling off somehow. In the evening, the views were ridiculous and the entire sky lit up with all kinds of beautiful pinks and oranges.


I had 2 cousins come in from out of state and join us, which was perfect. The weather totally cooperated and we had a great time laughing about old memories, building new ones and of course gossiping about the regular dysfunction of our families.

Gilbert got the weekend off and we got to spend the entire weekend with him as well. :)

It was so nice to spend the weekend with friends, family, and friends that are like family. We have started to organize quite a group to camp with regularly so there will many more of these weekends to come. My favorite part about the San Onofre campground is that all of the rolling hills just inland at Camp Pendleton are virtually untouched. I don't know how many places there are in southern California that can boast of such amazing 360 degree views. It's some of the last untouched coastal land, and it's so peaceful to watch the fog lift off of the grass on the hills in the late morning.