Meet my new roommate Frannie.
Frannie's a good roommate. She likes to wrestle and gives kisses. She also figured out pretty quickly how to manipulate me into becoming her own personal slave. She's already conned me into throwing her black Kong down the hallway for her about ten million times.
She does do one odd thing that made me crap a brick when I walked in the door. Frannie knows how to open doors and, when she gets bored, she opens all available doors. I walked into the condo to find all doors wide open.
Seriously, I haven't really moved out! My friend Seana needed someone to watch Frannie at the last minute. Frannie has, some, um, issues, and doesn't do well with other dogs. So that's why I am here living with Frannie until Seana comes back. It's just Frannie and I living it up!
It's kind of fun having her condo all to myself. I can read all the books I want uninterrupted, listen to Howard Stern on the satellite radio without Ryan asking me to please turn that garbage off and eat whatever the heck I want to eat without having to worry if Ryan will be OK with my selection for dinner. The best part is not having one damn thing to do. True, I could be reading a book at home, but then I quickly feel guilty upon seeing the one million things I should be doing. I could be doing laundry or cleaning the house. But this condo isn't my condo. Techincally, I'm not allowed to do any of that stuff here!
I realized, while talking to Lisa on the phone, that perhaps this is what I need to do when I start to feel like I am going insane. I just need to live in other people's houses for a week and take a break!
I do miss home, though. I especially miss my Mafiosos. I miss not hearing Pugs snorts or Bruno's nails clack-clacking down the hallway. I miss having Ryan next to me in bed at night. But I think this down time will be good to recuperate.
It doesn't hurt to have silly Frannie entertaining me, either. :)
Frannie is also a true lady with expensive tastes. She has a Coach collar which I have been admiring.
And she has the most gorgeous, intense blue eyes. They almost seem to bore a hole in you when she decides to stare at you. Which is a lot. And it gets creepy after a while.
One thing Frannie is making me be aware of is how much hard work it is to live with a dog that has separation anxiety. I have to be really careful of simple things like picking up my shoes or my hand bag, because Frannie starts to get worried that I am leaving. Frannie is helping me brush up on my dog training skills and next time I help a client with a dog experiencing separation anxiety, I'll be more aware of how hard it is to actually practice all the recommended suggestions.
But when she does relax, she does so in style. Frannie truly does know how to appreciate the simple joys of life.
So far, I've been doing pretty much what she's been doing...catching up on some much needed R&R!
I'd watch Frannie again in a heartbeat if the need arose. This is one dog I truly don't mind hanging out with. And having been burned before by someone at this dog-sitting thing, I was extremely hesitant to do it again for someone. But Frannie's issues made me not hesitate. I wouldn't be able to leave Bruno either unless it was in the hands of someone who knew all of his issues and knew how to handle them.
