Walking Frannie - Breakthroughs

Frannie has been with us for almost 2 years. It is sometimes hard to remember the shy dog that we first met back then, tail between legs, feeding only at night after we were in bed, crawling more than walking on her lead. Especially after the events of the last week.

First, Frannie has discovered other dogs. She has been marking during walks for about a Month now, but when she would actually meet a dog, she wanted nothing to do with them. That was until a week ago when she met a black and white dog about her size. As Magda was talking to the owner, Frannie decided, for the first time, to invite the other dog to play. And he accepted. Then a few days later, Frannie made a similar invitation to a Lab. The Lab wasn't interested. But for Frannie this these were major breakthroughs.

Another sign of her progress was on a trip to a nursing home where the mother of one of Magda's friends is now living (she's the lady that made Dipperküchen for us back in November, click here for that story). Frannie goes with Magda on her trips there and has become a fixture there. She seems fearless in approaching people at the home. Today, as she was walking through the home with Magda, Frannie noticed folks in the dining room and decided to take head into the room. Magda followed as Frannie entered the room and went up to one gentleman with memory problems, allowing him to pet her. Frannie then walked up to a lady she had met on previous visits who was quite happy to the recognized. Is she aware how she is helping these people?

But for me, the biggest breakthrough was Friday after my German class. I was to meet Magda and Frannie at the car. Magda had taken Frannie on a short walk by the Rhine when I arrived at the car. I saw the two of them turn the corner and head towards the car. So I headed to the sidewalk were I could be seen. Frannie has always preferred being around Magda. It's not that she disliked walks with me, she just preferred walks with Magda. So I was amazed to see Frannie, who was following behind Magda at the time, recognize me in the distance,  run past Magda and with her wide dogie smile come running to me. Not only that, but when she arrives, she stood up on her hind legs, placed her front legs on my arm and her head against my body. At that moment, these last two years made complete sense.