Franklin Delano: 7 Dec 2000-16 June 2011

Would we all could enjoy our lives to such an extent as Franklin! Until the last 4 1/2 hours of his life, he enjoyed life with us. Since signs of age were quite apparent in recent months, we were preparing ourselves for a future without Franklin. We had hoped that his departure would be relatively quick and painless and, in fact, it was. He has cancer (spleen, most likely) that ultimately caused a rupture of a vessel and bleeding into his abdomen. He could not walk any longer and we had to carry him to the auto to travel to the hospital.

While we treasured all of our dogs, Franklin was special in ways new to us. Most particularly was his ability to love little children, permitting them to do virtually anything with him. He wanted to be with them whenever they were around, including sleeping in their room when they stayed at our house.

In addition, he was specially fond of us and made us feel treasured. His needs were met and he was always with one of us, except for the few times he needed a kennel.

His appetite for life epitomized the many stories about dogs. Like others, he attended to the moment and, if the moment was good, life was beautiful!

He was a special friend of ours. He will be missed, but the memories will surely remain.