Francie

Francie

This is a true story about a very exceptional and wonderful dog.

About 15 years ago, my beautiful basset hound Sheba, who was 13 years old, died. I was so very sad and upset and distraught that I vowed never to have another dog, because I had loved her so much and her absence hurt me so much. Soon after, we found a very fierce, angry, ugly, sick puppy in our garden. She was about 6 months old. I was so afraid of her because she was quite aggressive, but I could see that she was suffering from a disease called mange. She was in a terrible state. She had a broken foot, which I imagine probably a car had run over, and had twisted her right leg which was not treated in time, so it stayed twisted. She was living in our garbage box and was extremely thin and dirty. So my sister and I tried to get the animal association of the location where we live to come and take her away. We called about 20 different private and government associations, without any luck. We truly thought that she needed to have some professional help to put her to sleep as she was suffering too much. I began praying to St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of animals. Then a boy, who was working for us as a gardener, started giving her food from the meals we would give him, and clean water, and began talking to her and being friendly, showing her some love and affection. But the dog did not allow him or anyone else to touch her. Little by little, she became less aggressive. After a few weeks the gardener boy was able to rub her all over with burnt car oil, which is a local remedy for mange and this caused all of her hair to start falling off. She looked like a little pig ! But soon she was cured and started being very friendly with us. Good food, love and attention worked! Her hair grew out and was a lovely orange-brown color. We decided to keep her and named her Francie, after the saint we had prayed to her about, as we felt that the prayers were working.

Now Francie has been with us for several years. After about 4 years she went into the yard of the house next door and the male dog mounted her, without us being able to do anything about it. After some time, she gave birth to seven beautiful puppies. We kept one of her puppies, which grew to be bigger than her mom, and as tall as her wayward dad. Francie proved to be a wonderful mother and an excellent watchdog. After that chance encounter with a neighbor’s dog, we realized that she couldn’t go through another pregnancy, and so we had her operated so as not to have any more puppies. Francie has become the most loving and smart dog, understanding when we talk to her both in English and Spanish, and she is extremely grateful. Every time I gave her a meal, she would first look up to me as if to say “thank you”. She is now an old dog with gray hair and is as loving and kind and affectionate as one could imagine. We all love her more every day. Thank you, God and Saint Francis, for sending us such a lovely wonderful dog who has enriched our lives and has taught us wonderful lessons about the power of love, and patience and kindness, to save what would have otherwise been described as a scary dog.