Taken at Franklin's "Dickens of a Christmas"

Sitting on your coffee table may be a makeshift scrapbookof less-than-professional snapshots of your Franklin dog. But visit www.framedbyfletcher.com and see why there are a couple of Franklin dogs with portfolios to brag about. After all, they’re owned by quite a creative couple, professional photographers Jonathan and Blakley Fletcher.

Weddings, portraits, special events — the website showcases work in a multitude of categories, including pets. You’ll also find emotion-packed pictures of historic Franklin. The couple fell in love with the city on an earlier visit and moved here last year from Houston, TX putting them closer to family in north Mississippi.

Jonathan and Blakley didn’t come alone. About eight years ago, the Fletcher home welcomed two chihuahua pups (sisters, actually), Sandy (the boss) and Cheesecake (afraid of her shadow, afraid of walking on hardwood floors and afraid of drinking out of a bowl that is anything but plastic).

“We can’t imagine life without them,” Jonathan says.

So which is easier to photograph: people or pets?

Here’s a tip for even amateur photographers: “We find it’s best to find out what makes the pet happiest and photograph them doing just that. Some of my favorite photos of one of our dogs is her in a completely airborne, leaping position as she chases her little miniature soccer ball across the yard. Chasing the ball is what makes her the happiest, and you can’t help but see that and smile when you look at the photo,” he says.

“Sure sometimes a dog will lick the camera lens, whereas a human client might not,” he says. “But it’s all a part of the fun.”

Sandy in flight

Core Value 3: COMMUNITY AND ITS HERITAGE

We believe that as dogs can enhance the lives of families and individuals, they can also connect us on an individual and community level. We look for ways to use dogs to build bridges between members of our community. We recognize accomplishments of Franklin dogs, especially in the area of serve to the community, and also work with owners interested in using their dogs to reach out to others. The Franklin Dog brand embraces our community’s history and its pride as a significant Civil War battleground.

Piper is a little Franklin dog with a great big job! And as her owner, I’m glad to be teaming up with her! She was seemingly custom made to curl up in the lap of a child and lovingly listen as they read to her and play with her long silky ears.

A 5-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Piper is a Registered Delta Therapy Dog (Go to a Page, See Blogroll: Therapy ARC) and a Reading Education Assistance Dog (Go to a Page, See Blogroll: READ).

The mission of the READ program is to improve the literacy skills of children through the assistance of registered therapy teams as literacy mentors. Piper and I make up one of many READ teams in the Middle Tennessee area.

If you would like an opportunity to meet and READ to Piper or some of her buddies, join them at the Williamson County Library on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Several teams are available for individual 15-minute appointments with a child. Advanced reservation is required, so please call 595-1244 for your appointment.

We are proud of the good work Piper and her READing Dog friends are doing in our community!

Heather Pass

Becoming a READ team

Here’s the process Piper and I went through to become a team. It took about six months.

1. To become a READing dog, you must first become a Delta Registered Pet Partner Therapy Team. The process is detailed here: http://www.therapyarc.org/Pet_Partner_Process.htm. Because of scheduling conflict with the classes, we choose to order the workbook from the Delta website and self train for the evaluation. We spent about six weeks doing this.

2. We scheduled our evaluation through the local Delta chapter: Therapy ARC http://www.therapyarc.org/. Contact Ken Bell at kensk9comcast.net. Evaluations are scheduled about four times a year. They fill up quickly.

3. After passing the evaluation, we sent in our completed registration packet and became an official therapy team.

Then, we decided to focus our Therapy by becoming a READ team.

1. First, we had to fill out the initial application online: http://readingpaws.org/Application%20for%20Training%20FormFL.htm.

2. Then we attended the one-day class to become READ certified. This class is offered a few times a year (contact Helen Wahl at Helen@READingPaws.org).

3. We began by working with the Williamson County Library once a month, and then requested a placement in a local elementary school. We are now serving at Crockett Elementary once a week.

If you have a question concerning any type of therapy work with your Franklin Dog, email it to therapy@franklindog.com.

Core Value 3: OUR COMMUNITY AND ITS HERITAGE

We believe that as dogs can enhance the lives of families and individuals, they can also connect us on an individual and community level. We look for ways to use dogs to build bridges between members of our community. We recognize accomplishments of Franklin dogs, especially in the area of service to the community, and also work with owners interested in using their dogs to reach out to others. The Franklin Dog brand embraces our community’s history and its pride as a significant Civil War battleground.

An MTGRR Success Story

In America and beyond, Golden Retrievers are a well-loved breed. And for a Golden in distress, there’s no better friend than the Middle Tennessee Golden Retriever Rescue, headquartered right here in Franklin.

Ginger is a MTGRR success story who happily calls herself a Franklin dog. She’s part of the Waller family consisting of Gerald, Marcie, Aaron and Daniel.

Ginger’s “before” story is not a happy one.  Rescued in late 2008 by MTGRR, she was one of six dogs that had been used all their lives to produce litters.

MTGRR volunteer Sarah Sherck explains, “Over-breeding and lack of vet treatment caused them to develop painful infection called mastitis. The infection can kill the litter and cause severe swelling and huge tumors. In addition, the excessive breeding resulted in an aggressive form of malignant ovarian cancer for at least one dog. MTGRR paid extensive medical bills to treat these dogs and placed them into loving and responsible hands, where they are getting affection, care, and kind attention for the first time in their lives.

Marcie, the “mom” at Ginger’s forever Franklin home, says, “It has taken some time for us to win Ginger over. We have had her a little over a year and I think she is finally convinced this is her forever home and that we are safe and love her very much.”

As dog-lovers the Wallers are truly golden. After they sadly had to say good-by to their oldest Golden due to bone cancer, they added another to their family — Bama, adopted a week before Thanksgiving.

MTGRR is regularly in need of foster homes before dogs are placed in their forever home. You can access their website through our blogroll

Stop in at Keke’s Kitchen Dog Bakery and Boutique and meet another family that’s discovered that Franklin is a great place for dogs and dog lovers.

Located one block south of Moores Lane on Franklin Rd. (next to Gateway Village), Keke’s, owned by Keke, Leo and Stephanie Sotiros, is an extension of a business that opened in Wisconsin in 2005.

When they were ready to expand, Franklin was their choice. “This city fit all of our criteria,” says Stephanie.

“This is a very dog-loving community,” she says. “People open their hearts and their homes to dogs. The rescue effort is amazing and I admire how the community helps support the rescues, shelters and breed rescues.”

Among their best sellers are their cookies, freshly baked in Keke’s kitchen. Over 75 varieties are naturally preserved, made with nutritious ingredients with no sugar, salt, wheat, or or corn.

And even non-dog owners can find something for themselves: Greek Baklava and Stephanie’s Fudge Brownies are always available. Plus, there’s the boutique side of the business featuring Keke’s original artwork.

Collars, leashes, beds, toys, grooming products, naturally-preserved dog food and chew treats, protein treats and more are also in the inventory.

The Sotiros family has added to the Franklin dog population with Saxby (Scottish Terrier), Poppy (French Bulldog) and Vinne, a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen (PBGV) who is a trained Search and Rescue Canine for Williamson County.

For many years, Stephanie bred, raised and showed Bernese Mountain Dogs and Clumber Spaniels. In the past, a Maltese, Wirehaired Dachshund and a West Highland White Terrier have been a part of their lives.

Check out www.kekeskitchen.com. Keke’s does mail-order, and you can have gifts sent to others.