Fall Invention

Frankie has a new house! Yep, phase one of the new Frankie outdoor shelter is completed, which of course includes the most important step: will Frankie use it.

For weeks now, Frankie is going in nightly into his shelter. His Dogloo is close by and occasionally he makes use of it but never on the real cool nights.

We were concerned that the heat pads were coming on when it got cool and turning off in the morning but while we fine tune the settings, Frankie has the opportunity to warm up every day in the sun.

Phase two of the new shelter is building the inner box. This will serve as compartment made of wood and a durable floor. The box reduced the interior so Frankie will have a tunnel-like passage to an inner area for him to sleep. The whole box will be insulated to better retain heat as we have found that Rubbermaid structures make a poor heat retainer.

During these October days, Frankie is perfectly content with sunlight and good temperatures for all day walking in the yard. Regretfully, October has not brought a lot of rain so the grass has little inspiration to grow. I've had to start watering the grazing areas lest Frankie start eating all the bushes and leaves which are not good and safe nutrition for him.

Pet Halloween costume contests are just around the corner and I have four possible events for Frankie to attend as Frankasaurus. The biggest challenge: getting Frankie into the car. His weight is getting so that even Greg and I together are stressed to lift him without hurting our backs.

Increased Frankie mass brings the need for further clever inventions.