When you’re six feet tall and big, there’s a risk of being a little self-conscious.
It applies to humans but it also applies to Franklyn, a one-year-old Newfoundland that weighs almost sixty kilos and reaches exactly one meter eighty when it stands up on its hind legs.
Her owner Shauna Connors had had dogs before, but had to completely overhaul the house rules – Franklyn wouldn’t follow them anyway. The sofa in the living room, for example, was off limits for the previous four-legged friends, but for the new animal tenant it is a place like any other to curl up.
What if the couch is already occupied by a human? No problem: in a video that went viral on social media, the Newfoundland can be seen climbing with absolute nonchalance on the body of Shauna’s husband (who had in fact been lying on the sofa) and trying to crouch next to him, who in the meantime was suffering from his paws.
Franklyn moves with the grace of an elephant in a glass shop: she breaks windows, moves furniture and doesn’t hesitate to slip under the table and shake it while the family is eating, if there’s a chance to scrape together a few crumbs. It’s so big that Shauna’s daughters have had to remove traces of its slime from the ceiling.
It seems that there is really no way to make Franklyn understand that he is no longer a dog: even his teacher had to throw in the towel and expel him from puppy school, because he crouched on his four-legged classmates for fun (just like he does on the couch with Shauna’s husband).
Franklin came home in March when he was two months old. The family is delighted to have him and he enjoys all the cuddles from him, however awkward.
Among other things, the dog has not finished growing yet and could weigh almost ninety kilos. Shauna, her husband and her daughters certainly won’t be bored.
