Franklin, the Golden Retriever, has a few quirks. He loves to play, and like most dogs, he gets dirty. But unlike most Golden Retrievers, water just isn't Franklin's cup of tea. And for Anam Rahman, Franklin's human mom, bath time meant a short chase and a long struggle.
“Being a retriever, baths are not an easy situation,” Rahman said. “He loves to play at the park and the one close to my house has a mulchy bottom so anytime he goes there, especially if there’s been a little rain, he needs a bath afterwards.”
Rahman is an attorney with a packed schedule, therefore she doesn’t always have time to wrangle Franklin into the bathroom because he associates the bathroom with getting a bath. That’s when she happened upon a solution, one that Franklin loved: bathing him in the kitchen sink!
“It started when I was in a rush for work, and I couldn’t go through the entire ordeal of getting him in the tub because he’s not too keen on going in to the bathroom,” Rahman said. “The sink just happened as a necessity because I didn’t have time to give him a full bath.”
“It was so much easier because I could do his paws and his underbelly, and I didn’t have to wash his entire back,” she added.
As the months passed, Franklin grew into a 66-pound dog. But, unlike Franklin, sinks don't grow.
“He loves it, he’s generally super chill and happy in the kitchen, it’s a much more open space and it’s just better for everyone involved,” Rahman said. “Occasionally I’ll give him a full bath, but otherwise the sink has been a great alternative.”
Rahman says that Franklin doesn’t like to be carried, but he's happy to be lifted if he knows he’s getting lifted into the sink. He jumps into Rahman arms and leans back, while she plops him into the sink basin.
“I can tell when he’s distressed — he’ll pant a little more and look all over the place. But [in the sink] he looks very at ease, he has a smile on his face, and he just lets me bathe him very easily,” Rahman said. “And when he’s clean, he’ll jump back into my arms and I’ll get completely covered in soap and water.”
Back in November, Rahman posted a photo of Franklin in the sink on Instagram. It didn't take long to go viral, but not for the reason you'd think!
This is Franklin. He took his baths in the sink as a puppy. Refuses to ever pupgrade to the tub. Thinks he fits just fine. 13/10 good boy Franklin pic.twitter.com/dR4VQ3gZJF
— WeRateDogs™ (@dog_rates) November 29, 2018
“It’s been so funny reading the comments because people think it’s like a trick sink,” Rahman said. “Some people think he was Photoshopped in there, but it’s not anything out of the ordinary at all, he’s comfortably in there.”
Rahman has wanted her very own dog since she was a child, and she says Franklin exceeded her expectations.
“I was that kid who got the golden retriever calendar, and after the year was over, I would cut them out and paste them on my walls,” Rahman said. “They’re just so friendly and loving and playful — and he’s all those things and more.”
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