In Loving Memory of Lady Frances De Salles
2009 – 2024
“Simply the best.”
Lady Frances De Salles—known variously as Frances, Poot, Pooter Pupperoni, and Slink—entered the world in Colorado and quickly began a journey that would span landscapes, lives, and hearts. She was a small dog with a basset-hound build and the self-possession of royalty, even when her eyes wandered in opposite directions. Her gait was a trot of quiet confidence, and her presence was unmistakable.
Frances came into her human’s life by what some might call a mistake, though anyone who knew her would recognize it as fate. In June of 2009, an adoption at the Poudre Puppy Rescue in Fort Collins took an unexpected turn when a clerical mix-up led to the adoption of a completely different dog—the one being doted on by the adopter’s little sisters. That dog was Frances. Best mistake ever.
Sassy, distant, and delightfully unique, Frances defied easy description. She was a herding dog trapped in a basset hound’s body and delighted in rounding up her toys with dutiful precision. When given a rawhide, she would slip into an almost meditative trance—eyes half-closed, blissful, detached from the world in perfect contentment.
Her life was full of movement and exploration. Frances called Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, and North Dakota home, and she left pawprints in Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Texas, Utah, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana. She was a seasoned traveler, a companion for all terrains, and a quiet observer of life’s many chapters.
But her truest destination was always love. She bonded deeply with her best friend, Franklin—a partner in mischief and companionship—and gave her heart easily and instantly to her “ancillary human,” Abigail, who quickly became her person. Despite the best efforts of her original adopter, Frances made her allegiances known: Abigail was hers.
Frances was many things: a traveler, a character, a queen with crossed eyes and a herding instinct. But above all, she was a teacher. She showed her human how to be better—for pets, for others, for the world. She was the stillness in the chaos, the sass in the silence, and the soul that shaped a home.
She is missed every day.
Lady Frances De Salles was not just a good dog. She was a singular spirit. Her story lives on in the hearts of those who knew her and in every toy that lies just slightly out of place—herding itself, perhaps, in her honor.
