Frannie’s fight: California dog on a diet takes social media by storm

DAVIS — A UC Davis veterinary medicine student is caring for a rescue dog that has taken social media by storm.

Meet Frannie the dog, Instagram’s newest fitness influencer.

Annika Bram found the golden retriever while home in Southern California.

“My roommate actually DM’d me on Instagram. The rescue had posted a video of her. She was miserable and overweight, obviously,” Bram said. “When I got her home, I realized she was unable to walk at all.”

Frannie was over 120 pounds with a host of health issues.

“I was on winter break – and I’m a vet student – and I thought, ‘This is my calling,’ ” Bram said.

She then decided to document the dog’s journey and soon, Frannie’s fight took off on social media.

“We can get up out of bed. We can go pee and come back,” Bram said. “That was an amazing feat of the day.”

Each post was a new feat, with over 400,000 people following along.

“I’ll get things like, ‘She’s an inspiration to me.’ ‘I just had back surgery and Frannie is inspiring me and teaching me and helping me get up every day,’ ” Bram said of comments on Frannie’s Instagram page.

Frannie is set to begin pool therapy at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

“We have a number of vet students that bring their dogs in,” said veterinary technician Leigh Ann Nilsson with the veterinary school. “Veterinarians and vet students tend to adopt less-than-perfect dogs.”

That’s a practice that Nilsson loves seeing.

“The owners that are vet students have exercises and things to do at home, and we know the vet students are going to do it all,” she said.

All over campus, Frannie is a star.

“Everyone knows her, so when she goes to school, everyone wants to pet her and take their picture with her,” Bram said.

Frannie is down more than 30 pounds and can now walk a mile.

“Even just getting up and going outside and taking an extra step was a huge deal for us,” Bram said.

Frannie is a dog with a journey that everyone is rooting for.

“She really taught me that, wow, we need to appreciate what we do have and appreciate the small things,” Bram said.

Bram has since been able to fully adopt Frannie and take over her care permanently.

“She really gives back to me as much as I’ve given to her,” she said. “I’m so grateful to have her.”