Frankie, our labradoodle puppy is now eight months old. I know, how did that happen? It’s strange to think we’ve had him for just six months. It seems like a lifetime ago when he came home with us, and we said goodbye to lie in’s. Frankie has changed a lot since I last wrote about him. He was a tiny puppy, adjusting to his new life, with these two new people who are constantly bugging him for cuddles. However at eight months (and a half now) he has settled in to his new life, and I think that he is quite fond of his crazy parents. I thought I’d do a little catch up post, what Frankie is like now, his eating habits, important stuff we’ve had to do and how he generally is.
Look at that face!
This is Frankie and his best friend ‘Teddy’
Frankie’s Personality: So let’s start with Frankie himself, he is growing bigger all the time. We accepted a long time ago, that he won’t be miniature. We expect him to be Labrador size, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he grows bigger. At eight months, on his two back legs he comes up to my hip. At 5ft 2, I’m sure he will be the same size as me pretty soon. He’s also got heavier, the days of me lifting him around like a baby have long gone, it’s now like a workout to lift him up. He’s also stronger, a lot stronger. My arms get a good workout from walking Frankie. Temperament wise, Frankie is sleepy, affectionate, likes his food, calm, dopey but is bright when he wants to be, mischievous, loyal and inquisitive. He doesn’t like fireworks, birds or loud noises. He hates it when your on the phone *and not giving him attention* and is restless till everyone is sat down together. However he loves company, he will literally follow me everywhere, I can’t even go to the toilet in peace. He loves cuddles, head massages and my shoes.
Food & Eating: When Frankie was younger, he would literally try to snatch the bowl of food out of your hands. He would gobble it all up within seconds and was always hungry. These days his eating has slowed down, he likes to pick at it now and doesn’t gobble it all down. We’ve discovered that wet food is a little too rich for his tummy, we’ve tried Bakers, pedigree to a organic brand Lily’s Kitchen. But as lovely as these foods can be, we will have to wait till he’s a little older so he can really appreciate them. We now just feed him dry food, we use a puppy food from baker’s. He loves this and he eats three times a day. We also get him treats for walks and training, he loves the little treats from Wagg the best. Frankie is constantly drinking water, and loves nothing best than a bowl of cool water after a long walk.
Someone finally appreciates my jokes..
Health & Insurance: We got Frankie signed up to our local Vets for Pets, as they do puppy scheme’s where you get your injections and worming and flea treatments for one price. Frankie was a brave boy with his injections and didn’t even flinch when he was micro chipped. Something which I’d totally recommend doing. He was great with his worm and flea tablets, we put them in with his food and he gobbled them all up! We’ve thankfully only had to take him to the vets once, because he had a bit of a dodgy tummy. We were given some paste to give him and I walked out £50 lighter. I didn’t quite anticipate how expensive the vets would be, I kicked myself a little as he was fine within a couple of days, but I’m a worrier but I suppose you live and learn with these things. Thankfully he was back to himself within a couple of days, and I was glad I had him checked out to put my mind at rest! After Frankie’s first visit to the vets, we made sure that we had some insurance set up for him. We ended up going for Animal Friends, but also found Tesco to be a good option too.
Grooming: Poodles fur is quite easy to maintain and their fur is hypoallergenic, meaning if you’re allergic to other dogs furs, a poodle may be a better option for you. One thing we love about Frankie’s fur, is that it doesn’t malt. Although it doesn’t shed on to the floor, it stays in his coat, so you have to make sure you brush him very regularly so that fur doesn’t all get matted up. When Frankie was six months old, we took him to the groomers for the first time as he was starting to look very shaggy. After three and a half hours (!!) he was like a different dog. His head was a little too poodle like for me, but thankfully he was looking like his normal shaggy self in a week or so. Labradoodles coat are quite hard work, and they do need to be groomed regularly.
Having a dog like Frankie is very rewarding, can you beat a dog running to greet you when you come home? I’ve never seen someone so excited to see me, but he’s also very hard work. Last month he had a few days of jumping over the stair gate, and he managed to get into my blogging room ( how I don’t know) and he managed to put a hole through my new Dior primer. I know, night mare right? Dogs are hard work, and to be honest i never envisioned how hard it would be sometimes. But he is also now a part of our family which we wouldn’t swap for the world. So that is an update all about Frankie. He says hi btw.
