Introducing Frank

After a few months of waiting, searching, and deliberation, we picked up our puppy, Frank, last Saturday. With the girls the ages they are (5 and 11) it’s such a precious moment and one perfectly timed with the Easter Holidays. I’d forgotten how having a puppy is like having a little baby about the place. Yes, they can stand on their own feet and generally are about 150 times more grown up (and more fun!) than a new born manchild, but there’s an awful lot of life adjustment that needs to go on. It’s all fun and special days, but we’ve already had to can a trip we were getting very excited about (in the new caravan – just to Phil & Anne’s overnight) and social plans for Easter are incredibly modest, but there will be no wishing the days away… not from me.

  • The camera has been out in almost unprecedented levels (saying a lot for me).
  • He has his own Facebook page (look – it’s just easier that way – rather than me cram my own timeline with him!)
  • I have captured everything apart from the lovely, lovely smell from the top of a puppy’s head. I wish I could bottle that. He’s gorgeous.

Some basics:

  1. Frank is a standard Labradoodle. That means a mix of Labrador and Standard (i.e. full sized) Poodle. His immediate lineage is more Poodle, and this accounts for his rather thick hair.
  2. He was born in Thornton Cleveleys, near Fleetwood to a litter of 8. Seven survived. He had two sisters – the rest were boys
  3. We picked him up aged 51 days – he was born on 21st February 2014 and this is the youngest I’ve ever owned a puppy… he’s been incredibly good natured, not particularly yappy, willing to relax when put in his bed, and a bundle of fun when called upon.
  4. He has clingon issues. I can see us having to trim there.
  5. He has been given a number of informal names already by us all… including, but not limited to:
    Frank Sinatra
    Frank Zappa
    Franco-Prussian War
    Frankenstein
    Frankie Goes to Hollywood
    Franco Pacini
    Frankie and Bennys
    … but none of these will stick. Hopefully.

Our now elderly Labrador, Elvis, has a little less enthusiasm for our new friend than the rest of us. He’s always been a bit grumpy with puppies and sometimes with other dogs per se. It’s only been five days though and each day the snarling and lip curling reduces a tiny bit. I’m a great believer in letting jobs do the pack thing by themselves, but the parental reflex to defend the defenceless is hard to overcome. We’ll get there… I do hope so quickly, for Elvis’ sake, because the tables will turn in a few months as the aggressor becomes the underdog, inevitably. That’s how they do it. They’re dogs… we’re humans. Anyway… here’s an ever-growing live list of my Flickr photos tagged ‘Frank’ and below is a video of his first few days, and some select pics… as well as a reminder what Elvis looked like when he was a few weeks older than this, but camera film was pricey!