Frankie

Meet Frankie, our newest permanent family member. He is almost 10 weeks old and full of beans. Except when he is worn out after having the zoomies for half an hour.

We had been thinking of getting a second Jack Russell for some time but litters are popular and no sooner an advert goes out, the puppies are gone. An advert from a registered breeder for a litter of six in Troon came up last Saturday and we were lucky to arrange a visit for Monday morning. We drove to Troon, about an hour away from home. Of the six puppies, four had already left, one went all the way to Surrey. It was clear we couldn’t defer a decision and the pups were ready to leave. Both puppies were cute, one was all white with black spots, the other had a black head with a white body and a few black spots. This second one was a smidgen bigger and with Jack being quite a big Jack Russell, we thought it might be better to choose the bigger pup. I am not even sure this is rational but it made sense at the time. If I had gone on my own, I would haven taken both… but Richard was with me and more rational. So we left with one puppy. We stoped at Pets at Home in Kilmarnock for puppy training pads and a few toys. We got a big bag of food from the breeder and a soft blanket that had been in the kennel with the pups and their mum, for a familiar scent. The pup had been vet checked, microchipped and it had its first jags, so ok to come into a home with another (fully vaccinated) dog. 

It has been a fun few days but it is quite tiring having a puppy. Frankie is not fully house trained yet and needs a bit of help with that. He decided the rug under our dining table was a suitable toilet so that is now rolled up in the garage until such time when the pup is fully trained. He responds well to praise when using the puppy pad, a good sign. Or so I tell myself. Time will tell. 

Jack and Josie are not impressed with the new addition. Josie keep out of his way. Jack is quite territorial but generally ok to share a space once he is certain his main human (Richard) is safe. He is not keen on playful bouncy creatures though and gets cross with Frankie when he tries to play. To be fair, it is more of an assault than play and I get that Jack gets annoyed. Frankie doesn’t get the memo and keeps on prodding Jack. We keep a close eye on interactions. 

I have swapped my new slippers for the old ones because Frankie is still at the toe nipping stage. He has tiny sharp teeth and no understanding of how much pain he causes. He chews up everything. He’s just shredded a newspaper and now he is working on destroying a potholder that mysteriously found its way to the floor. Bonkers. Then, completely our of the blue, he crashes out and sleeps soundly for a couple of hours. And all is forgiven. 

Frankie coming home for Christmas is a blessing because we have time, and he gets socialised, which is good. My sister in law’s dog came for a visit, and all went well with that. We ended up having 7 young people for Christmas (four of them my own) plus three oldies and four pets. Chaotic but overall good. There was a few tense minutes when 9 of 10 tiny pins from a Christmas cracker ten pin bowling game were unaccounted for. We thought they might be in Frankie's intestines but luckily, Richard found them at the bottom of the recycling bin. 

I’ll be regaling you with more puppy tales over the coming weeks, for sure.