The Video: Are You Ready For A Dog?

Can you believe Frankie our labradoodle is 11 months old? We sure can't! After having Frankie for a good few months, we've had lots of learning curves with having a new puppy. It's been a 100 x time harder than we ever imagined, I didn't do enough research when getting a puppy and there were some elements I wasn't quite ready for! I did think it would be all cuddles and lovely country walks (it's not) although some of the time it is, it's a lot harder. But having a dog is so worth the hard work. Frankie is a part of us now, and we hate not having him home. I miss him when I'm at work, and nothing cheers me up better than a cuddle with him. Yes he has his moments, but he is such a loving dog, who makes the hard times and all the ruined make up brushes worth it!

So lets start at the beginning, a brief overview, Frankie is a labradoodle, he's not as big as standard labradodles as his dad was a miniature poodle but he is pretty big and heavy! I can't lift him anymore :( He's a big softy, he loves cuddles, and likes to plop himself on your lap! He's so big now I can't see over him when I'm watching the telly! He loves company and a head massage! He doesn't like being on his own, and loves nothing more than a long walk! He literally smiles when he runs! So I hope these topics are helpful! We have covered them a bit more in detail in the video :)

Settling in your puppy:
Puppies aren't good sleepers that's for sure. Say goodbye to having lie ins! We had our first one yesterday together after getting Frankie back in September as he was at the kennels, we slept till 10:55!! And it felt so weird!! Frankie howled like a monkey when we first got him, we found getting him a pen, a comfy bed, a warm hot water bottle, alarm clock, classical fm, and a toy puppy helped him sleep at night.

Food:
Food is a funny one as every dog is different. We've found Frankie likes Bakers Puppy Food, and has Wagg treats. When he's a very good boy he gets a little chunk of cheese. He doesn't agree with wet dog food, it makes him very windy (poooee) and gives him a dodgy tummy bless him.

Vets & Insurance:
We never anticipated how expensive the vets would be! We got him a starter kit from Vets for Pets and have used that for his mircochipping and injections. After a few days of a dodgy tummy, we went to the vets when he was little and was given a paste to settle his tummy. This paste cost us £50!! We were like 'omg.' We pretty much went home and got him insured as we worried if anything ever happened we wouldn't be able to afford the bills. I would recommend getting pet insurance, as there would be nothing worse than having a poorly dog and a huge bill!

Training & Walking:
We have trained Frankie ourselves, and we will be taking him for training classes soon. We should of taken him earlier, but the nights didn't agree with Henry's work rota. He's a very chilled dog, his worst trait is being very bouncy. This is something I want to control, as it's not nice when another dog jumps on you. Walking wise, we make sure we walk Frankie once a day, we take him for a 3km walk and then a run round a field with a ball. He loves this, and then sleeps for the rest of the day! He loves playing fetch and Frisbee! We think that because he's well exercised, he's pretty well behaved. You have to walk dogs in whatever weather, I've walked him in every weather condition but it's what you've got to do, esp if you have a big dog like Frankie!

What Do I Do When I'm At Work?
Thankfully me and Henry have alternate work patterns so Frankie is only on his own for about four hours max. Henry's days off are usually in the week and mine are the weekend so he's not on his own too much. However we make sure he has plenty of food/water, I've looked into dog walkers for longer days. I'd definitely recommend getting a dog walker for days when you're away, and you can also get dog sitters who come and visit your dog which is pretty cool!

That's just a few things we thought of, of course I could go on for about seven hours on everything to do with dogs, but remember if you have any other questions, tweet me @dizzybrunette3 as I'll be more than happy to answer anything!