Puppy!

30 comments
Sorry for being MIA the last few days, but I have an excuse: Luke and I adopted a puppy from Woods Humane Society! We had our hearts set on adopting a boy, so we could name it "Frank," but when we saw this sweet little girl we changed our minds and named her "Frankie."


 Frankie is a Jack Russell Chihuahua mix. She weighs a little under ten pounds, is a little over seven months old, loves to cuddle, and likes going on walks. She is a little skittish towards men, but it's only been a day and I think she will come around. When we adopted our cat Lebron from the shelter he was scared of everything and everyone, but now he is the most loving cat. Hopefully, this will happen with Frankie too.


On Sunday I spent the day sewing this dog bed for Frankie. Lebron immediately sat down on it to test it out, so I took a photo :) The fabric is a quilting cotton with an awesome retro circus look to it. The whole project looks easy, but it still took a while! Well, the piping and stuffing were the most time consuming part, but I will go into details in a later post.


Frankie LOVES her toys, especially her Gumby one, I had to get her that. You probably don't know, but Gumby was my first boyfriend.

Me and Gumby circa 1986(?) in Santa Monica, California.

So, dog owners: do you have any tips for me? I have never had an indoor dog before and I know house training can be a lot of work... Luckily, Frankie has been such a good dog so far (knock on wood), but I can use all the advice I can get!


30 comments :

  1. Oh my gosh, what a cutie! And of course you know I love Lebron. Piping scares me, so I'm looking forward to see how you handled it!

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    1. Hey Lindsay, I followed this tutorial and it really helped me! http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/tutorial-how-to-make-piping

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    2. Nice! I'll have to give piping a try.

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  2. Frankie is a darling name for what will sure to be the love of your life. I am the proud "mom" to 2 jack russells and have the patience to prove it. Bandit is 14+ yo this year and Nick turned 11 in November. I am a very good dog trainer, and horse trainer, but have to say that Bandit made me cry in frustration in our first obedience class many years ago. Have fun! and post pics :-)

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    1. Mary, that's so cool that you are a fellow JRT lover! I had one growing up, but it was not nearly as nice and sweet as little Frankie :) If you have any tips on raising JRTs please let me know! I can use all the info I can get.

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  3. What a sweet pup! Tips for house training are consistency, consistency, consistency. When my dogs were little I tried to take them out every few hours, and I always rewarded them with a treat and lots of praise when they went outside. It didn't take long for them to figure out peeing in the grass = yummy treats. :) Also, we took a clicker training class from our local humane society. It's training based on positive reinforcement, and we really loved it.
    And the new bed is cute too! Lucky Dog!

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    1. I have heard good things about clicker training classes. I need to look into it. Thanks for mentioning that!

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  4. Congratulations! What adorable pets you have. I can't offer any advice, I haven't independently owned an animal.

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  5. YAY FOR PUPPIES!!!!!
    I think I will echo a few above me, and say that consistency is the key. It's hard work, but it's worth it! :) Fortunately, when we got our Ruby Tuesday, she was only 6 wks old but already potty trained. We lucked out.
    We did a few intro obedience classes, but she was the pest of the class :)
    Oh, and her crate is the best thing ever! It's her 'den'. :)

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    1. Wow, already potty trained?!?! Lucky! :) Do you have any pictures of Ruby Tuesday? I want to see her!

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    2. Have any pictures?! Girl, you have opened a can of worms! :)

      I will email you some!

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  6. ADORABLE! Congrats on the addition to your family!

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  7. Congratulations! I must de-lurk over cute puppy/kitty pictures! We have an 8 year old pit we got when he was 2. Like the others ladies above said, consistency is crucial. But the other 2 things that are so important are exercise and making sure your pup knows who's boss.
    I know it's cheesy, but the "dog whisperer" advice really works: exercise (1st), discipline (2nd), love (3rd).

    Also, the dog bed is adorable! Great job tackling piping!!

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    1. Someone tried to give me on of the dog whisperers books and I said no. Now I regret it :(

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    2. But that was a few years ago before I had a dog.

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  8. Aw, congrats. She looks adorable. I hope house training and keeping going well for you!

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    1. So far there has only been one "incident." Hopefully the last!

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  9. awwwww Frankie!!! *hugs* no puppy advice from me; I'm a cat person - but make sure Lebron gets lots of love; puppies may be hard to train but jealous kitties are impossible!! lol

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    1. It's been interesting with the cats so far... Frankie isn't aggressive with them, which is good, but she is very jealous when I pet them.

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  10. Oh cute!! Congrats!!!! If she's already 7 mos, maybe you lucked out and she's already potty trained?? Has she had any accidents yet? Using a crate at night really helped with potty training Lucy--they won't go potty where they sleep, so having her contained at night meant no accidents over night! And I second the dog whisperer advice above--His advice really makes sense and it works! Also, decide right away whether the dog is allowed on the couch, bed, etc, and be consistent enforcing those rules. Very excited for you--I love dogs :D

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    1. She is half way potty trained. When she goes outside she knows what to do, but she doesn't really let us know, we just have been letting her out every few hours.

      Come meet her!!

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  11. Awww..congrats!! Frankie is so cute! XOXOX

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  12. EEEEEE!!! You got a puppy!!!
    I have lots an lots of tips on house-training boy dogs (very different from female dogs) so feel free to text me anytime!
    Congratulations to your little family, Frankie is a lucky dog!

    xoxo

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  13. Congratulations on the new dog. She is adorable and I'm in love with her white fur! I once had a dalmation and the best advice I can give is crate train. It taught her (her name was Kate) to have a space or her own. It was like her room, her own little haven. I respected her space and she respected mine. Good luck!

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  14. Hooray Frankie!! She's so cute! One piece of advice I have is to never call her to you by name to punish her-- you want her to have really positive associations with her name so that she always comes right away when you call her (that will help to keep her safe, especially if she ever got off her leash outside or something). That has worked really well with my dogs. And positive reinforcement is the best! Good luck, and have so much fun with her! :)

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  15. ARGH She's white like Doris Day! We are twinnies! Happy families with your new pet!

    xoxoxo

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  16. I haven't read all the comments, but I do want to add that I'm pretty anti-C. Milan. I prefer positive reinforcement, and it's worked really well with our skittish dog. Expose her to men, get men to toss treats on the floor/ground, but not interact, bend over, reach out to pet her. Let her come around to them by providing her with a safe environment, where she knows you've got her back. If she's afraid of hats, sunglasses, backpacks, where those things and act normally to desensitize her.

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