21/12/2023
🐶 J&L Hound Hotel Storytime!! 🐶
💜 Frank 💜
In this penultimate episode in the J&L doggie saga, we now break the link between the stories, as the last two came as a surprise to everyone! At this stage, a few years had past since we thought we had completed our little gang. I had gone from working in a vets to accidentally starting my own dog boarding business and things were going great! So great that Nana Ally was able to leave a job she hated and join the team! So there we were, every day, me and Nana Ally with Jack, Lucie and Jasper, looking after other doggies whilst their families went on holiday or to work. The idea of another dog hadn’t crossed my mind….. until……
It was a Sunday afternoon and I got a phone call. A lovely person on the other end asked if I could look after her dog from tomorrow for a week. It was last minute due to work commitments and at this stage I would usually require a meeting before hand. This was before the stricter council changes (which I fully agree with regarding a meeting prior to a dog staying) but decisions were more flexible based on the business. As this wonderful owner told me more about her dog, I heard the words ‘3 month old beagle puppy’. From this I only had one question…. ‘What time do you want to drop him off?’ 🙈 Puppies have always been something that I just understood, even before studying. Yes the studying helped to understand the Why behind the things I did but learning with the previous three dogs helped me to know the How before the education started. This new pup was before his socialisation sponge phase, he would be home before it started, he was crate trained already for if he needed down time so I figured I could help him along his socialisation path as there was only one other guest staying who was a very friendly doggo!
So the following day, the most adorable little puppy was brought to me along with his owners. They went through his food and all the normal stuff that owners do before they leave. They told me he was named Frank, after a family member that had passed away, and he suited it so much! Little Franky puppy! So then after his owners had left, I introduced him to the others. From that first moment, it was clear he was a dogs dog!! He was sniffing everyone’s butts and his little tail was going mad!! He would play bow, had a little yappy puppy bark (miles away from the sound he makes now!) and when he tired one dog out, he would move onto the next. I couldn’t believe how easy he was for a 3 month old puppy! So of course I fell in love!! So how did he end up with me as his mama?
A few days into the stay, I had another phone call with his owners to check in on how he was doing. I reported how wonderful he was doing with every aspect and how much I loved him. I made a joke that now looking back might have been pushing my luck a bit but luckily they had a sense of humour too! I said ‘He is so good that I might turn all my lights off when you come to pick him up and pretend I’m not home’ (I know, pushing my luck!!). The silence on the end of the phone was deafening! I quickly reassured them that I was joking but they uttered a sentence that would change my life in so many ways!
‘Actually we were going to wait until we were face to face to ask this, but we were wondering if you would consider taking him’
Seriously? Someone wanted to give me the most perfect puppy in the world? There were many reasons why and to this day his first owners have held their hands up to say they rushed into getting another dog after losing their previous one suddenly. They turned down homes they didn’t feel were right and do the best for little Franky puppy given the circumstances they found themselves in. They haven’t left their commitment to Frank either, as they have had many visits with him, brought him gifts and he adores his time with them, which isn’t very common to continue visits 7 years down the line. But they are some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met and knowing Frank, I don’t think he would’ve coped being the only dog. So this brings us back to the question. There was only one answer to this question as far as I was concerned.
But according to some of the other people in my life, there was also different answers to that question such as ‘no we already two dogs’ (who would have thought 🤷🏻♀️). After discussion and against what I really wanted but probably the sensible decision, I had to sit down with the owners and tell them I couldn’t take him. I promised them that I would do everything I could to find him a home and I really did! But one by one all the options I looked at fell through for some reason. Maybe call it fate! So a few weeks later the owners contacted me again asking if I could board him for a weekend. Of course I wanted to see him again and had space so he came back. That weekend, as I looked at him and he cuddled me, I realised I couldn’t let him go, despite it being the sensible option. But I’ve never been known to be sensible! So then he came to live with us and he’s been with us ever since!
So how has this pup changed my life? He is the reason I continued my education and did my degree. He is the reason I understand how to help anxious dogs. He is the one who made the decision between whether I had human kids or not, as I knew with 3 dogs it would be near impossible for me. He has taught me so much about dog body language that the books can’t teach. I would be lost without him, even with his howling while walking, his screaming when we entering the house and his baying instead of barking when playing with other dogs! He has been adorable from day one and he remains it to this day!!!
So that’s the story of Franky Poomie Puppy, our fourth doggie! Stay tuned for the next addition to the group!
(On these stories feel free to post your first and latest photos too!!! 🐶🐶🐶)
