We've been promising a dog for years. "Once Gabrielle is potty-trained" I used to say.
"Mom she's been potty-trained since she was two years old!"
And this summer David and I really started talking serious about it. IF we were going to get a dog, it had to be an indoor, smart, non-shedding, small dog. A poodle. I never loved poodles, but the ones we had seen around here were so adorable. And he had to be cute, no froo-froo poodle hair cuts. I kept showing David pictures, and man was I being picky, but I didn't care.
We never actually went looking, though. I saw one that I asked about in a shop in the summer, but the shopkeeper was so unfriendly, we didn't go back.
So, after our Thanksgiving trip, the first weekend of Advent, we went out to actually just look for a puppy in order to get one in time for Christmas. The first shop didn't have any, but he knew of someone who had some poodle pups and showed us some video on his phone. We decided we might come back, but we would keep looking.
We stopped by another shop with an adorable five month old very hyperactive poodle. Not the one for us. Did I mention the other requirements? No barky, yippy, out of control dog. I basically wanted the dog to not act too dog-like. I needed a calm addition, not more chaos. Yes, the bar was set HIGH, poor new Coker dog, right?
Next we decided to ask at the only vet we knew in town. She told us right away, her daughter had been raising some. She had one left, a 3 month old poodle, she could bring it over. Sure, why not?
While waiting at the Vet, we saw a sick dog get an IV, another dog had been attacked by a big dog and was in desperate need of stitching up, and a variety of other unsightly things.
They brought the pup over in a little shopping bag...poor thing. And of course, we were all smitten.
Who wouldn't be?
This was our first impression.
Utter cuteness. And supreme calm. He was scared. He did not make one sound. And I started to back-track on my 'no barking' qualification, because, after all, we wanted a dog with a little personality-Part lap dog, part kids play companion.
This little tyke was so docile, let us all hold him, and was quite charming.
We sat with him for a good half hour. We all already wanted him. But we still decided to wait a bit, think it over and discuss. But really our hearts were his.
When we asked via text later if the dog was playful, did he ever bark? They sent us a video of him in his cage barking quite a bit, and of him interacting with another dog. This sealed the deal and we arranged to pick him up the next day.
Frodo became our dog! The name was hard because I always wanted a Samwise dog, my fave character in one of my fave books, but Frodo was more fitting. We also considered Chewbacca, Chewy for short, since he was loving to chew. We settled on Frodo Chewbacca Coker. Fro-Fro, and Fro-boy are some of his nicknames.
And boy do we love him. He is super smart, and has trained well.
But we have our days. Days where he frustrates us just like a toddler might. He has rocked our world when we realize every morning he has to go out and we need to keep him from waking the kids. But seriously he has been GREAT.
He loves to chew, David has taught him how to sit and shake. The kids are doing great with training, taking him out, and even cleaning up poop and throw up.
He also lets our kids treat him like a rag-doll at times. He is so fun with them. His personality has blossomed so much! They pick him up and cuddle him all day long, they play fetch with him in the yard, and daily say how much they love him.
He does like to nip/bite/chew everything. He has bitten our kids playfully though it is painful some times. We are training him not to do this, but it takes work!
We love this grandma too, she was playing peek-a-boo with Frodo. We are training him to stay in our yard when he is outside (which is usually only outside if we are) and so far he has obeyed.
He is great with all kids! Even our friend's 2 yo, loves on him well!
