The following blogs appear with the most recent article showing first. If you would like to read Freya and Frankie’s stories from the beginning, please scroll to the initial post.
Now a puppy's season was a subject I definitely knew nothing about and so I’ve been fairly explicit in this blog for any other puppy novices out there who have no idea what to expect from their female charges. However, please don’t continue if you’re squeamish because what follows is the full,...
I was walking with Freya in Delamere Forest recently – she was doing her usual nonsense of getting crazily over excited when she saw other dogs coming towards her – when I spotted a beautiful, calm, relaxed golden cockapoo coming towards us. "How old?" I asked. The couple walking the beautiful...
Both Hilary and Ruth stressed the importance of early and continued puppy training, especially with a cockapoo. As a complete novice, I had no idea where to begin, but they said puppy training socialisation during the first 20 weeks was crucial. I needed to expose Freya to as many experiences as...
Feeding a fussy cockapoo - Another consideration was what do we eventually feed our cockapoo puppy as they were renowned to be fussy eaters? Not an immediate concern we thought; Freya had come with her own pack of food and the repeated message that whatever happened in her first 20 weeks it would...
As a first-time puppy owner, I had no idea that there was a limit placed on how long the first puppy walk should be. To me it made sense that a puppy would walk until it became too tired and then you picked them up and carried them. But oh no! Freya's first 'big' walk at three months - 45 minutes...
As a first time puppy owner, I had no idea that crating a puppy was controversial. For me it made complete sense; it meant that while Freya was small and vulnerable, she was secure, safe, and snug and - crucially - I would be in full control when it came to leaving her on her own for any length of...
My instincts were right, we had a sick puppy on our hands. Once home Freya's snuffles developed into a hollow cough and she was refusing food and, more worryingly, water. I contacted Alison immediately by email sending her a video of Freya so she could see exactly what the issue was. She responded...
The day had finally arrived to pick up our puppy – all was ready. It was a 45 minute drive to Nantwich and when we arrived we had been given a code to enter the grounds. We were greeted by a very friendly man manoeuvring a sit on lawnmower who, having established we'd not been before, guided us to...
The day was nearly upon us and in my enthusiasm I had already spent a small fortune – not just for the actual puppy, which Mark joked was the most expensive mongrel he’d ever come across – but also on the paraphernalia I’d convinced myself she would need. We’d rounded off our holiday by staying a...
It was while on a walk with Hilary and Owen in Tatton Park we met Ruth and husband Geoff out on a puppy training exercise with other owners. We were immediately attracted like magnets to 12-week old Amber, Ruth's tri-coloured cockapoo puppy, and we struck up a cockapoo conversation (naturally)....