Frankly Care 101
This weekend Dan and I are going to be in Montreal for the long weekend to attend a wedding. While I'm excited to be spending more time in MTL - I'm extremely sad to leave Frankly. This time for the first time EVER, we have let my brother Richard watch Frankly for the long weekend. This is a really big deal (for me) because my brother and I did not grow up with a dog, and Frankly essentially is the first dog that my family has interacted with for an extended period of time in their home. That's why this trip away from Frankly is especially nerve wracking because we're leaving her with someone who isn't accustomed to taking care of dogs. HOWEVER - my brother loves Frankly a lot so I feel like he'll take really good care of her, and also he's considering getting a dog himself - so what better way to really test this then taking care of a dog for the long weekend!
In practical neurotic fashion though - I wrote an extensive document for my brother that I call FRANKLY CARE 101:
Frankly Care 101
Food & Water:
We free feed her (i.e. always leave food in her bowl) because she only eats when she’s hungry/doesn’t over eat
Please always leave about 1/3 of the food bowl with food in it
Make sure she has fresh water! Essentially any time you’re topping her food bowl up, just change her water at the same time (b/c she gets food dusties in it and I don’t like the idea of her having to drink dirty dusty water towards the end of the day)
If she finishes both food or water, she usually bats at her bowls to let you know they need to be filled!
Eating - she does this weird thing where she’ll take food from her bowl and walk it over to where her bed is, drop her kibble on the bed and eat it there. Don’t be surprised if you see her walking back and forth from her bed to her bowl several times as she eats. Don’t interrupt her while she does this either, as she’ll usually eat a good amount over 5 min.
Treats:
Don’t give her too many treats because she’ll expect it from us and I’m not coming back to a spoiled/entitled dog
Playing:
LOVES when you throw her ball or egg toy around. She’ll run and retrieve it and give it to you and you gotta throw it back. She’s not good about dropping things for you to throw it so you sometimes gotta pry it out of her mouth.
Sometimes she’ll nip at you when she’s being rambunctions, you can just keep saying ‘NO BITING!’ but what works best is just turning around and ignoring her after you say it and she continues biting. Also you can hold her mouth closed and pin her on her back.. work in progress on the training here.
Bathroom/Outside Schedule:
Morning:
She wakes up between 6:30am – 7:30am usually on weekdays, and between 7:30 - 8:30am on weekends. She’ll come out of her “room” when she’s good and ready, but if you want her out so you can walk her and she hasn’t come out yet, just keep calling her name and then shake her treat container. That usually works to hustle her out. If you shake the treat container though you gotta make good on your word and give her a treat for getting out. If you keep her up late, she will probably sleep in.
She will stretch and want belly-rubs before going outside.
When she’s up, take her outside and lead her to grass and she’ll sniff around for a bit and then either pee or poop. Usually she pees first and then does #2 but she’s been known to go #2 first if she ate in the middle of the night. Dan will have to re-enact her squatting poses for both instances so you can tell when she’ll do what. There’s a distinct difference. She’ll always do both in the morning.
After she comes in – wipe her paws and really get into the grooves of each pad paw. Then check her butt and wipe it. More wiping required if there’s poop in it.
Then comb the goop out of her eyes. Hold her snout to keep her still since she doesn’t like it.
After all the cleaning, give her a treat. She deserves it!
Early afternoon – 1-2pm (or + 6 hours from first trip):
She goes for her 2nd outing outside to go to the bathroom. She’ll always always pee and poop.
Same routine as above. Don’t forget to reward her with a treat, top up food and water.
Early Evening: 6-7pm
She’ll likely have to pee again and its 50/50 whether she’ll poop.
Later evening – final outing: 10 pm+, just make sure before bed
You’ll probably want to take her out one final time. Likely just a pee, sometimes a poop.
You can put her in the pen to sleep and she’ll probably go in her room (Kennel).
Other:
She’s not used to being off-leash, so keep her on at all times when outside.
If she has too much energy and starts bullying you, give her a chew and she’ll leave you alone.. max 15-20 min though.
If she pees inside, soak up, clean w/ vinegar, then clean w/ the odour cleaner
If she is fixated on chewing something - spray the bitter apple and she’ll move on
You can leave during the day for 6 hours at a time or so, just make sure it aligns with the bathroom breaks