Doodle Diaries!
Entry #3
From time to time, our families submit guest blog posts about their Doodles that came from Lost Creek Farm. We’ll try to post a new entry as often as possible. We hope this helps families searching for their perfect new family member, and existing owners alike!
If you'd like to post, send an email to info@lostcreekdoodles.com. We love to hear from you!
Franklin the Bordoodle!
Submitted by Kaci Hicks (Colorado, USA)
After my plans to work at a summer camp got canceled in early spring of 2020 I started looking for a puppy. I had been considering getting another dog, but the timing had never seemed right as a puppy is a very big time commitment. I knew I wanted an active dog that would be up for whatever adventure I had in mind. In addition, I have always wanted a dog that would be good at dog sports (such as disc, dock diving, agility, etc) and my dream dog was a Border Collie.
Some of my family members are allergic to shedding dog breeds...
…so I began researching Bordoodles and Bordoodle breeders. I found a few breeders and, after contacting several of them, decided that Lost Creek Doodles was the best choice for me. They were happy to answer any questions I had and, after placing my deposit, they kept me updated on the puppies’ growth and sent pictures.
Franklin is a standard Bordoodle from Rosa x George Grimes, born on 04/01/2020.
After making the 12 hour drive down to Texas from northern Colorado I finally got to meet my little Franklin and it was love at first sight. He did amazing on the 12 hour drive home and had no accidents in the kennel that he rode in. He was a confident and curious puppy and very, very smart. He was housetrained pretty quickly and almost never had an accident in his kennel (which he sleeps in every night). He grew quickly and became a rambunctious and energetic “teenage” puppy. Now, at almost 3 years old, he is 42 lbs, stands at 21.5” at the withers, and has begun to settle down and mature.
…Franklin absolutely LOVES swimming, hiking, playing frisbee, jogging with me, and could play fetch for hours. He accompanies me almost everywhere I go, ever since he finished his puppy vaccinations he has come to work with me at the dog grooming salon nearly every day. One of his favorite places to go is the off-leash dog beach at our local reservoir. He also loves playing with Schroeder, his “brother from another mother,” the Shih Tzu mix and has learned to respect my older Havanese mix, Lucy, when she doesn’t want to play.
Franklin learns tricks quickly and is eager to please. He knows sit, lie down, stand, stay, come, shake (both right and left paws), roll over, bow, beg, back up, spin (both clockwise and counter-clockwise), park it (sit in-between my legs), figure 8 (going in a figure-8 pattern between my legs), leg weave (weaving between my legs as I walk), touch (touch his nose to my hand), heel (on my left side), side (heeling on my right side), drop it (drop whatever is in his mouth), leave it, flip (cross his right foot over his left foot), flop (cross his left foot over his right foot), and, my personal favorites, orbit (walk backwards around me in a clockwise circle) and circle (walk backwards around me in a counterclockwise circle). He earned his AKC Canine Good Citizen title about a year ago and we are working on his AKC Trick Dog titles.
(That’s 25 tricks!)
Shortly after Franklin’s first birthday, we began training in dog agility.
I have never done dog agility before and was very surprised by the amount of training and learning the sport required. From teaching Franklin how to do each obstacle safely to learning how to direct him through a numbered agility course, there are so many pieces that go into playing and competing in agility. I could not have asked for a better teammate than Franklin for my first agility dog. He caught on quickly and now he basically lives for the sport. After taking agility classes for a little over 8 months, we entered our first agility competition. We have been competing in NADAC (North American Dog Agility Counsel) agility for a little over a year and have moved our way from Novice (which is the first level you start at) to Open (once you earn enough points in Novice you can move up to Open) and finally to Elite (the highest level, the courses are longer and more challenging). We have traveled to multiple states to compete in different events and we had the opportunity to compete at NADAC National Championships last October where he placed 11th out of 42 dogs in his height group.
Franklin is a very fast dog, and usually places in the top 3 dogs of his group for each qualifying run. He is the best road trip companion and my favorite way to spend a weekend is at a dog agility competition. Training and competing in agility creates a bond between dog and owner that I have never seen or experienced before, there is just something so special about moving together as a team that I never expected but am so glad I discovered.
I could probably write an entire book if I kept going on about Franklin and his qualities and quirks. He is a very good dog, he behaves nicely in public, he has a lovely temperament and personality (although he gets into more than his fair share of mischief), and so far has had no health issues (other than the one time he ate a sock and had to go to the emergency vet). I would highly recommend Lost Creek Doodles as they truly care about their dogs and are always willing to give advice and support to their puppies’ families. It’s already been a couple of years since I got my handsome boy from them and they have stayed in touch with me and are always happy to receive updates about how life is going. I am so grateful I found Lost Creek Doodles and got my precious boy from them!!
Kaci Hicks & Franklin
Maybe our best post of the year. PLEASE READ! 🤗 … Kaci and Franklin (Rosa x George Grimes #bordoodle) participated again this year in the North American Dog Agility Council’s National Championships. Out of hindreds of dogs, Franklin finished 2nd 🥈 this year! The Finals were held over a 3 day period, with dogs and handlers running a number of heats. In the end, 20 dogs made it to the final round, all of which were purebred Border Collies, except for @franklin_the_bordoodle ! Truly impressive!
Kaci and Franklin are simply AMAZING and we’re so proud of their accomplishments! They have worked very hard to get here and I’m not sure who loves it the most, Franklin or Kaci!!
Kaci – you’re an impressive person and we, and Franklin are lucky you chose us! Well done! (And by the way, Kaci has a 2nd Bordoodle puppy she’s now training in Colorado – Benjamin, a puppy from Dicey & Uncle Jack!) #lostcreekbordoodles #bordoodlesofinstagram #bordoodles #nadac #dogagility #dogagilitytraining
The comment above is from an Instagram post about Franklin’s 2nd Place finish at Nationals! You can see it by visiting this link => https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyghpk4OutZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==