Name: Gnocchi Age: 2 years old Breed: Cocker Spaniel
Gnocchi in 3 words: Cheeky. Sweet. Crazy (just a little!)
Nickname: Nokoboko
Two year-old cocker spaniel, Gnocchi, sports a golden floofy coat and charming personality that wins him many a heart. Not that you need to tell him – if his instagram account is anything to go by, he knows this already.
The only fur baby of the family, Gnocchi shares a home in Melbourne’s inner west with pawrents Selin and Lee, a kind, laid-back couple who enjoy nothing more than spending time together as a family. Finding endless entertainment in his cute and quirky antics, it’s no secret that Selin and Lee absolutely dote on their boy.
Having been long-time followers of Gnocchi’s popular instagram account, we were pretty darn excited to meet him in person. We were also quietly keen to see whether his cheeky, mildly inappropriate insta personality translated in real life!
Safe to say, Gnocchi and his little blonde mohawk certainly won us over. And the more time we spent with him, it was clear to see just how Selin and Lee came to be helplessly smitten with their floofy fur baby, fantastically named after their love of food.
When did Gnocchi join your family?
When Lee and I got married and moved in together, we really missed the presence of our own family pets, who had all passed away in recent years. I wanted to surprise Lee for his 30th birthday, so I did plenty of research and found an amazing breeder in Goulburn NSW, who was having a litter from an excellent pedigree of champion cockers. So I decided to surprise him!
What’s Gnocchi’s personality like?
Gnocchi is gentle, sweet…and a little crazy! He’s a real people pleaser, so he’s always keen to learn new tricks. The best one is when we’re sitting on the couch and Gnocchi’s on the floor. We’ll call out ‘Family Hug!’ and he immediately jumps up and sits between us as we make a ‘Gnocchi sandwich’ and shower him with kisses!
“His social media personality is a little sleazy because I think that he’s the ‘good guy’ who you wouldn’t expect to be a ‘player’ – but he certainly plays the field!”
Do you spoil Gnocchi?
Oh yes…he has more clothes than I have for sure! He has so many bandanas, collars and leads. There are so many generous small businesses who want exposure, and we love supporting them by showcasing their products.
We are passionate about small business, handmade and locally-produced things. We have turned down large Australian companies who offer to pay us for posting about their products, but they just don’t demonstrate the same passion for keeping jobs in Australia.
“Gnocchi gets walked twice a day, and goes absolutely bonkers when you say ‘Does Gnocchi want to go….walkies?!’ He also has his own room downstairs, which is effectively his bedroom.”
What are some of your most memorable moments with Gnocchi?
Gnocchi’s best friend in the whole wide world is Evie, a cocker spaniel he met at obedience school. Those two meeting for the first time was one of my best memories – Evie and Gnocchi playing together is the cutest thing you can watch!
My second memory is when I had my shoulder surgery last year. Gnocchi spent the first few days of me being home literally laying on me, just watching me. They’re such amazing animals and so in-tune with us.
“Nothing in the world has the same reaction to seeing you, even when you’ve been away for only an hour or two. The love they show reminds us to show love, care and compassion to people around us.”
You can follow Gnocchi on instagram @gnocchi_thecocker.
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