Bringing Up Baby

We have now had Darwin for a couple of days, and it's amazing how attached you can get to a little ball of fur in such a small amount of time. He's the most precious baby ever, and each day we get to know him a little more, and him us.

It's incredible how much his personality has developed in these few days. The first day he was understandably tired with low energy. But each day after that he has grown a little more daring, a little more adventurous and definitely more curioius as he's getting familiar with his new environment. After a day and a half or so he started responding to his name. He must be the smartest boy ever, wouldn't you say? I sure would, but then I'm not impartial one bit!

We have been playing games with him following a stick and each day he is becoming more aware of it, moving his eyes quicker, finding a hidden stick faster, and his coordination is better. I just can't believe how much he's developing from one day to another.

When I grew up we had a little Cavalier King Charles puppy, named Jonte. Jonte was beyond adorable and sweet, however he was high energy and his attention span didn't stretch very far. We worked with him a lot; did obediance training, tricks, agility etc... and I loved every minute of it. He was great at it as long as he was super-focused. But, the minute he wasn't focused on you his mind would drift and he would take off, if he was off the leash, or he would do something else. Jonte was sweet and high-intensity smart, but he wasn't cool in a calm / cool / aware / submissive way. And that's always what I wanted in my next dog, one that is calmer and more aware and not so hyper. Darwin is just that. He's like a dream come true in that department.

As we get to know him more we marvel at him 100 times at day. Often it's because he's just so darn cute, but other times it's because he's picking things up quickly. He's good off the leash, he runs after you when walking and he's starting to walk really good on the leash too. He's starting to show more puppy behaviors such as playful biting, and running around. If he isn't sleeping, chances are he's walking after you from one room in the house to another. Always at your feet and we're now learning to look down wherever we're walking, just so we won't step on him - he's just so small!

When you play games with him, he's so funny. He get's into a playful submissive state very easily and rolls on his back. I've never seen a dog do that with such ease while at the same time not being timid or scared. He's rather forward and he's showing more signs of curiousity each day, yet whenever you play rough with him, or just pet him when he's sleepy, he'll just roll back and expose his belly, perfectly content. The ideal calm submissive state.

Everything becomes so much more fun with puppy around, or should I say distracting! I seriously don't get much done. I just want to kiss him and rub him and roll him over. And walk with him and work on tricks and watch him sleep. Because he sure sleeps a lot. And he dreams and moves his big paws and he's just absolutely adorable. How can I seriously get anything done?

Life with baby puppy means less sleep, he's definitely is a baby. But he's such a good baby! He wakes me up at night when he needs to go out, and the first two nights he woke up every 2 1/2 - 3 hours. However last night he slept through 5 whole hours. I was amazed when I looked at the watch as he put his paws on the side of the bed and whimpered a little to wake me up. 

When we work in the backyard he walks back and forth with us, unless he's sleeping. He tries to climb the mountain of gravel and has been successful a few times so far. And then sometimes he just slides down as he loses his balance for a minute, or the gravel lets go.

He's so funny. Best puppy ever. We're smack down in the honeymoon phase I would say. Whenever I leave the house I miss him to an extreme degree. That cannot be healthy! That little pup is controling me already, and he's only been here a few days! Wonderful, wonderful puppy. I can't wait to see you grow up.

Also, this is kind of funny. Yesterday we were sitting by the fire outside, and we put an ice cube in a bowl for Darwin. Up until this point we had never heard him bark once. He's the quietest dog - a soft whimper at times, a bit of a growl, but never a bark.

Enter ice cube in a bowl, and suddenly he had reason to let us know that he knew how to bark without problem! Apparently ice cubes can be quite scary...