Walley is a keen learner!!!

Our little munchkin has been building a great vocabulary for himself over the past two weeks and we have been so amazed by his intelligence and enthusiasm to learn. He has been learning so quickly and has learned so much in two weeks, that it was just impossible for me to blog about his milestones at his learning pace.

Thanks to Tom Kane, a good friend and colleague of mine, I began the process of teaching Walley some English vocabulary much earlier I thought. Tom is also an absolute dog-lover and once had a gorgeous Golden Retriever himself and now his son has an adorable Golden Retriever; so he knows the best ways to teach a young Golden Retriever puppy and I couldn't have asked for a better mentor. Tom encouraged me to go home one day after work and teach Walley to "Sit". I went home that day and decided to try my luck and patience to see if a two and half month-old puppy (Walley, at the time) could comprehend the human way of teaching to "Sit". Much to my surprise, Walley had actually learned the "Sit" command in exactly 3 minutes of teaching him. I just sat with a cookie in my hand, exactly like Tom had instructed me to, and showed Walley the physical meaning of the word "Sit". The moment he sat down on his own, without me showing him the way (or rather making him sit with my own hands), I gave him a cookie as a treat and he was so excited. Walley and I did this "Sitting and Treating" for the next ten minutes and by then, Walley would sit down as soon as I said "Walley, Sit". How amazing and exciting! Walley and I waited for Elwyn to come home that evening to show him the first lesson our cute and smart little puppy had just learned. Elwyn's face lit up with pride and amazement.

So, the next day when I told Tom that Walley knows the meaning of the word "Sit", even he was happy and excited for us; and he told me to teach Walley the next lesson which was to "Stay". I went home that evening and taught Walley to "Stay" in position after he has sat down. In exactly 4 minutes, he perfectly obeyed the "Stay" command with no mistakes. I gave him a Chicken liver treat each time he obeyed the new command. So, he would sit when told to "Sit" and would stay in the sitting position when told to "Stay" until I would ask him to come towards me and get his treat; which also meant that he learned the word "Come", at least gradually. We are still working on "Come" right now.

Walley learned to "Sit" on November 9th, "Stay" on November 10th, "Sit and Stay" on November 10th. "Sitting" was his first milestone and "Staying" was his second.

I didn't want to confuse or exhaust Walley too much so I didn't teach him anything new for a few days after he learned to "Sit" and "Stay". Walley would just practice "Sit and Stay" that whole week upto the point where he would "Sit and Stay" as we were preparing his meals and until we told him it was OK to come and eat his food, although the whole time he stayed in position, his food would be kept in front of him. Now, that is called patience and obedience when a dog and this case, puppy, stays in the "Sit" position with his food lying in front of him until asked to "Come" and eat. What an accomplishment for Walley and us!! He also sits and stays in position when we are riding the elevator of our apartment building.

A week later, after Walley had learned to "Sit and Stay", I thought it was probably time for his next lesson. I went home one evening after work and taught him to "Lay down", This was a little challenging for both Walley and me as "Sit" and "Lay down" didn't make much difference in a dog's position. Nevertheless, I kept showing Walley the physical meaning of "Lay down" and he kept trying to understand me. Alas, after a good ten minutes of showing him the way to lay down, Walley perfected the act! He laid down so gracefully and looked at me. He got the much-awaited treat as well. This was Walley's third milestone. He learned to "Lay down" on November 20th.

Now, Walley obeys three commands in a row and perfectly with no mistakes. He sits, stays and lays down as soon as he's been told to. This is absolutely incredible learning for a 3 month old puppy!!

We also taught Walley to be "easy" when he takes a treat or toy from our hands. So, now, when we are ready to give him something, he doesn't just grab it from our hands. We say "Walley, easy" and he gently takes the treat or toy without grabbing it. It's so lovely to watch him do that. It's just as though he knows that his teeth would hurt us if he grabbed anything from our hands and hence when we say "easy", he would need to be gentle.

I need to mention now, that it's not just cookies or liver-treats that Walley has been getting when he learns a lesson or obeys a command. Elwyn and I have been praising Walley every time he does a good thing. Whether it's potty training or vocabulary building; it's all about positive reinforcement! Walley knows and understands that every time he's been a good boy he has either earned a treat or praise/petting and most often, he gets both!!

Walley is slowly and yet keenly learning all the house rules as well. He is doing fairly well with Potty-training. We have been noticing less accidental "Pee" and "Poop" at home when he's in his crate. (I have to say that Crate-training has been working very well). He tries his best to go outside and eliminate.

As Walley's parents, Elwyn and I have learned that with just a little patience and lots of positive reinforcement, training and teaching our puppy is a piece of cake!!

Walley is a little celebrity!

Our little munchkin is growing big and smart, much faster than I can blog about him so I have to really catch up on my blogging at the rate of his growth:-)

Walley is the apple of our eyes; no doubt about that! And he has, without any effort, captured the attention of possibly everyone around us as well, making him a little celebrity of Stuyvesant Town. Everyday, when he steps out of his home for his walks, whether it's day or night, people come swarming around him to get a little glimpse of him or to pet him and the more crazy fans click pictures of him to save them on their mobile phones as wall papers. Sweet! Big dogs just literally drool over him:-)Below are just some of the most common comments he gets to hear everyday when people in our neighborhood get a sight of him:

1."Oh My God!!! That puppy is soooo adorable!"

2."Look at that puppy!! Straight from a commercial!"

3."I could just eat that puppy right now"

4."I could just steal him one day"

5."He's a Polar Bear"

6."He's not real! He's a soft toy"

7."Pupppppppyyyy!!!"

8."I just have to stop here and pet him! He's tooooo cute to walk away from!"

Comments numbered 3 and 4 were a little scary;-)

A really funny incident took place one evening when I was walking Walley outside our home. Here it goes:

I was walking Walley along the pedestrian side of FDR Drive(a busy highway of Manhattan). It was rush hour and so the traffic was really heavy. As I was strolling with Walley, a man stopped his big white truck in the middle of moving traffic, stepped out of his truck and began approaching us. He said to me, " I am sorry but I just couldn't resist myself looking at your cute little puppy!" and he cuddled Walley. Our munchkin, of course, enjoyed the gesture and I was quite touched, but I couldn't help laughing at the same time as I was looking at the number of cars waiting behind his truck so I said to him jokingly "Those people in their cars must be furious at you right now" and he just said, " I don't care! This puppy is so cute and cuddly. I had to stop my truck to play with him". By now, people began honking and the man had to leave. He headed back to his truck but kept turning around to glance at Walley. When I told Elwyn about Walley's craziest fan till date, he just cracked up! I had a good laugh myself that night, over dinner, narrating this story to Elwyn.

Elwyn and I must confess to enjoying all the amazing compliments and the warm reception that Walley has been getting ever since we brought him home:-) He has made us his proud parents and for all the joy and happiness he has brought in our lives since his first day at home, we couldn't ever be grateful enough to him.

P.S This post is dedicated to all those fans of Walley in Stuyvesant Town who have given him so much love and showered him with such lovely compliments. A big "thank you" goes out to all his fans on Facebook too!

Our first visit to the Vet!

Yesterday morning, we took Walley to the "ABC Animal Hospital" for the first time. He had received his first vaccination from the Vet at the Breeder's place last month and it was now time for his next dose of vaccination. So, like responsible and caring parents, we made an appointment with Dr. Daniel Tufaro at the closest and well-known hospital in our neighborhood. This was our first trip to the hospital so myself and Elwyn were having mixed feelings. We were excited because this was going to be the first time we were taking Walley to his Doctor for a general examination and vaccination. We were anxious because we were not sure whether Walley would like going to the hospital ever again after the general exam and pricking he was about to experience in a little while.

We walked Walley to the hospital which is just a few blocks away from where we live. Walley, of course enjoys being walked by both of us and all through the way, we kept assuring him that everything was going to be OK. He seemed less worried than us actually. In fact, it didn't even seem like he was bothered at all;-) We reached the hospital and when we entered, it seemed like a very cozy and fun place to be in. It resembled a Children's clinic in a lot of ways. Walley seemed quite excited to be in a new environment where he got to see other dogs as well. We were asked to fill a form with Walley's basic health and contact information. We met Walley's nurse and she was absolutely mesmerized by our little munchkin:-) She checked Walley's weight by making him stand on a scale. Our baby weighs 10 pounds as of now. Then, she asked the three of us to wait in an examination room for Walley's doctor. Dr. Daniel Tufaro walked into the room and soon became Walley's best friend! Walley was very comfortable as his doctor examined him thoroughly. Walley passed the examination with flying colors!! Dr. Tufaro told us that Walley is a very, very healthy and great-looking puppy. What a relief for us! We were more than happy to hear that from Walley's doctor because that just means that we're doing a good job as parents and to know that our baby is perfectly fine means everything in the world to us!! Dr. Tufaro loved Walley and vice versa. Walley showered his doctor with kisses:-) Oh, what a lovely sight that was!

Then came the big test! Walley was just about to get his DAP+CPV and Kennel Cough vaccination. He was curious while watching his nurse mix the vaccines and was happily wagging his tail. We were wondering what he must have been thinking. It was going to be just one prick but we weren't sure if our baby would be calm or scared during the process. Much to our surprise, Walley didn't even let out a squeak. What an angel! He was so calm while being pricked by his doctor who had already won his heart:-) Following the 4-in-1 vaccine prick, Walley got the Kennel cough vaccine nasally which he thought was delicious! He kept licking his nose after that:-) The doctor cleaned Walley's teeth with a malt flavored tooth paste which Walley enjoyed, of course. It was also surprising to see how calm our baby was, while the doctor clipped his nails. And we were worried for no reason at all! Walley loved his visit to the Vet:-) We were so glad we found a really caring doctor for Walley. We know now that he's in good hands. We can't thank God enough for that blessing!

Our first visit to the Vet was a wonderful experience and we'll cherish this one forever.

Here are a few pictures we took yesterday at the ABC Animal Hospital.

Walley's doctor told us that Walley would be sleepy for about 24 hours after the vaccination. And he was right! We walked Walley back home from the hospital; he played for a couple minutes with his favorite Michigan football and soon fell asleep. How cute!

As I type right now, our munchkin is taking his afternoon nap. I am looking our little baby and praying that he stays healthy and happy always! Sweet Dreams, little angel:-)