Mah woman's done gone, mah pickup's been stole and my hound dog puppy's smarter than me

If that were the country song about my life, at least the third part is true.

This Walter fellow has a way of figuring things out. Every time I try to outsmart him, he surprises me and often thwarts my effort.

The Finder

I was pretty happy on his first day here when he learned if he rattled the bells hanging from the door knob he got to go out.  He retained that and though there has been an accident once in a while, most often when he has to go he lets me know by ringing the bells.  Sometimes when I feel lazy, I leave the door ajar and when he wants to come back in he can nudge it open.  When he did that today, I didn't pull the door all the way shut and a little while later he pulled on the bells hard enough to open it wider and let his own self out.  At least we haven't had an accident in the house for the third day in a row, now, so it's a partial win for me.

That's just the latest.  A few days ago I started teaching him to sit. When we came in from outside I walked into the kitchen, I dug a treat out of the Yummy Chummys bag held it for him and then gently pushed his butt down while saying "sit" over and over. He took to that one pretty fast. By the third try I didn't have to push any more. But here's the problem: I always go to the same spot to get the treat and then tell him to sit.  So what does he do now?  When we come indoors he runs to the spot and sits, even before I can get there, let alone dig out his reward. So, I'm now in the position of telling a sitting dog to sit.  Well done, Walter, well done.

Now, too, he is in that puppy phase of chewing and biting. Even when I go to pet him I end up digging sharp little puppy teeth out of my hand. That puts me in a bad situation of disciplining him with my hands. So I got an idea and bought a little squirt bottle with the idea of spraying him in the face with water when I want him to stop.  Well, guess what. HE LIKES IT. He charges at the bottle to make me spray him and then he licks off all the water he can reach around his muzzle and comes back for more.

Sometimes he seems so astute I forget he is a puppy not even eight weeks old and less than two weeks with me.  As such, something new happens for him almost every day and everything is a learning experience. It's just a question of, for whom?

A Walter gallery of pictures