Hi my name is Liam and I am a very smart, very lovable 8 month old (Marrema possible Pyr mix) puppy looking for his forever home. I have been staying with my friend Tonka and his 2 humans AP and CM for a few days. Like my friend Tonka I was born blind with my retinas detached but I do sense light and dark (so I sleep all through the night). I love to sleep on my bed in the bedroom with people and I don’t even care if you snore. I will also sleep in my crate if I have to. I will go to the door and wait to go out when I need to potty and am learning to use the doggie door but Tonka is much bigger than me and his door is a little heavy for me right now. I will not get as big as Tonka, he is huge like a truck and I am his Italian equivalent so I will be more like an aerodynamic racecar.
My routine right now is out to potty first thing in the morning and if it is really early then Tonka and I will come back in and go back to bed for awhile. Once the household is awake we have an early morning play session with Tonka and the humans or a long walk (we have 2 feet of snow right now so walking is a little tough). Then it’s time for breakfast, AP says that since I am a working breed we should always walk before breakfast. She says I should have a job to do and in a pack we would go find breakfast first so that’s why we walk first. She has all kinds of crazy ideas like that, but I like to walk so it’s OK. I don't think I am horrible on a leash but I am learning that there are rules to walking with people and I am catching on quick. After breakfast we all go out to go potty and Tonka and I usually sneak in a little wrestle session and then I lay around and play with my toys until it is time to either go in my house or if the humans are home I find a quiet spot to nap. I am crate trained and I love my crate (house) it is my safe place and when I am in it AP says I should be left alone since that is my safe place.
I am learning commands like sit and wait along with straight, turn around, left and right. I already know the important commands like No, and Off. AP says I am more aware of my surrounding than Tonka so I don’t bump in to lots of things and therefore don’t need constant commands like he does. I tend to use my nose like a sweeper moving left and right to map out what’s around me where Tonka keeps his head up high. AP also says Tonka is "special" and not as quick to adapt to a new area as me.
I love Chicken Strips and Bill Jacs so that is what we use for training and since I am a skinny little boy and trying to gain some weight it works well. I like to play with toys and like Tonka my goal is to remove all stuffing and squealers so heavy duty toys work best and last longest. The Tuffies Toys are rated for chewers and all the 7 and above will last for a while http://www.tuffietoys.com/. I also like to play with the Kong toys like the Wubba and the treat bone. I don’t play fetch but I love to play with my wiggle giggle ball and if you roll it around near me I will chase the sound and pounce on it. I am a puppy so when I get very wound up in play mode I sometimes try to get a little mouthy but I never bite down and am learning that my mouth is only for toys.
I love a good belly rub and will roll over a bit whenever a human walks in the room to let them know they should stop and give me a scratch and some attention. Since I spent the first part of my life in a barn on a farm I am just learning the world outside the barn and am a bit shy in new situations but warm up quickly. I have a healthy curiosity of things and with patience will explore and figure things out on my own.
In the afternoon it's outside to play and another walk. I have been hanging out with Tonka and his friends at the dog park and am learning to come on recall from a distance which I am really good at if there is clapping or a squeaky involved. AP says I am a smart boy and I just need consistency which my forever human could provide for me. She says people don't understand that having a blind dog is the same as a sighted dog you just have to lay a slightly different foundation with them as a puppy. She also says that everything that happens during the day is an opportunity for a puppy to learn so training is really an all the time event.
In the evening we have dinner and Tonka and I eat in separate places so there is no misunderstanding about food. I need to gain some weight so I need to concentrate on just my bowl and feel secure that no one is going to take it away. Then we go out for potty time and wrestle a little and we are supposed to come back in when AP calls us which I am getting the hang of especially when there is a chicken strip waiting if I come right in and sit. Tonka is no longer a little puppy so he likes to just chill and chew on his Nylabones or lay around in the evening but I like to get out all my toys and play a little. AP and I play a game called left/right with my toys and new games called down and wait. Once I have settled down a bit Tonka and I get a frozen Kong that has a little peanut butter in it and he and I work on those. Sometimes we swap and I think I get the best end of the deal since I am little and can reach in the hole further and get what he has missed.
When it’s time for bed Tonka and I go out to go potty one last time for the night and then come in and get a chicken strip. We get one last belly rub and Tonka goes to sleep by the door and I trot off to CM’s bedroom to curl up on my dogbed.
AP says whoever adopts me will be getting a very special friend.
