... though at the same time I probably should introduce myself too to the Hive Pets Community: I'm @stortebeker and one of the things I really love, though not noted in my profile, are dogs. I have mentioned my last dog Shyka in a few comments (and even posts if you scroll waaaay back) who has been an amazing companion for a good decade, before she passed away about two years ago.
Enter the Bandit
Though at that time it felt like I didn't want to have another dog ever again, at some point one may just come knocking on my door. This happened a few months ago, when a couple who are good friends of ours, and live in the same apartment building, decided to adopt a dog from the streets. What they didn't know was that their new four-legged family member was already pregnant, and soon gave birth to three puppies. They decided to keep one of them, in addition to the mommy dog, and the other two were adopted by friends, such as ourselves. By this time the little dog already had his name Bandido, due to a dark patch around his eyes, making him look like he was wearing a bandit's mask. This patch soon disappeared, but the name Bandido remained.
Small, Little, Our Own Tiny Puppy
When Bandido moved in with us he was six weeks old, and weighed just under one kilo. This is about as small as they come. Not only that, but according to the vet he would not get much bigger either, never passing 5kgs. His mom is quite small to begin with, and his dad - always a big mystery - has been estimated to be a Chihuahua, due to Bandido's features. Most probably neither parent is pure bred, and the other likely components of the mix are some kinds of terriers. Simply from looking at pictures, Elba and I have decided that the one that looks most like our little dog is the Norfolk Terrier. But this is a mere guess, and we'll probably never know the actual truth.
Teaching a Dog from the Start
Admittedly, one of the convincing factors that made me want to adopt this puppy was the opportunity to teach a dog from a very young age, something I've always wanted to learn. Clearly, it was not the teaching part I was looking forward to, which I barely knew anything about, but the final result: having a dog that behaves exactly as you want them to. Okay, Shyka was already quite close to it, but that was none of our doing. She must have been properly trained at the presumably good home she grew up in, before something happened that made her end up on the streets. So we barely ever had to correct her behavior.
But to train a dog myself, complete with teaching him what to do and what not to do, that is something I've always wanted to try. Of course I had no idea what immense journey I would embark on, and now I'm well on it. Since such an endeavor naturally offers a whole lot of material, I thought it would also be a great opportunity to create some amazing posts... to be exact, capturing the training in some photogenic videos should really offer some worthwhile content. Sharing my experience with the blockchain, along with providing some visuals to melt your hearts... Yeah, right!!! A puppy is bound to keep you so busy that even a brief text-based post like this one will take longer... much longer... than expected. Oh well...
No Videos, But Hang Tight for Pics and Stories
So, in this post all I wanted to do was to introduce my little dog, and in subsequent ones I will share stories of his training, where he's progressing well, and where we encounter difficulties. The ample amount of images, which still is not enough to make decent videos, should be enough to offer a great visual impression. And sure, during that time he may even grow a little bit.