His looks are nothing compared to his sweet personality

I had to write and rave about what a wonderful puppy my new poodle is (larger black boy from June litter.) I have met about 50 new neighbors in the last 3 days, just because everyone has to stop and greet the furry puppy. And he loves it. He loves people and he hasn't yet met a dog he doesn't get along with and he is so gentle and calm. Yesterday we met a 4.5 month old baby human in the park and he was just the perfect pup; the baby had never seen an animal up close before; he liked touching the soft poodle fur. This morning I feel like we brightened the entire day of one of my elderly neighbors with some health problems. I just know that he made her day!

We named him Andre.

Everywhere we go people are amazed by how calm he is, how soft his fur is, how well-trained he is (even though he is just 11 weeks old!) and, of course, how perfectly beautiful he is. One neighbor with a particularly bouncy Wheaten Terrier said how envious he was that I have such a trainable, well-behaved pup and that he wished that he had gotten a standard poodle instead. Another friend of a friend threatened only half in jest that she was going to dog-nap him because she fell in love as soon as he sat in her lap. Yesterday, we were walking down the street, minding our own business, when a lady yelled out to us "Your poodle has a great haircut!"

We have been together only 3 days and he is such a delightfully quick learner. He just seems to pick up words so fast. Already he's pretty good at heeling. (He had to get over the walk between my legs thing first.) After a few hours together, he knew to come when I call his name. After 1 day, he knew to pee on command when I tell him encouragingly "Hurry up." This sure makes our middle of the night trips outside a breeze. After 2 days he sits on command 98% of the time if I use both the hand signal and say the word (or if I have his food bowl.) He is totally accident-free and just about house-trained, although bad Margi did not buy doorbells yet for him to ring to signal to go out, so that's my fault. And, most importantly, after 3 days, he plays a mean game of Red Light Green Light. Yesterday, his red lights were overshooting a bit but by today, he's got a really tight Red Light going on. This morning we played Red Light Green Light with the golden retriever neighbor and he had much tighter Red Lights, but she outweighs him by about 50 lbs. so it is not a fair comparison. We play running both directions so he has to watch to see which direction we are going next.

One worry I had was that I would be telling him "No" all the time and forget to give him positive praise when he does good things. This was not ever a matter. He is always such a joy and such a good little boy, that I can't help but tell him all the good things he is always doing. Just about the only 2 times I have had to tell him "No" are when he has shown a little too much interest in the garbage or in my shoelaces. Just a short quiet "No" or 2 works and he stops, definitely no need to raise one's voice or to pull the shoe away from him or anything. Usually I just bring him a toy and tell him to chew that instead.

He is a very secure and steady little boy. He dances along with his cute little tail up in the air and usually goes up to greet most every person he sees. I have found nothing so far that scares him, and the only time I saw him startle so far was when I clapped my hands once when he was getting into something yucky. I am trying to show him that the world is a friendly place and there is nothing to fear. So I introduce him to all the kids and dogs and people we can. This morning we walked by a noisy construction site but he did not even seem to notice the noise. The workmen had some boxes and cording and stuff strewn on the sidewalk, but he just dances around it. His only issue was he did not understand why the workmen did not drop what they were doing to come say hello. He is a very friendly sweetheart with all people and dogs so far.

Yesterday we met the neighborhood mean little dog who doesn't like stranger dogs. The owner warned me that he doesn't get along with strange dogs and so we both picked our dogs up. But within 5 minutes, they were dozing next to each other on the ground while I chatted with the neighbor. That puppy smell must melt the heart of even mean dogs. Speaking of which, a friend of a friend I met at lunch today commented on how good he smells. That made me feel warm all over because that is exactly how I feel about him but commenting on how nice your dog smells is something one would usually refrain from.

One more comment on his smell: when he left your house, he had a particularly wonderful, piney smell. I was thinking it might be either shampoo or flea treatment. Can you tell me what you use?

He does the cutest things. When its dark outside and light inside, the sliding glass door looks like a mirror. I found him playing with his favorite ring toy with the dog in the mirror. I tried to get a picture but I only got a picture of the sliding glass door because of some darn delay in my camera. Sometimes when I shower, he sits up all proper facing the mirror and gazes at himself. He's so cute. Yesterday, he had a treat that he did not finish. I don't know when it happened but at some point he put his partially-eaten treat in his food bowl for storage! I just couldn't believe it! Yesterday evening, I was petting our Wheaten Terrier neighbor through the fence with my right hand and Andre comes up behind me and – he had never done this before – takes the whole thumb joint of my left hand in his mouth and pulls me away from the fence. He has completely stolen my heart. Sometimes in the middle of the night when I carry him downstairs, he rests his sleepy head on my shoulder and my innards simply dissolve into mush.

I apologize for filling your e-mail box with this long blathering e-mail, but I assume it is an expected occupational hazard of raising poodles. I want to thank you so much (and his poodle mom and poodle dad) for bring us this wonderful baby who usually naps right by my side but right now has staked out an optimal position in the middle of the room right under the ceiling fan!

- Margi