Truffle

Meeting Truffle for the first time 

3rd October, right in the middle of my second son's PSLE, we finally got to meet Truffle. We had waited close to 2 months for him to arrive from Australia, and during that time we would occasionally pull out his photo on the phone to make the wait a bit more bearable. I went to the pet shop with my eldest son and daughter to fetch Truffle home. So glad they came along to help manage him as he was rather active on the ride home. I have to put this on record, when my wife saw Truffle, she exclaimed,"So cute!" It is one thing to see him in a photo, but quite another to see him for real.

My first dog printed on
my wife's t-shirt

I had a pet dog when I was growing up but he came to us as a well trained adult. At this age, Truffle looks like a slightly larger version of him. Very similar character, they would have made great friends, perhaps after Truffle is fully toilet trained. The first few days with Truffle were defined by trails of generous poop and pee.  It was his first time apartment living in a far away place that does not have wide open fields. He was probably trained not to poop indoors or on anything intentionally placed on the floor by a human. He pooped and peed everywhere except where we placed pee pads. I now have a mop permanently stationed in the living room to manage the puppy accidents. It's gotten better but he is far from being fully toilet trained. 

Truffle's dinosaur toys

For a 3+ month old puppy who is far away from where he was born, he has adapted very well. He is a happy and affectionate dog, always ready to give you a big wet salivary lick. My daughter said that "licking is part of his life".  He knows his "sit", "settle", sometimes "stay" and the kids have been quite successful teaching him to fetch. He had his final vaccination a week ago and we look forward to bringing him out for walks in about a week's time. For now, he's pretty happy chewing on all his toys.

Truffle drinking from Cinnamon's water bowl

Truffle and Cinnamon are still getting to know each other. Yesterday, under supervision, Truffle popped his head into Cinnamon's playpen for a drink from the water bowl. Cinnamon stood in the corner to watch him quietly, instead of running out of the playpen or giving him a bite. Rabbits can be quite territorial and Cinnamon had previously bitten me for sticking my hand into his playpen while he was eating. So it is a good thing that Truffle is cautious. Cinnamon, on the other hand, takes chances, occasionally dashing out of his safe zone to see what Truffle is up to. We have to keep an eye on them when they are both in the living room.

We named our dog Truffle because it reminds us of a truffle hunting tour that we did in Perigord, France about 2 years ago. My daughter loved playing with the truffle hunting dog, a Border Collier named Lino. I was amazed at how comfortable my daughter was around a pet dog. Kids can learn so much from having pets. I hope they will have the fondest memories of growing up with Cinnamon and Truffle.