lifeinflux

Carter

// February 18th, 2011 // Featured Post

Carter is one of the smallest of our litter (second only to Panda); however his personality is 2000 feet tall. We dubbed Carter, Hollywood, the first week when we realized he was not only beautiful but a total prima donna. He consistently gets his bootie handed to him by the bigger puppies but you cannot convince him he is one of the small puppies in the group. He may be tiny but he’s got a big dog personality coupled with a Napoleon complex and the end result is hysterical every time you see him in action. Because he’s always on the good (and in the fray) it is almost impossible to get a good picture of just Carter. I have lots of butt shots of him digging his way into the middle of a puppy pile, lots of blurry shots of Carter jumping on Smokey, Rascal or Marzi and lots of pictures containing a fuzzy brown streak as he propels himself from one side of the kitchen to the other demanding food, clean pads, fresh water, pets or simply respect for his “authoritah” (channel your best Cartman voice). He is also our little tattle-tale and I always know when someone is not doing what he or she is supposed to because Carter is at the gate hollering for me to come see and oooh look what HE did or SHE did and here is Carter being so helpful and telling me. And while I am then cleaning up a mess or redirecting the other puppy in question, guess who takes advantage of my busyness and poops on the floor? You guessed it. Carter! And when scolded he looks at you like you’ve lost your damn mind and you can just hear him in your head saying “who are you talking to, woman? I’m Carter, here me roar!” And you cannot get upset with him because he’s so darn cute and when he “aroooooos” you just have to laugh. I’m telling you – personality plus!

Carter is incredibly smart, too. He loves to untie shoelaces and can get into and out of small areas like a pro. He gets bored very easily, a testament to his intelligence and loves solving puzzles. He figured out how to get the shirt of the stuffie gator and the scarf off the stuffie snake and then promptly taught his litter mates how to do it as well. He loves puzzles and needs a constant rotation of toys because he figures out how to work them and gets bored. He requires a little more diligence in training; it’s not because he lacks intelligence but the exact opposite. He’s SO smart and like most smart babies (kids and puppies!) he’s always looking for an angle. However, once he gets it, HE GETS IT and doesn’t backtrack, a huge difference between our lab-like puppies who are extremely smart and eager to please but follow the typical lab training pattern of one step forward, two steps back. After expelling his energy on anything within puppy reach will happily snuggle in your lap with a puzzle, a set of chewy puppy keys or a stuffie and work out the puzzle or chew away until he’s sleepy. And then he’ll give your fingers a lazy lick or two and snuggle down and sleep. You’ve never heard anything so precious as our little Hollywood snoring! Positive reinforcement is the ONLY way to go with Carter. He does NOT like being told “No” and will sometimes do the very thing you’ve told him not to do just to show you that he can. We’ve found with trial and error that ignoring the bad behavior and giving him treats and lots of excited “good boy!” and rubs when he does the right thing works far better than “No” and gentle verbal scoldings. Carter is extremely independent and is not a snuggly boy who wants to be held. He is a lap baby however, and if you wait for him to come to you, he’ll spend hours in your lap “talking” to you and playing with his toys while sitting on or next to you.

Carter is the only puppy we have with his coloring, a motley of browns, beige, and blonde. He doesn’t have a distinctive cattle dog look like some of our puppies nor does he have the lab/shepherd thing going on which means he’s an object of utter fascination to us as to where in the world this gorgeous little dog came from. He’s definitely a handful and has extremely definite opinions on how things should be. With the attitude and the look, he’s totally Hollywood and we hope he finds a forever family willing to put in the time and energy to train him properly and love and appreciate every single inch of this beautiful boy.    He will need a family willing to spend time with him for he does not tolerate boredom well.   He is definitely not a crate puppy, meaning he will be miserable if left all day in a crate without interaction and fun as part of his daily routine.  He is so social that he’d do great at a day care or paired with another dog who is tolerant enough to let Carter have his way.   Carter is utterly fascinated with our cat and loves to lead the charge after her so he’ll have to learn that kitties are not toys he can chase down.     Luckily we have a tolerant cat who has been around puppies before so she keeps her claws in and lets them chase her and then messes with them from outside the gate.    We love our Hollywood, that sweet Carter boy and we’re so hoping we find a family who understands he’s going to be stubborn and probably tear a few things up out of boredom but who love him for his intelligence, sparkling personality, prima donna prettiness and want him to be their forever pet to love.