Clifford's early puppy days

Clifford posing for a picture (He responded to the command "Stay") :)

The largest in the litter when he was born, Clifford was immediately distinguished from the rest of the puppies. I guess his prominence was accentuated by his sleek black fur, much darker than the rest of the puppies. He obviously had an ideal location in his mummy's womb, even before he was born.

Hence, the name Clifford. His demeanor was silent, steady and watchful. He looked us eye to eye when we carried him, unlike the rest who usually wiggled. For all we knew, he was observing all the hustle and bustle around the home, the other puppies, and of course Murfee and Tobie. All the information he collected and processed through, leading to his obvious superiority in behavior.

He didn't play as hard as the other puppies, he learnt to poo at the right place after meals when he was only 3 weeks old, and he came over when we called him when he was 5 weeks old. Clifford followed me at my heels, as I walked in and out of the porch. He didn't run haphazardly around like his brothers and sisters. He would sit down and look up at me when he knew it was meal time.

Again, responding to a command. This time it's "Down" and "Stay"

Standing out from the crowd, Clifford was never overly playful or bashful. He did play, was not too lazy, but he has his limits. This was probably why he didn't mingle that well with the rest of the puppies - they were always wrestling or biting one another. Sometimes, Clifford got caught in the crossfire and he fought back. Nevertheless, his cool demeanor was always kept. At 6 weeks old, he already learnt to sit and come. We thought he was brilliant and have decided to keep him as our third dog.

At 8 weeks, he started to get a little vocal. In fact, he started to display signs of being able to make the Beagling howl - a half bark and half howl sound that only Beagles can make. Tobie had never made such sounds, and has never been overly noisy. Clifford would now bark whenever it was time to eat. Sometimes, he would bark after dinner when we placed him back in his cage. Our discipline came in the form of a rolled up newspaper which made a loud noise but was not hurtful to the puppy. He usually stopped his complaints after one session of discipline. That's good for a beagle.

We have decided to train him regularly and now he knows: Sit, Down, Come, Stay, Roll over, Shake and Beg, although not perfectly. This book we bought - 101 Dog Tricks - has shown us great methods to train dogs that we would never have thought of. It's amazing how the right approach in dog training can speed things up. Our target is to teach Clifford at least 20 tricks. I think he will be able to do it. I will upload videos on this once Clifford gets them right!