Long Distance..Vito And Me!!

Life was fabulous, being in Dallas, Vito had his first obedience class, and for a few weeks that followed he is a very well behaved boy! House Broken, even starts to go to the door leading into the backyard and let out a quick whining sound to let him out! I was as happy as a Dad would be, on his Son’s Graduation! He even learnt to sit on Command, but Fetch was something he only understood when he saw a treat in my hand, smart kid! “No” was not a word I valued very much, and I always said I cannot say NO, its always a YES!! until Vito came home. In the 3-4 months since that wednesday night, I probably used the word more than I ever did in my entire life!

I can never forget Vito’s first visit to his Doctor, the nurse let out a oooh! he’s so cute cry, and I am standing there, a proud look in my eye, thats the expression only dads are capable of understanding I guess, I said yes he is 😉 with all pride.

I have seen many Lab puppies, and this dude is the happiest I have ever seen! You give him attention and thats all he needs to set his tail off in a rythemic wag! All he needed was a loving call of his name, Vito! and he would be all hyper and come running into my arms. It felt really special, to say the least, some one was so happy, just being by your side.

The initial few weeks that Vito came home, were very expensive, due to his expensive tastes.
He had a strange liking for MAC chargers, and would chew on one the moment he saw it. I ended up replacing 3 of them in as many days, and before we realized chargers were my most valued possession, being hidden in closets, set high on the kitchen counter tops, any place where Vito could not reach! It was 3 MAC chargers, and 2 HP, and 1 Think pad charger later that he grew out of it, and started craving for better things, Couches.

I have heard of Labs being greedy eaters, and are usually on a “See Food” diet, but it turns out Vito would eat only when hungry, and would eat only food he liked, he would go hungry if he did not like what he saw in his bowl. He was a connoisseur of good food! A thing to be noted though was, he would eat anything that came off my hand, something I would pretend to eat was instantly his favorite. Starting from Grapes and bananas to uncooked potatoes to Lamb chops!! He liked human food more than his food, I tried everything Packet Food, Science Diet, Pedigree nothing seemed to impress him as much did the food off of my plate!

Vito never left my side, always at my side, it did not matter where, the couch, my bed or even when I had to go answer the calls of nature, he would wait at the restroom door! He would be sound asleep by my bed at night, when I would wake up for water, and with the slightest of noise I would get off the bed, cautious not to wake Punnu or Vito, and by the time I got to the Refrigerator, he would be right by my side. I would step out to smoke, and there he would be sitting in the chair beside me trying to sleep, and I would step in again, and he would follow me there! I was astounded by the loyalty my little one showed, and wondered how he would spend his day without having me or Punnu around.

Well it was not a very good thing to wonder about, as it later turns out that I changed jobs, and started traveling all week, and would be home only for the weekend. The first few weeks were fine, Vito was happy to see me for the weekends and I guess he figured it was Not Okay to break the rules set for him, with Punnu around it was not a biggie. In early Jan, both of us started travelling, and one of our trips out, was a pretty long one, and we ended up staying out of home for 3 weeks, before Punnu made it home, still no Prasee.

I did not even want to hear the updates I got from my friends who were watching over Vito in our Absence! By the time Punnu got home after almost a month, Vito was a completely spoiled Brat! Like a teenager left Home Alone while the parents were gone!! I noted that I missed Vito more than I relaized, when I heard him whine on the phone when Punnu put me on Speaker, and in an instant all the complaints I heard of him, like his humping against everything, starting from couch Pillows to human legs, did not seem to matter. His one Whine made my heart melt with love, and I ached to be back In Dallas and hold him in a bear hug!

I cannot wait to be Home again, knowing Vito would be waiting for me!!