Curious Rocky: first time encounters

Rocky at 6 months is a curious, mischievous, happy, and playful puppy wagging his tail to convey a range of emotions. For a dog, curiosity is a sign of social health and well-being and I am glad Rocky is a super curious puppy. He sits on his bed in the living room positioned to monitor activities outside his home through the window, as well as indoors to keep a watchful eye on his human family. His eyes constantly keep moving….I have often caught him off guard staring at me through the corner of his eye when actually you would think he is sleeping.

At 6 months of age and 4 months in his new home he is no stranger. His favorite spot is the main door or on the steps at a higher elevation where he lazes and basks in the afternoon sun while keeping a watchful eye on the outside world.

This can range from monitoring busy squirrels, noisy turkeys to the amazon/UPS delivery guys in the neighborhood. I have captured some of the first time encounters and just love the look on his face, barking, growling and overall body language accompanying it. In this exploring mood Rocky’s brain works with full use of his senses. This behavior was not so apparent 2 months back. This is the best time to take full advantage of teaching puppies new commands and expose them to new environments like visiting dog friends, a new puppy class, a day in the kennel or just taking him out for a walk in a new route. Rocky has done exactly that in the past two weeks and excelled in his behavior to our surprise. He has been so much fun lately that I can’t wait for winter holiday adventures with him. Below are some moments I captured of curious Rocky exploring the world (view captions under each photo).