Introducing Ralphie, my best friend!

'A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his.'

This post is a different special post without data and code, featuring my dog Ralphie, a fluffy and joyful Maltese!

Hence, this post will just contain a lot of cute photos of Ralphie! If you love dogs 🐶 enjoy!

Welcome

We got Ralphie back in early July 2023 from our home country Greece, in a small town close to Athens, he was excited and jumping all over the place but also scared when we first picked him up to take him home. He was just shy of 2 kg’s in weight but fearless to do anything!

First days were well… chaotic, Ralphie as most puppies wanted to explore everything, running around with unstoppable energy and trying to chew whatever he had in sight to investigate 🧐.

While these days were tiring, they were also unique, as we got to know our new best friend and his personality. Do not let the cute calm pictures deceive you, he was a very naughty and full of energy puppy!

                            Ralphie as a ≈3 month-old puppy

Off to the Netherlands

After his first month with us in Greece, it was time to head to his actual new home, off to the Netherlands 🛫!

We were pretty stressed about Ralphie’s first time flying with us in the airplace cabin as we were worrying how this would turn out! However, after doing some training and preparation it all turned out just fine! We placed Ralphie at our feet inside his bag and he ended up sleeping for most of the trip (spoiler: now Ralphie has already become an experienced flyer and doesn’t stress at all!).

When we arrived to the Netherlands Ralphie was too excited again to get to know his new environment, so… he was going crazy 😅!

We also had to wait for his full puppy vaccinations to complete and then we took him out for his first walk outside! He was sooo happy, but also as you can see in the right image, he got to know that the Dutch weather can be challenging sometimes as he faced the wind!

                            Ralphie on his first walk

Puppyhood training

Ralphie’s puppy time included a lot of training and socialization as he had to learn the world and explore!

One big victim of this exploration though, was for sure our couch (😅), as it must have had a great taste, since Ralphie really liked to chew its corners with every opportunity!

From potty training, to leash training and general obedience training, Ralphie was picking up new stuff really fast, but he was still restless and running around like a demon trying to find next victims to destroy without taking a break! From our furniture and our shoes, but also his own toys Ralphie had a love for chewing and trying to rip apart things!

Thus, during these days, we were more than excited when we were seeing him take a break and get to some sleeping! So we didn’t lose any opportunity and we were capturing these unique moments! Ralphie really loved sleeping on the couch he was chewing!

                        Ralphie taking a break on the couch

Having fun and good time

After having destroyed enough stuff, Ralphie started growing up, and training paid off at the end, as he became a confident, good and happy boy!

Ralphie loves going anywhere and seeing new stuff, so he is really happy every time we take him along for a new adventure!

He also loves meeting new dogs and playing with them (bit too much!) and always wants to say hi!

Ralphie is usually the smaller dog in the park and during playtime (as you can see in the right image) but this never stops him from joining the fun and making his presence bigger than his size!

                            Ralphie outside & playing

Already 1 year old

Ralphie had his first birthday on April 1st, 2024 🥳!

It has been an awesome first year with Ralphie! From first meeting him and getting to know each other, getting tired from the puppyhood craziness and training, to seeing Ralphie grow (to an amazing HUGE 4,5 kgs!) and being our best friend!

It is always the best feeling when you return home and he welcomes you with his excitement and playfulness, while he is always also a constant reminder to ourselves, for how we can and should be happy from simple stuff! So now the roles have been reversed, and he is training us every day on how to enjoy life!

And of course, for his birthday we had proper decoration and a special pupcake for him to enjoy! 🧁

                          Happy 1st Birthday Ralphie!

To be continued… 

                              See you 🐾 humans!