The barn dogs are at their happiest when they have a few play buddies to keep them occupied. That doesn't always happen. So many dogs are under-socialized when they come to us that one of our bigger jobs is smoothing out dog/dog manners so they can streamline nicely into a new lives. We do that with measured intros using the right play partners at the right time, and then lots of supervised 'practice play' to help the socially awkward gain new skills and comfort with other dogs.Zack is one of those dogs who came to us feeling very defensive about other dogs. He huffed & puffed and tried his best to scare Nita away. Lucky for us, she had her own ideas about how their friendship should go, and her pushy nature won out.
Now that they're both bff we can't keep them apart. We finally had to put a new note on the volunteer board for our party girl: "Nita needs less Zack-time now and more one-on-one work for better - *ahem* - obedience." Never a dull moment getting the kinks ironed out and the dogs ready for prime time.
Photo credit: Laura Moss
They are so cute! And look how gently they play with each other. They are both gorgeous dogs.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's fun stuff. He responds well too. Nice work you guys. I grinned 'til it hurt watching this.
ReplyDeleteFrigging Nita... so many adorable dogs to SQWEESH, so little time...
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