We had a fantastic time with all of our people and dog relatives last night and this morning. Last night when we arrived at Brad’s sister’s home there were five people and four dogs waiting for us. And they had dinner waiting as well. What’s not to love about that? After a dinner of steak and chicken we allowed Max and Beeker inside to get reacquainted with their cosogs. A friend of the family’s was also in attendance with her Boxer named Gracie. Gracie was a confident well balanced dog who upon meeting all of the other dogs was a power girl. If (and they all did) the male dogs were a little too aggressive towards her or invasive to her space she didn’t back down or away. She stood her ground and in fact took them on with vengeance. It only took Beeker two, check that, three times to learn his lesson. Gracie was a three year old who was rescued and her owner didn’t know her background but that she had rescued her from another family who had rescued her a year before. Hopefully Gracie has found her forever home. It was too dark at night to take a picture of Gracie but she was a beautiful spotted Boxer that we all fell in love with.
The fact that Gracie had to stand up to and mix it up with the other dogs got me thinking about how people expect all dogs to get along with all other dogs when they meet for the first time. Over the course of one day, all six dogs scrapped with one another over one thing or another for one reason or another except for the old Sheppard Chole. At nearly thirteen Chole is slow moving but seemed much more active and energetic this visit than the last time we saw her. She still knows how to get the hugs and pets that make her life wonderful for her and for the person petting her. The other dogs, Max, Beeker, Buddy, Coco, and even Gracie roamed around the acre yard and yet all wanted to hang with the peeps. We had such a great time talking and watching the dogs play and tough it out and move out, then come back to be a part of the group/pack again. I find dogs' ability to move from unnatural pack to unnatural pack amazing. For instance, Beeks and Max get together with Juli’s dog JesseJames often. Usually when we get together with them other owners and dogs are also in attendance, like her friend John’s dog Bullet and his son and dogs Callie and Marley. They all run around, have a great time and for the most part get along with few out right aggressive, snarling, biting and fighting. At other times, Beeks and Max get together with Brad’s sister’s family and dogs, Buddy, Chole, Coco, and last night, Gracie. My point is that each of these dogs got along remarkably well for all of the new dogs and smells and expectations that we place on them when they get together. Just because we are friends with their people owners we expect that they will like and get along as well. Think about it this way. What if you were taken often to new places that were kind of strange to you, smelled different than you were use to and had many people that you didn’t know, some even larger than you or liked different things than you did, behaved different that you did AND you were expected to not only get along, but were expected to like them and play with them as well. I think this could get really scary and yet our dogs are expected to do it all of the time with happy attitudes. At one point last night we looked down to the end of the deck and there at the end one of the dogs Buddy, was looking out the end of the deck with his head through the spindles with his head lowered. From our viewpoint, he looked so forlorn and depressed while the other dogs continued romping and roaming. Once noticed, his owner went to him and gave him the attention and acceptance he needed. I think that if owners are aware enough to know each dog has an individual personality with individual needs, likes and dislikes they will allow each dog to have the individual space they need and each dog will be able to flow in and out of the “pack” as they need. Beeks and Max love playing with other dogs and are learning the nuances of the laws of the dog world as they change within other packs.
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