Who are your dog's friends? (And, I don't mean humans...)

    • Gold Top Dog

    When Shadow was a puppy and up until a little after the time we got him, his friends were Dax, a grey tabby tomcat, and Duke, a JRT. Shadow only knew how to sit and shake paws for a treat. He had no recall but Duke did. If you recalled Duke, Shadow would follow. Duke would charge and pounce on Shadow and he would just stand there with a grin on his face. Once in a while, he would lightly swing a paw that would send Duke rolling. Duke would get up, shake it off, and come back for more. Shadow would let Duke eat out of his food bowl. Sadly, Duke was re-homed. At his new home (this was a year or so ago), he got out of his yard and was killed by a coyote (Lake Texoma, which has a few wildlife refuges). If I had any inkling or idea that was going to happen, I would have tried to get Duke, too.

    Nowadays, Shadow's friends are our neighbor dogs. His main heart throb is the female Dachshund on our north. He lays down and they trade kisses through the chainlink. On our south are two dogs. Some kind of hound mix and a Scottie. The hound mix is female and the scotty is male (I think) but he will try to play with them when they are out and he will bring his kong over to the fence to invite play. The Border Collies on the northeast aren't here all the time and he gets along well enough, though momma BC is bossy. She used to herd everyone until they got a heeler mix. He doesn't put up with her bossy ways. We don't go to dog parks and don't have a lot of opportunities for meet and greets but when we do, I reward for good behavior and if the meeting is not so good, I move us out of the "zone."

    • Gold Top Dog

    Misty has several friends:  Her first "big daddy" friend was Max (109 lb. Lab).  He was the first one she was actually introduced to other than our Maltese (Tabitha), which I don't think is really her friend.  Tabitha doesn't like being stepped on.  But Max showed Misty how to go into the water and enjoy it!  She also met another dog, down at our boat, which is a bull terrier, or boston (I forget), I also forget her name, but the two of them played for like an hour.  It was so cute to see these two black and white dogs rolling around (one big, one small).  She also, has a girlfriend down the street that she barks to once in awhile, and she came over to visit Misty and slobbered all over her.  LOL  She's such a lovable dog!  Thank goodness!  She may even be friends with our friends GS, Sony, once Sony see's how much she's grown and quits bullying her.  LOL  She a very dominant female.  Then again, aren't we all!  Wink