I'm hoping she'll eventually become decent friends with my sister's new pup Scout so that we can trade dog-sitting duties. Usually Rita stays with my other sister and her hubby and Reg, but they travel a lot and it's always good to have backup!
So, my sis and I decided to get Scout and Rita together this past weekend. We went for a walk first to get them used to each other and then went back to the house.
And they both kinda just stood there. While we stood there saying, "Go play!" or "Get Rita, Scout!" or vice versa about 800 times.
Finally, Rita threw a playbow Scout's way and enticed her into a game of chase! (Sorry these pics are terrible - the sun/shade mix is a toughie.)
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| Rita goes for the "higher-ground" tactical advantage. |
There was also a wee bit of the "claim the bed" game, which is a big favorite with Reg & Rita.
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| Rita won. |
It's nice to have furry friends! Hopefully they'll get along well enough that we can try a Scout sleepover one of these days. I'll keep you posted!
Does your dog have friends? Do you travel without your dog? If so, where does your dog stay?
Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! Thank you for letting me be wordy! You can check out all the blogs in the hop here.
Love the "slow down" "hurry up" - that's the fun part of chase! Us kitties like to do that too! Purrz from the Katie Katz
ReplyDeleteI've never seen kitties playing chase. Fun!
DeleteWhen our daughter got her dog Vela, the first meeting was pretty tense and standoffish. The next was better and now they're best buds. I think when they can play wild and crazy together it's a sign of trust and understanding - both dogs know the limits of how far they can go. It just takes them a little time to get there.
ReplyDeleteThat's good that they warmed up to each other. Hopefully Scout and Rita will too!
DeleteOur dogs have a friend in my co-workers dog, Dolly. They don't see her very often though. Basically we always try to own two dogs at once so they always have each other. And sad to say, we really don't travel or do anything where we might have to board them. They pretty much own us. I love the pictures. It is always so hard to get pics of ours playing together.
ReplyDeleteWe considered always have 2 at a time, but somehow we've always just had 1 at a time. You're not alone in the never going anywhere cuz of the dog - I know some folks who do that!
DeleteLike trying to get a couple of kids to play. It's always good to have a back up doggy sitter.
ReplyDeleteYes, it would be great to have a backup!
DeleteMy dogs are pretty snotty to other dogs. It's like they have their own clique like those mean girls from high school.
ReplyDeleteOh, those mean girls. Hmmm. Book idea? :)
DeleteOurs are friends with each other and Weasley and Fry will play with other dogs, but Bob actively hates dogs other then ours and Mr. Tuvok and Ping couldn't be bothered. Like Jan's digs there a clique
ReplyDeleteThat's funny that he "actively hates" other dogs. Rita can be like that with some of the dogs in the 'hood.
DeleteI think Rita and Scout will become good friends. I've seen a lot of Reg, but this is the first time I've seen Dakota. You'll have to get all four of them together some time for a playdate! :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure we'll ever get them all together. Rita is funny about playing with more than 1 dog at a time. I read that dogs really need to be watching all the clues when they play - since their play is so much like "fighting" so they have to constantly be reassured that it's still a game. So sometimes playing with more than 2 at a time is hard for dogs that need that reassurance - which Rita does. I guess she can only focus on 1 dog at a time!
DeleteCocoa has friends at Christopher Robins and at the puppy park but it's funny because when we walk around town she is not super interested in playing. She has some leash aggression after we were attacked so meeting friends on the leash is not happening right now.
ReplyDeleteIs Christopher Robins a doggy day care? Cute name. Rita also has leash aggression - although it depends on many factors (size, manner of the other dog, her mood, etc.) but, yeah, for the most part we don't try to make friends with other dogs while on leash either.
DeleteThey had friends in VA, but so far here in Charleston all they have is each other #enoughfornow Mainly because I don't do dog parks and we haven't had a need to search for doggie day care facilities yet.
ReplyDeleteWe don't do dog parks either. Our dog trainer is very anti dog parks (and we've had some bad experiences). He's big on just meeting a dog or two and setting up your own play dates, which is what we do now. At least the boys have each other!
DeleteBailey makes friends where ever he goes. Katy is a bit more shy, but once she's been some place for a bit she gets to know other dogs and enjoys the company.
ReplyDeleteFor short trips we have a family member that will stay with the dogs. We have a friend who helps with day trips when the dogs need a potty trip.
For longer trips we've been experimenting with our options. You've reminded me we need to think about making a booking because the person who stays with them for short trips is coming with us for a wedding this summer.
It' stressful when you don't have a great set up for dog-sitting. I envy you your person who can check in to let them out for pottying when you're just out for a long day. We don't have that! My sisters both live a bit too far away to do that, and our neighbors are all .... insane.
DeleteNothing quite as cute as two dogs curled up together.
ReplyDeleteI know - but sadly that was brief! Rita's not much of a cuddler unfortunately.
DeleteKilo is very particular but his buddy Stanley is his BFF. Love that boxer face!
ReplyDeleteHer boxer BFF is very cute! And VERY high energy!
DeleteMabel loves her cousin Willow. But they play almost too hard, we have to force them to settle down.
ReplyDeleteRita and Reg could get like that when Reg was still a pup. Played til they'd drop!
DeleteThe best thing to do is always walk the dogs together first! It looks like they got along pretty well, hopefully you'll have you're backup dog sitter now. Love Dolly
ReplyDeleteYep, that's what we did!
DeleteCole is sooooo persnickety with friends. He has a few he trusts, and many he snarls at on walks. We used to have trades with a neighbor but she flaked out. We just take him everywhere, and stay in dog friendly hotels, often eating take out in the room.
ReplyDeleteOur lab would lay quietly in a hotel room and sleep while Cole freaks out if we leave him. Poodles.
LeeAnna
Bummer about the neighbor flaking, but I'm sure it's fun to bring him along. We usually bring Rita, but sometimes we like to fly to Hawaii and obviously we can't bring her along for that! But when we bring her along, we can't stay in hotels. We have to rent a dog-friendly house because the noise in a hotel/motel makes her nutty and I don't want her to bark and get us booted out!
DeleteKatie and Bailie both have a lot of friends, I prefer to stick to humans over dogs normally. Mom rarely travels without us, so it isn't much of an issue. Mom's cousin usually watches us if Mom has to be gone. She doesn't have any dogs.
ReplyDeleteThat's good that your Mom's cousin can come and stay with you. It's nice that you get to stay in your own house!
DeleteLiam the pug is a make-friends-wherever-I-go kind of dog, so he could easily make friends with anyone at any time. But his sister Sinead is much more selective. So hubby and I split the duties for travel (either he goes and I stay or the other way around), or we take the dogs with us. I'm just happy we have that option. Not all families do!
ReplyDeleteJean from Welcome to the Menagerie
That's a good option - better than never being able to go anywhere because of the pups, which I know is what some folks end up doing.
DeleteMy dogs do have friends. I love getting together with my friends to walk our dogs together. It's so great for all the dogs. And I have a blast too.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that when I get together with one of my friends, our dogs all stand and bark at each other for a couple of minutes - we joke that they're catching up. It's quite a racket, because it's 6 dogs total.
That's so funny that they like to "catch up". Sounds like a fun get together. It's nice to have someone to walk the dogs with. Rita and I meet up with Dakota and her mom once a week for a long walk and a play session. Rita LOVES it!
DeleteThat's a great start, soon they will be best buds.
ReplyDeleteHopefully! Or at least just decent friends! :)
DeleteClaim The Bed is a favorite around here! Mine usually leave each other alone, but when they do play, it's crazy!
ReplyDeleteClaim The Bed is an awesome game!
DeleteThat sounds like a great set up! it must be a big relief when you're away to know they are in their own home/beds with someone you can trust to watch them.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it was a great initial greeting! My dog is reactive so he typically just hangs with his brothers at home which I think are his friends!
ReplyDeleteRita can be reactive too, but luckily it's not to every dog - just certain ones. That's good your dog has brothers at home to hang out with. :)
DeleteCute photos! Sometimes it just takes some time, I think. When we added Rosie to our mix it took Jeffie awhile. He'd just sort of look at her (like who/what the heck are you?) However, years before when we added Rudy, Jeffie immediately adored him. (Shrugging shoulders... who knows what they're really thinking! lol)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny how he instantly loved Rudy but not Rosie. Yes... would love to know what goes on in their furry little heads!
DeleteI think it's so (so!) important for dogs to have friends. Imagine being around dogs all the time and never interacting with people! (Though it sounds kind of glorious, eh?) Dog are pack animals. They need social time. Mostly, though, what I love best is the pure joy of two or three dogs playing together. Always, I think: Why can't we adults be more like that? P.S. I return to Alaska next week and while I've missed my partner, I've really, really missed the dog we co-parent. Cannot wait to see her. I've bought her more gifts than I bought my partner, hee, hee.
ReplyDeleteHee. I think that's par for the course (at least around here) to buy more for the dog. :)
DeleteRita just takes her time getting to know new friends! Our crew mostly just has each other...it's too difficult to control with three of them. We do meet my sister and her beagles for walks sometimes, but they mostly all just ignore each other!
ReplyDeleteThat's good that they don't fight at least. Nice that you can all walk together!
DeleteAt least no fur flew so all good, right?! ღ
ReplyDeleteYes, that was definitely a good thing!
DeleteMy dogs don't really have friends. And I basically trust next to no-one, so we either travel WITH the dogs, or we travel separately and the other one stays home with the dogs. It works for us. I'm not sure what we'd do if we ever HAD to travel without the dogs. We basically have no close family that could watch them, although they get along marginally well with my sister's dogs, but she is 3 1/2 hours away. Scout's a real cutie!
ReplyDeleteWow, 3 1/2 hours away is a long drive to leave them with your sis. It's complicated when you don't have any one close by you can trust - we used to be in that situation before we moved.
DeleteLooks like a great start to a good doggy friendship.
ReplyDeleteHere's hopin'!
DeleteLove the gaming!! Looks like they'll get along GREAT!! Shasta's best buddies are Teddy (my parent's Yorkie) and Odor (our friend's Pug). He and my sister's husky Skya are starting to tolerate each other better. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOdor - what a great name!
DeleteI have to admit my dog probably has more human friends than other dogs, but recently I introduced her to a friend's Jack Russell (named Bella) and whom is considerably younger. It took them a while to start playing together, and it all started with Bella shoving her butt in front of my dog. This went on for several minutes, and soon enough they were chasing each other through the house. mission accomplished.
ReplyDeleteThat's good - so fun to watch them play, isn't it?
Deletehello rita its dennis the vizsla dog hay shoor i hav lots of frends!!! wel blog frends i meen!!! heer at the howse i yoozed to hav tucker and trixie but they went to the bridj and now i just hav saya and she is a nut!!! but we do play a littel so maybe she kownts as a frend!!! ok bye
ReplyDeleteI think Saya can both be a nut AND be your friend. And, yes, Rita is the same - way more blog friends that real life friends!
DeleteThey look like best friends!
ReplyDeleteThe hospital comment today was regarding the Man's salmonella. We spent a lot of time waiting for tests etc. there.
Poor Man. I hope he's getting better! Thanks for stopping by and answering! :)
DeleteIt always amazes me that some dogs seem to hit of off immediately and others take more time to warm up to each other (or they never do). Rita is lucky to have pals to play with.
ReplyDelete