Social Days Bring Great Learning

We’ve had a few different personalities here this week. All great teachers for young Squire Bailey.
Fun times with Countess River, Matron Sadie and Sir Henry. A nice small diverse pack.
I have to admit I was kept on my toes. Young Squire Bailey really is a social butterfly. He loves each and every one of these buddies. He’s growing fast and still learning his size. His impulse control is improving with help. Especially from Countess River and Matron Sadie.

Countess River and Matron Sadie stay calm and quiet.
Even a peep could send Squire Bailey into zoomies mode

Both these gals have different ‘teaching styles’. Both make great use of their calming signals. Sadie has a larger frame and can withstand a bit of rough play. When she’s not up to anymore of Bailey's shenanigans, she calms with a solid stance, stand or sit firmly in place. She uses a round puppy like face. Her facial expressions are exact enough to show Bailey she needs him calm and to curb his playful advances. Bailey is learning to watch her language and seems to listen very well. A lick of his lips, a turned head and he simply heads off in the opposite direction in search of a better choice for play.  Good boy Bailey.

Bailey - "Alright already, I get it. You don't want to play."

Even though Countess River is a high energy girl, she is a much slighter girl. She uses her paws and mouth to calm him and then speed when she wants to keep away from Bailey.  She knows the house and yard very well and can also easily find a small space to slip under or ways to outmanoeuvre him.When there is an unwanted interaction, her shrill yelp stops him in his tracks.  She sees him coming and sends messages long before anything escalates.  River wants to play with Bailey but, he must play easier with her. She's often turns away from him. She is aging a bit now and has more delicate body than his. So far, a perfect get away from him is the pool. Bailey hasn't yet decided if he wants to be a pool boy or not.  I'm sure it wont be long before he understands the fun involved with water.  The warm weather is starting.For now its a great way to show Bailey to stay calm.

 

 

 

 

 

River - "Come on in Bailey. If you dare"

Bailey knows to watch and listen to the other dogs.  So much so that when a viable playmate arrives on scene he's approach is very calm. His manners really shine through during initial introductions.  It also doesn't take long for him to understand when someone, like Sir Henry says, "Hey! Let's play" then off they go and there's just no stopping them. All. Day. Long!

Get ready. One. Two. Three. PULL!

In side or out, they rough and tumble and zoom and tug. I end up having to separate them with a divider fence in order to force rest time after meals. They are as funny as Ruby and Bailey are together. They completely ignore any others like River, who might ask to play along. 

Boys only playtime

I have to step in and remind her River, she's not really a viable playmate with them together. The way these two welter weights crash into each other would no doubt squash her.

Countess River -" Hey! I wanna play too!"
Bailey - "No girls allowed"

Countess River - "Fine, I really wanted to snooze with my friend Sadie anyway."

Sadie and River spent a few days together before the boys arrived. It gave them a chance to get reacquainted again.  It always warms my heart to see dogs being so comfortable together.
While I raked and tidied the yard. The girls found spots to lay and relax. Of course, outdoors it was the same spot I was trying to rake.

We're helpers! You're done raking here now.

Sadie seems to love laying in even the smallest strip of shade.

On their last day of visiting the girls were choosing to sleep as close to one another as they could get. There was still lots of bedding space for them to spread out but instead they snuggled in together.
I don't know what the 'experts' would call this or how they'd analyze this behaviour. I just know it made my heart sing and put a big smile on my face.

Good night all. See you in the morning

Young Bailey needs to be in a closed crate to give the others a more peaceful sleep.
It's still too difficult for him to resist play even during the night. I have no doubt that will change very soon for him. He's a quick and happy learner.He will be joining us for the month of May. That's a whole lot of learning days ahead of him.

Thank you to my great extended pack for being such awesome teachers!