A couple weekends ago, we watched 8 month old puppy Casey for some friends of mine. Casey had been over for play visits a few times, since we have a nice big fenced yard and Casey and her family live in a townhouse without a fenced yard.
Casey alone (or with other dogs) is a total energy dog! She springs around with seemingly endless energy. In fact, she didn’t really sleep the night that she was here; she napped for an hour or two, then bounced up to play again. Her indoor playmate was my Lally, but when we were outside Casey was determined to get Moose to wrestle. She would bounce around him until he gave in to her charms.
When we were playing in the yard, Casey decided that Moose was her new role model. Aside from desperately trying to get him to play, she picked up a few Moose mannerisms. If Moose picked up a stick to chew, Casey would get a stick. It was so cute to watch the two of them, stick in mouth, chomping away. (For the record, Casey destroyed her sticks MUCH faster than Moose.) But she would only pick up a stick if Moose got one first; she wouldn’t just take a stick on her own.
Casey, watching intently as Moose enjoys a stick.
Our house and yard sit on a corner lot. Moose likes to sit in the corner that faces the side street and watch the kids play basketball. When he’s alone in the yard, he will settle in that corner for hours! When Casey was here, she would run up and sit beside him so they could watch the world together. It was one of the few times she actually sat down during her visit.
It amazes me how quickly Casey adapted to the pattern in our household and picked up the rules. Outside, Moose was her playmate; inside he wanted to be left alone.
I’ve asked some other dog lovers to share their stories of dogs teaching dogs… so stay tuned for more tales of tails!
Read Dogs Teaching Dogs, Exhibit A here.