Last Friday, the ginger sisters were invited for a playdate at my friend's beautiful patio oasis with her Rottweiler, Tugg. Ruby and Boca had a wonderful time racing around the multi-level deck, sniffing the pond and fountain, and bossing the gentle giant around. Tugg was such a sweetheart and allowed the girls to steal his toys and bones. Boca seems to enjoy policing Ruby's interactions with other dogs like the big sister that she is, and I think Tugg was intimidated by their raucous vocalizations. Ruby was her usual relentlessly exuberant self, hardly noticing that Tugg outweighs her by about one hundred pounds!
My friend and I were able to catch up while the dogs romped, reminiscing about dogs past and sharing stories about our newest additions. She told me about the rally obedience classes she takes with her boy, and the format sounded brilliant! The dogs are allowed to play and burn off energy in a supervised dog-park-like setting while the handlers have a more focused discussion in a classroom, and then humans and dogs reunite for practice. A scenario like this might actually work for Ruby since she is unable to focus around new dogs. Once she has met them off-leash she can normally do what is asked of her. I thought this was such a great idea, and something I may look into.
On our way home we stopped at the Kyjen office to pick up the generously contributed Slo Bowl for Ruby's Gotcha Day Giveaway - congratulations to winners Sarah of Lola the Pitty, Carrie of Tales and Tails and Chrissie of Pupcycled! The ginger sisters hardly moved for the rest of the day, and by the evening they looked downright miserably tired. They weren't even interested in their evening walk. In the above picture they look like they are nursing the canine version of a hangover! I love that Ruby and Boca have so many opportunities to play until they drop with their pup pals and that their people are just as nuts about dogs as I am.
