Fewer dogs?

Cooper and Teddy were with us for several days in the first
part of June.  They lived in Sparky's world while they were
here and Sparky spent more time indoors and in the dog yard.

It's been quite a while since I took down most of my outdoor kennels and resolved to have fewer dogs.  And really, we do, although it doesn't always seem like it.

Penelope is a great looking blue merle Dane,
but that tongue could have it's own zipcode.

Trooper, Maya, Gigi, Vince, Samantha, Sparky, and Theo are ours.  Max probably is as well.  That's a core group of 7-8 dogs.  Hardy is our only real foster (with Promises Animal Rescue), so our household count has been nine.  But there have been boarders and visitors in a fairly steady stream this spring and summer.  Teddy and Cooper were here for about a week but they have gone home.  Scarlett arrived today and she's staying for about a week.  And then there's Penelope, with Green Dogs, who came today.  She supposedly has another foster home lined up but they are out of town until this weekend.  Our core group of nine plus Scarlett and Penelope brings us to 11, if you just count Penelope as one dog.  Her tongue alone could probably count as another dog.

Penelope is a big girl, sweet and friendly to everyone, human and canine, who she has met so far.  She seems to be missing some teeth on one side of her mouth that allows her tongue to hang out pretty much all the time.  But she's not deaf or blind so she's a remarkably fit for a Green Dogs dog.

We started the introductions with Maya and Trooper.

I didn't pick her up until 7:30 Wednesday evening, but thanks to the long days we still had time for daylight introductions and even some outdoor time.  She was fine with everyone but Gigi was a little concerned.

Gigi checked her out pretty thoroughly and probably let her
know that only one Dane is allowed in the bed.

Gigi barely deigns to notice new arrivals.  If she even bothers to leave her position on the bed to come down to meet them, she generally gives them a perfunctory sniff and then it's back to bed.  She took more interest in Penelope than I've seen with any other dog.  It was all friendly enough, but Gigi seemed a bit concerned.  Gigi bounded off upstairs to reclaim her position on the bed and Penelope followed her.  I'm planning to keep Penelope downstairs with Hardy and Sparky at night so Gigi will know that her position in bed is secure.

Scarlett had arrived just this afternoon herself.  She was very
anxious to meet Penelope and they got along fine.

Samantha can walk under Penelope
without even ducking her head.

Penelope met Hardy and Theo out in the dog
yard and then spent some time out there with them.
Meeting Max will wait until tomorrow.

Scarlett on a dog bed in my office.  My
plan for the next few days is to spread the
dogs out around the house as much as possible.