Mary's dogs

In addition to meeting Jenn and Mary's pups Jure and Pace, Chandler also got to meet most of the rest of Mary's pack. The exception was her border collie, who can have dog/dog issues. There was an initial chaotic swirl of canines as they were released from their gated room through the house's kitchen, and out the back door. I think they were a bit surprised to find a stranger in their midst. Chandler was busy trying to meet everyone.

Mary's Cattle Dog/Australian shepherd, Bug, seemed to take everything in stride. Of course, she had briefly met Chandler once before when Mary and Jenn had brought the pups to my local pet supply store for socialization.

I like Bug, she's fun to flirt with.

Toast, Mary's Cattle Dog/Terrier, wasn't quite so sure about Chandler. She's had a few bad experiences with large dogs, so her first action was to aim a spat of machine gun barking at Chan. Chandler's reaction to this verbal assault was along the lines of "Woah! Hey...I didn't DO anything lady! What's with the noise?" * When told to leave Chandler alone because he was not a threat, Toast calmed down and eventually decided the fluffy black dog must be ok.

See? That is a smile.

Finally we met Shiver.

Isn't she cute?

Shiver is a tiny fluffball ruler of the universe. She also was a bit disconcerted to find a big black fuzzy dog in her backyard, even if does resemble his cousin Nixie, who belongs to Jenn.

*sigh* Told off again...this is a tough crowd.

Chandler is very familiar with tiny fluffball masters of the universe. His best friend as a puppy was an undersized Shetland Sheepdog with a Napoleon complex, so he really likes small dogs. He ended up making a number of close passes within several feet of Shiver as he walked around the backyard, but I think she was trying to figure out how to boss this new dog around.

For a sudden introduction that wasn't on neutral ground, the encounter went rather well. Of course, all of the dogs were well trained, socialized, and of compatible temperament. It was great to finally meet Mary's dogs as part of our weekend outing.

*Please note that English Shepherds are quite variable in temperament, so I would not count on similar reactions from other English Shepherds. I highly suspect Chandler is mostly an amiable marshmallow as far as the breed goes, and Mary knew it after seeing him play with the pups.