I got word last night that Blue will be leaving on Friday’s rescue run. He is going to a rescue that has experience with rowdy dogs, so he ought to do okay. Ugg will be staying for another round.

The ironic part is that Ugg is actually doing better than Blue at settling down, but I guess I haven’t made that clear. And Blue is a small dog, so even though he is more rowdy than Ugg, he is not terrifying like Ugg can be when he does decide to get my attention by jumping on me and mouthing.

So I’ll help Blue pack his bags for the trip, and Ugg will hang with us for another month.

We’re on our third Kuranda dog bed for Ugg. The first one I ordered was too small. The second was framed in all PVC and he chewed up a corner piece. Kuranda sent replacement parts (aluminum top caps for all four legs, but while we were waiting for those he chewed up more parts.

Because of the generosity of a good-hearted woman, I ordered an all aluminum Kuranda bed for him. That one has held up well and he is laying on it. He didn’t seem interested in laying on the PVC bed, only in chewing it.

It has been rainy, and he likes being up off the wet gravel. Ugg is also using his dog house for the first time. Until the remnants of Florence came flouncing through, Ugg preferred to camp on the pea gravel, even in light rain (because his roof keeps most of his kennel dry in a light rain). But the heavier rain and breezes sent him scuttling for shelter.

Blue likes his Coolaroo and his doghouse and uses them all the time. He has done only minor damage to his Coolaroo dog bed.

These two are able to share the play yard again. They had a dust-up a while back over a yard bone one of them found. That got ugly, though it wasn’t Ugg who started it. Blue gets possessive of treats and toys. Neither got hurt in their dust-up, but Blue is still guarded around Ugg. I think he wants to try to prove to Ugg who is boss here, but has found that Uggs size needs to be respected. They do not play together any more, but when their paths cross as they wander, they are civil. There just can’t be any toys in the yard.

Ugg is easy-going and non-aggressive. His only issue is that he doesn’t realize how big and powerful he is, and he can scare the willies out of the smaller dogs when he tries to play with them. I’ll continue working with him on that as well as his self control when he gets excited. He’s going to be fine.

Moonshine has been wanting to play with Blue. Today I let her try that out.

Blue came out of his kennel and bounced up to Moon Doggie, inviting her to come run with him. She grew wary and said something unfriendly. Little Boy Blue said, “Okay, okay…” and crept off by himself.

Blue found his favorite ropey toy. For a while he ran around flapping and tossing the toy, but it was getting warm out. He settled in to do some quiet gnawing.

He paid no mind to Moonshine at all.

Moonshine, on the other hand, spent this whole time watching Blue play, from a distance, but totally intrigued. I think she regretted rebuffing him earlier. She was finding that he could be a fun playmate after all.

In time, Blue decided to try saying “howdy” again. This time Moonie was cool: they sniffed each other and got acquainted. They didn’t actually play today, but they got along until Blue decided he was ready to go back to his room and get his treat.

Blue behaves much the same way when he’s out with Blondie Bear or Josephine. He wants to play, but won’t press the issue if his invitation is turned down. That is a good boy!