Furry Friday: Jürgen

Riley has a new friend.  His name is Jürgen and he's an eight month old rescued husky mix.  Our neighbor Bill recently adopted him after some coaxing by his son.  Apparently Jürgen is the spitting image of a dog he'd once owned and so the decision to adopt him came fairly easily when his son brought him by the house.

We were fairly nervous to introduce Riley since he's always been a bit touch-and-go with other dogs, however the two of them get along fabulously.  I can count on one hand how many other dogs Riley gets along with and I'm glad that Jürgen is one of them.  There was Romeo and Emma, two dogs at our old apartment complex, as well as my Grandmother's cockapoo Cali.  And of course Apache, but now that Riley is a little older their fondness for each other has worn off.  One thing we've noticed is that Riley gets along fine with female dogs and fixed males.  Seeing as how Apache and he are both un-neutered males, this may be the root of their problem.  Jürgen is not only fixed but he is also a very submissive and mild-mannered male which compliments Riley's ballsy alpha dog ego quite nicely. 

The other night I'd hooked Riley out on his chain and took note that Jürgen was also out on a lead.  No sooner did the two see one another they were barking back and forth, tails wagging furiously.  Jürgen eventually laid down but our spoiled fur-child continued to whimper and cry, thus soliciting whimpers from Jürgen.  When Bill came out to check on Jürgen we brought Riley over to see him.  Riley was drooling like crazy and Jürgen kept trying to swat Riley a high-five.  I'd petted Jürgen hello and to that Riley decided he was going to try to pee on me as a show that I was his property.  Fortunately I realized this soon enough and stepped out of the way, but we all got a good laugh out of it.  As we continued to chit chat with Bill, the two dogs eventually just laid down in the grass panting and facing one another.  I hope they continue to be so chillax around one another.  It's such a relief to know he gets along with our neighbor's dog.

Does your dog have socialization issues?  Do you schedule play dates?