Getting to know the resident dogs

Now that Kiva has the lay of the land, she's getting to know the personalities of the resident dogs and foster boy Langley.

Tilly let her know that she should mind her own business and Kiva listened to her elders and kept her playfulness at a distance from old Tilly.

Kiva and Frodo

Frodo was easy. He didn't want to play at all but Kiva was fine just hanging out on the couch with him for awhile. She really wanted someone to play with her though so she decided to say hi to Langley.

Langley always rides the line of excitement and anxiety when meeting a new dog and a quick game of chase turned not so nice due to Langley's reaction. Kiva handled it well but gave Langley a wide berth for awhile. So now we are working on slower, more controlled meetings.

Langley and Kiva demonstrating some parallel play: a good first step to becoming pals

So for now I'm working with Langley and Kiva to be able to hang out next to each other and play near each other. Since both like chew toys, and this keeps Langley distracted from what Kiva is doing it worked well. As you can see they both enjoyed a nice little chew next to each other with me supervising. It shouldn't be too much longer befor Langley feels comfortable enough that he'll be able to play at a more "normal" dog level that won't overwhelm Kiva. Stay tuned...