Play Date

By Hikingwithheather @HikingHeather
Mom and I took a road trip down to Madison today to celebrate a friend's birthday who happened to have a new puppy for us to visit!
Since Charlie is still reactive and unpredictable around new dogs, I decided to leave her with Alan to spend quality time with her daddy today and only brought Jake along on the trip to meet the new puppy.

Chester!


Chester and Jake


Chester takes the lead role in playtime with Jake


Chester is a 4-1/2 month old Golden Retriever mix rescued from Alabama and adopted through the Dane County Humane Society by his new family.
Jake just turned 9 months old yesterday, so I figured their energy levels would be a great match! While Charlie is a great playmate for Jake, she's almost 8 years old and doesn't last as long as Jake can, so it was nice seeing Jake play with another puppy similar in age.
They met in the front yard to check each other out before going into the house. Chester was a little shy and cautious at first, but Jake was definitely interested in playing. It's interesting seeing just how submissive Jake is. With just about every dog he meets, he tries to get as low as he can and does his "play bow" to initiate fun. He's very patient but persistent in his requests to play but never shows any aggression.



After taking the dogs in the backyard to run around, they finally loosened up and started getting comfortable with each other.
VIDEO (Play time in the backyard): 

Chester still has his sharp little baby teeth and Jake was getting a big dose of his own medicine with this little guy! He definitely went on the defensive and started avoiding those sharp teeth.
VIDEO (play time):

The playtime continued back in the house and the two dogs quickly tired each other out. Chester was definitely acting a lot more confident by the end of the play date than the beginning and it looked like both dogs benefited from their time together. After a couple of hours watching these two pups romp around together, Jake was ready to head home and nap the whole way!

Jake LOVES giving kisses!