Reynvaan & Gramercy say...Game on!

Reynvaan and Gramercy hadn't spent time together before they arrived to Washington.  We were told that Reynvaan loves other dogs and that Gramercy was a bit shy so, we weren't sure what to expect. 

What we've found out is that both boys are pretty amazing! By mid day on Saturday they were playing up a storm (remember they both arrived late Friday night).  

My initial thought is that Reynvaan is very dog savvy which helps a slightly under confident dog (Gramercy) feel comfortable to play.  Reynvaan also was able to get our own dog D'light to play tug which is pretty much unheard of with a brand new foster!

Gramercy is also proving to be a very playful boy, he just needs a bit more warm up time than Reynvaan.  These are two awesome boys and we are thrilled to be fostering both of them.

Starting to play - you can see Reynvaan in play bow to engage Gramercy

Getting a feel for play styles

I have a sequence of five video's and you can see how these two boys play.  They say with play you are looking for a 50/50 - each dog trading off (50/50) with being on top and bottom.  Reynvaan is good at this, Gramercy is working on it but, trying hard!

A lot of dogs are not able to do 50/50 - my own dogs Catty and D'light never even venture into this realm.  It doesn't mean they are not good with dogs just that they are not yet comfortable with the play style.  This is something that if you have a young puppy, you want them playing with other pups to learn this.  I have no doubt that with some time and a good mentor Gramercy would be doing the 50/50.

We were pleasantly surprised with the good natured, loving personalty of both boys! The key with dog play is to watch for cue's of a dog going over threshold and then intervene. Neither of these boys made it to that point, they are just having a lot of fun together.

You can see in the above video Reynvaan isn't sure what to make of Gramercy - lots of sneezing by Gramercy which is about excitement and something for me to watch as the play progresses.

Reynvaan trying to get the 50/50 started and not able to - you can see he jumps off to take a break and shake off.  This is excellent and even more so that Gramercy respects that.  You can see more sneezing and shake off but, mostly them figuring out what's going.  My guess is that Gramercy has never had a chance to play with a "good dog skills" dog so, this is a great experience for him.

Lots of playing and Reynvaan still working the 50/50 - what's great is that Gramercy is staring to get it - he goes down on his belly which is great progress in a very short time.  Reynvaan is letting Gramercy know to slow it down and be respectful.  Good boys!

Getting tired... I was amazed that they played withing the boundary this tiny mat!

Good boy Gramercy!!! Starts off on the bottom with the 50/50 - you can see Reynvaan moves off to give a "release" which Gramercy probably needed since this was a big deal! You can see in the last 15 seconds Reynvaan is getting tired.  So I watched for a few more seconds and then stopped the play.  Both boys are very easy to redirect so it was a win win for everyone!

Reynvann wanting to break off - which Gramercy is respectful of

Bitty face = a ton of fun

This looks scary but these boys have AMAZING bite inhibition and are having a good time.

Having a good time

Playing is hard work! Just ask Reynvaan

An exhausted Gramercy sleeping on foster dads lap!