Tisen has made a friend.  Well, at least a playmate.  Let’s start at the beginning of this relationship.

Tisen and Twiggy were introduced at the park several weeks ago.  Tisen isn’t all that fond of other dogs, although he’s definitely getting more tolerant.  So, imagine my surprise when this beautiful lady of a dog starts tussling with Tisen and they end up in a playful wrestling match!  No snarling, no growling, no yelping.  It was great!

This monumental event was followed by a pleasant visit to Twiggy’s patio and, later, another visit at our place during a weekend lunch for the humans.

However, Tisen and Twiggy never re-engaged with one another other than to take each other’s toys when we were in their respective homes.  It was a little disappointing–but perhaps they needed neutral territory to wrestle.

In any case, the other day, Twiggy was invited to spend the morning with us without her parents.  It was Tisen’s first real play date.  I walked Tisen before going to get Twiggy so he could have his usual morning routine.  Then, I picked up Twiggy and took her for a spin around the park before taking her home.

When we got to our place, Twiggy ran for the toy basket and started digging around for what appealed to her.  Fortunately, Twiggy went straight for real chew things like bones.  Tisen never touches bones.  This would have worked well, except for one little complication:  Twiggy started breaking off enormous chunks of bone and swallowing them.  We were worried enough that we substituted first a softer bone, thinking she would chew it up smaller, followed by a dried hoof, but both suffered the same fate.

Robbed of attention-occupying chew toys, Twiggy returned to the basket and started pulling out squeaky toys.  This started a game that was like a combination of capture-the-flag and king-of-the-hill with a touch of tug-o-war thrown in.

Tisen started grabbing his toys two at a time and running behind the couch with them.  Twiggy, in turn, grabbed what she could and started making a pile in the middle of the living room.

I played referee when arguments started over toys mysteriously migrating from one hoard to the other.  It was possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.  No sooner would Tisen run off with a toy from Twiggy’s pile then Twiggy would find another to replace it with.

I was pretty sure this was going to be an infinite game, but after turning away for a few minutes, when I turned back, they were both snoring next to their respective piles of toys.

Unfortunately, they both woke up when I got out my camera, but Twiggy posed like a pro while Tisen guarded his pile behind the couch.

I think they had fun–they certainly weren’t bored.  Tisen slept more soundly than I’ve seen him sleep in a long time after Twiggy went home.