We now have Spenser's sister here for a week's trial stay. Our agreement
with the breeder is that if at any time she's not working out for any
reason, then we call and Sassy goes back to her ASAP.

She was *very* stressed at the ride here (almost 4 hours) but she is now
settling in - it's only been 48 hours since she arrived here. Ears are up
and the scared look is gone in her eyes. She really likes her laptime and
is soaking up all the attention she can get. She's not convinced that this
is the best place in the world but it seems to be okay with her. We took
her for a short ride today and when she got inside the house again, she
seemed to almost visibly brighten. So I think she's adapting about as well
as we can expect.

All is well *except* that she won't play with Spenser. They *do* play a
little chase in the backyard - entirely her chasing him - but nothing in the
house. They are mostly tolerant of each other and have even started to
sometimes touch noses in what I would say is greeting. Both allow polite
sniffing and neither pushes it.

But any real attempt by Spenser to get her to play is met with snarling. He
snarls back and she snarls some more and then they both walk away. If we
throw a toy, as soon as one dog sees the other going after it, they both
stop. And on a couple of occasions, I have seen them actually briefly rub
muzzles in what I would expect to turn into a play thing. But then it
stops. Admittedly, Sassy hasn't been terribly interested in toys either -
but that is increasing a little more tonight. They both are bone chewers -
which they are willing to do side by side on the couch. Even trading off
bones periodically.

She did play with some of the other dogs at the breeder's. Not all the dogs
play with each other - dogs do form friendships. And Spenser will play with
any dog willing - he absolutely craves it. Having a playmate for him was a
large part of our decision to get a second dog. I've never gotten an older
dog before (she's two - the same litter as Spenser) so I'm kind of playing
it by ear here.

What is your collective experience? When she settles in more (which I know
she still has a ways to go) will she play with Spenser? What is really
strange is that Spenser has always acted differently with her than he has
with any other dog - ever. Normally he goes right into his ears back, head
tilt play invitation. He didn't do that with her. (Although he does try a
little of that now.) They just both kind of looked each other over and did
their thing independently of each other.

What do you think? Is this going to work? I know I'm being impatient but
if it's not going to work for Spenser then we need to decide that with a
minimum of problems for both of the dogs.

Judy