Bear and Harpo (our older dog) get along great, probably because Bear is a girl and Harpo and boy. He doesn’t have the same feelings towards Shadow. I wonder if Shadow doesn’t just have this male instinct thing going on that tells him Harpo is an older male and must be conquered. It’s very lucky for Shadow that he is so fast and Harpo so slow, or I fear Harpo would have taken a few bites out of this little pest already!

I took this video this morning as Shadow was once again letting his hormones override his brain. Bear is the one that just kind of sits and watches the 2 of them being silly.

Warning….lots of loud barking and strange camera noises! 

When we got our dachshund 15 years ago, I think I named him Harpo. It seems like Greg agreed, but I don’t remember. Then Holley and I named our cats and Greg really didn’t care for their names.

Because of that, I remember that I told him the next couple of pets we got would be his to name. Of course, at the time I never imagined that there would be 2 more dogs. Anyway, he named Bear and then I tried to talk him into Obie for the newest one, because his choice, Shadow, seemed too cliche and common. But it’s obvious he really doesn’t like the name I picked, and I did tell him he could name them (and he’s too nice to insist I keep my end of that agreement), so I’m going to defer to his wishes and re-name Obie. He is now, officially, Shadow.

The truth of the matter is that about 1/2 the time I just refer to them both as “you little poop machines” so I doubt they’ll care.

Bear is now 3 months old and just getting cuter every day. But she was really missing her sister. We had to really bribe her to get her to eat and she slept more than anything. So, meet Shadow:

He is about a week younger than Bear, but weighs at least a pound more. He’s about as shy and submissive as she is outgoing and aggressive. I don’t know if something happened at his birth home, but he tends to lay his ears back a lot, which actually makes him look more like a seal than a dog! We’re making sure he gets lots of love and reassurances to try to help him feel more secure.

They hit it off pretty much right away. Bear started eating again and loves bossing around her new friend. Sometimes they sleep together, and they play so well together. I could just sit outside watching them play all day. It’s difficult getting pictures of them because they are rarely still unless they are tired, so I waited until just before bedtime to get these. I can’t wait for you to meet them, Holley!