Dog "friends"

[Enko]

Please help settle a debate between dh and I

Before lockdown happened dd1 was on a placement in a local (ish) primary school. I had agreed I would drive her up each morning and she would take the bus home. I got into the habit of taking Ddog with me and on the route back we would go to the local commons and go for a walk. This would be about 8 15- 8 30.. There was this one other dog there " Teddy" who Ddog just loved and they would always make a beeline for each other playing and loving spending time together to the extend the other regulars would comment " oh there is your friend" to the other dog when one of them arrived.

Lock down happened and due to this our schedule changed as we have another part of the commons closer so would walk there. A few times when we did get down to the larger area we met Teddy and they are stil SO excited to see each other and clearly recognise oneanother and are "best friends" (if a ddog can have a best friend)

As lock down has eased up I have started driving to the larger commons area more regularly and we are walking there again most days. As dd1 now is at another school she is no longer in needof a ride so I have started walking a bit later as well I am not a morning person. Today I made a comment that perhaps I should start getting up earlier so we could go up to the commons and likely see Teddy again then said "that is just way to overindulgent of the Ddog and borderline stalkish of Teddy and his owner" (whom I do not really know bar we have exchanged first names)

DH however thinks this is a great idea. Argues it will get me up and about earlier (he is a morning person) and it will be good for Ddog to meet up with his friend..

SO AIBU to get up earlier on the off-chance that my dogs friend MIGHT be there (I wont know as like I said I barely know Teddys owner) or is it stalkerish/overindulgent?

YABU - Get up early and take your dog to meet his friend..
YANBU - You are over indulging your Dog and are borderline stalking Teddy and His owner..

Before anyone says anything this is a lighthearted post and I have no intentions of making Teddy and His owner feel like we are desperate to see them if we DO meet. Picure of DDog as wellI know many of you are Dog lovers.

IMHO dogs get far, far more exercise on a walk if they meet up with a pal to chase around with for a mad half hour or so.
Having said that, very little could tempt me from my bed on a cold, dingy morning......but, if you do, you just know it will be worth it.
There is not much in life more uplifting than walking with a dog who is just enjoying life and loving the freedom to run.

Definitely, dogs are social creatures and they have definite preferred dog companions. We use the dog walker when we can walk our dog just so he can see his buddy.

YABU take D doggy to see his friend

The dogs I look after (pro dogwalker) definitely have different relationships with each other, every single one has her own personality. I met up earlier today with a former client and his owner for a walk, just because her dog was missing his chums and wanted to have a good play. The Three Amigos were overjoyed to see each other and we had the most wonderful hour in the woods. Owner said it was well worth the half hour drive just to see him so happy.

DDog2 (large border collie) has a wee terrier pal and they like to sniff and jump around each other, while DDog1 ignores them both

I've met small terrier and his owner coming round a corner and small terrier was keeping back, nervous, when we got closer he realised it was DDog2 he came over wagging his tail and happy, they are definitely pals

Go for it. My dog (the border collie) loves her mates. She’s got 2 legged ones as well (who all seem to be about 6 years old)

Aw, I think it's sweet that your dog has a friend. It does no harm to go earlier in hopes of bumping into Teddy. Indulging our pets is one of life's little pleasures.

All our dogs until the youngest have always been quite people-oriented, but our youngest one is clearly infatuated with one of our other two dogs. He likes his people, too, but spends a lot of his time focused on his best friend, following her around and trying to tempt her to play with him. (He loves a game of chase!)

Aww it’s sweet. Dogs definitely form attachments to each other line they do to their owners and human family.
My dog is a bit of an oddball in that he’s not interested in other dogs (or people), but if we encounter others of his breed we will take him over to say hello, if the other owner is ok with this. Should add, or this sounds even weirder than it is, my DDog is a retired greyhound and is a bit confused (at times scared!) by other breeds so other hounds are very exciting for him - we see one who lives a couple streets away and they love to walk up and stand completely still and silent next to each other

Oh take him! Doggy friends are wonderful! My boy used to have several good doggy friends. Over the years, things change. He walks by some of them now without even a sniff! Others have either changed schedules, gone back to their dog walkers, or moved away. Doggy friends can come and they can go, so go out and enjoy Teddy!! Long may it last!
The one thing I do love is that my boy sees his sister quite often at a big park in London. They're almost 5 now, but I'll never forget going to puppy school and seeing my dog's mirror image sitting across from him and thinking, "What are the odds these two pups are siblings from a litter in Wales?" What a beautiful meeting that was! They knew each other right away. Whenever they see each other across the park, the bound towards one another. It's absolutely heart-swelling. I love the happiness of dogs. It's medicinal!

@StitchInTimeSavesNine
By 8:45am there is going to be a photo of the reunion isn't there???

IF I go and we do meet Teddy I promise to take a picture.

Update having not managed to meet Teddy at my early trips we kind of gave up and just went back to our later time and today arrived just as Teddy and his owner did. They recognised each other had a huge play and sniffed around together with lots of wages tails as we did a walk together. She has also changed her timing so we had missed each other. D dog is now fast asleep with dd1 upstairs very tired out by his friend picture as promised

Waggy tails I corrected that twice too

As much as it OAINS me to say this, your DH is right!

As evidenced today.

Tell me that you swapped numbers! (Added bonus you can meet up later in the day 🤣)

Dogs do have friends & enjoy meeting up and it's good for them to have a good run around with a pal.

Human friendships can develop too! But it's ok if it's 'just for the dogs'

If anything @WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants dh wasn't right if I had stuck to my later times we likely would have met before.

We have agreed a time we will both aim for shenis a lovely lady I like her a lot.

Definately take him to see his bestie!

My dog has her favourite pals, and then other dogs she really does not like, and ones she just ignores. She loves my in laws terrier, but doesn’t like the labradoodle. The terrier often pushes the labradoodle away when she gets too close to doggylamb

Aah that’s lovely. We need all the nice stories we can get at the moment.

@Enko

If anything *@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants* dh wasn't right if I had stuck to my later times we likely would have met before.

We have agreed a time we will both aim for shenis a lovely lady I like her a lot.

Pk that seems a good way out of giving him the credit 🤣🤣

But I meant he was right that your GORGEOUS boy would enjoy meeting up with his mate!