Living with a reactive dog is a learning process, especially when that dog is Pongo.  You never know what he’s going to be OK with and what is going to send him over the edge. Sometimes it’s a big guessing game and unfortunately, there are times when my guesses aren’t spot on.

Pongo and I drove out to the Valley today to meet my girlfriend Audra and her two Golden Retrievers, Phoebe and Greta to go for a walk.  We wanted the dogs to meet before we do a bigger hike together where Pongo might have to be on-leash.  The whole way up I contemplated how to best introduce the dogs.  I decided that I would let Pongo out of the car, off-leash and then Audra could let her girls out.  Well, that didn’t work so well.  Pongo got snarky with both of the girls and ended up sitting in the car for a time-out and some cool down time.  I was prepared to leave Pongo in the car, while the four of us enjoyed a walk, if he couldn’t behave himself.

When it was time to try the meet and greet again, I asked Audra to walk down the road a little with her dogs and Pongo and I would follow.  That seemed to work.  When we caught up with Audra and her girls, Pongo appropriately greeted Phoebe and Greta and the rest was history…they had a blast exploring, running, and playing together.

Phoebe and Pongo deciding who was going to bring the stick back to shore.

They came up with a good compromise.

The dogs were always on the move so it was hard to get a shot that wasn’t one of their backsides.

Pongo’s new BFF, Greta.

While there was a small bump in the road upon initial meeting, I think it was a very successful meet and greet.  Plus, it was a great time had by all!