Oh, how are the dogs getting along? I’m glad you asked.

It’s been five months already since we brought the ‘little brown dog’ home from Gig Harbor, gave him his new name, and introduced him to his decidedly odd and lovable older brother-to-be, Bolivar.

The first few days went as expected, with Bolivar grumbling every time Rye went near anything valuable, like the food corner, the water bowl, the couch, the bed, the door…yeah, pretty much everything. As Boli has figured out Rye is staying, he has learned to tolerate him. Like in the picture below, where his expression basically says “Do you see what I have to put up with?”, yet is still hanging out on the couch with him.

Check out Rye's naptime posture

We are still waiting for the day when they’ll snuggle together. Rye is a snuggle machine, anywhere, anytime — a lapdog in Kelpie clothing. Boli typically whimpers when you try to cuddle him, but sometimes gives in to a power nap with a human buddy. Two dogs cuddled up together? Hasn’t happened yet. Rye doesn’t really try to cuddle Boli, but sometimes his unpredictable flopping around makes him land on Boli. This usually results in Bolivar getting up to move. This picture is the closest they’ve come to a snuggle, while on a road trip:

Wow, that's a lot of adorable fur!

The hours-long hum of the car, the 90 degree Southern Oregon heat, and a comfy nest in the back of my car made for a sleepy, warm, tolerant Bolivar.

We had one experiment while camping with the two of them in a dog crate together:

This made for an entertaining hour. Rye fell right asleep, but Bolivar couldn’t believe he was being forced into this situation. As he got sleepier and sleepier, his body slowly slunk into a ‘dog ball’ to match Rye’s, but he really fought letting his eyes close, lest he actually fall asleep in this vulnerable, adorable situation:

Cute overload!

So they’re getting along pretty great! Rye is sort of the attention hog, and being faster and more aggressive than Boli he dominates our games of fetch and doggie in the middle. This photo captures the essence — Rye gets up front, and Boli, though in the back, is still smiling:

While we’re waiting and hoping for the comfort level that results in a snuggling pile of dogs, we’re pretty happy with what we’ve got!