Playtime Dynamics

Sadie was born in the backyard of a collector—someone who hoards animals but doesn’t take proper care of them. Because of her upbringing, she is skittish around strangers yet great around all dogs. We are so lucky because Porter is the opposite. His social skills around other dogs are barbaric. When he wants to play he head butts them and barks in their faces. Sadie just puts up with it. Sadie’s social skills are truly put to the test with her foster sister Brenda in the mix, though.

Brenda is more like Porter yet has less of a clue how to properly interact with her own species. Brenda uses her paws to demand Sadie to play with her. It’s actually as if Brenda punches Sadie, usually in the shoulder. Sadie’s reaction is to lie on her back and let Brenda and Porter pounce on her belly. It’s pretty remarkable. Otherwise, neither Porter nor Brenda would have a regular playmate.

Once Sadie has enough—and she’s always in charge of when to play and when to stop—she starts snapping the air with her jaws and flips over onto all fours. If the other dogs don’t cease the pouncing, Sadie takes a few swats at them with her huge paws and runs into another room. Sometimes this puts an end to the session, but other times they follow her and the ritual happens all over again.