Duffy playing chase with Sage

 

Duffy’s relationship with Sage has not been as good as with Ginger, primarily because Sage doesn’t have Ginger’s social skills.  Sage has been too rough on the occasions she has been willing to play with Duffy, and Duffy has cringed away from her charges, but not today.  Today they played a fairly normal game of chase.  Here is Sage showing a lot of interest in Ginger playing with Duffy:

I have several shots showing Sage dancing around their play, but Sage veered away and didn’t join in.  Later she seems to be doing something similar.  This time Ginger goes in to the brush, and Duffy turns to pay attention to Sage.  Notice Sage assuming the play posture.

At first Duffy does what he always does, scrunch down until Sage gives up, but then he takes off.  The game is on:

Just as Sage is about to catch Duffy, he dodges and reverses direction:

Sage is about to catch Duffy when he dodges and reverses direction again:

After this, Duffy called it quits and sat down.  Sage honored that and the game was over.  I knew Sage had problems with small dogs before we ever got Duffy, and I worried about how she would handle him.  At first she didn’t want to have anything to do with him, but slowly, ever so slowly, she has warmed to him.  Today was a milestone in their relationship.