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Starting to get along. 

Introducing dogs in a household is a complicated task, and can be a long-drawn-out process. Our goal had always been to adopt dogs so that they were four or five years apart in age. Wishes, however, aren't don't always come true. As much as we would have liked Iris to have a companion to play with earlier in life, after our other pets passed away we were never in the right place to adopt again. Until now. Only now Iris is over ten years old, and she's a pretty lazy gal, pretty set in her ways. So when we brought Gimli home we knew Iris wouldn't be head-over-heals for the new family member. We did things by the book—we introduced the pups outside the house in neutral territory—twice—before even bringing Gimli inside. We made sure to feed, pet, treat Iris first, and give her primary access to us, and everything else, for quite some time. The initial days were no slumber party, but they weren't an all-out dog fight, either. 

Iris was not thrilled, but she exhibited no undue stress—nothing that made us fear for Gimli's safety OR for Iris's basic comfort and happiness. So we remained patient, consistent, and steadfast in our efforts to reconcile the two, and, failing that, to at least keep them each safe, healthy, and happy. And for the past month Iris has done her best to ignore the little monster we brought into her midst, but lately she's started to come around. A week or so ago she started allowing him to cuddle with her at night. Then just a day ago she started making play gestures when he was nearby. It's still no slumber party, but we're going in the right direction.

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Birthday breakfast—just the beginning to a perfect day. I have the best family.

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