In an on-going quest to set up successful interactions between the new puppy and my existing dogs, I've been taking Gimme and Meaggi to the Fort Lewis training areas for some light hiking (which actually means, puppy-speed roaming and snooping).
Last Monday was the first time and it was a thing of beauty to behold. Watching dogs interact naturally without interference by people, when both are socially appropriate - well its just cool to see. Meaggi is clearly setting up the hierarchy and telling the stinker that she's got boss status. Thus far Gimme is fine with that and showed due deference. 
It was really kinda cute watching her follow Meaggi around and copy what she did. If Meaggi stopped and sniffed, Gimme sniffed too - about 6 feet away. When Meaggi stopped to pee, Gimme would too. 
Today we did it again, with a longer "hike" and the interactions were great. Everywhere Meaggi went, Gimme was pretty close behind, until Meaggi got outside the distance from me that Gimme is comfortable with. Then she would stop and wait for her to return and then follow her some more, inside the comfort zone.
The sad thing is that I now have even more evidence that Meaggi's eyesight is getting bad. For one thing, she doesn't travel as far from me as she used to when we hiked there. She's always tended to stay where she could see me, and that is much closer than it used to me. 
Also, she was trotting toward me once and Gimme was in a bit of a play bow and pounced toward her from plain view - Meaggi yelped in surprise at something I would have thought would be hard not to see. So it seems her clarity of vision has decreased. It's sad when they get old...
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