Please tell me if I am overly concerned but...

Since the day before the wedding, Archer has been here continuously. And because of Ami's observation status re: rabies, he has been kept away from all guests other than my husband and I and Josh's immediate family. Except at night when Archer is crated in the shop or during the day if we leave the property (then they are each tethered) both dogs are loose in the backyard. They are never more than 5' apart from each other - either playing or sleeping. I try to spend some alone time with Archer before he goes in the crate - If I do, he's quiet, if I don't, he howls for about 5 minutes. Wayne and I try to spend alone time with Ami inside at night but that was interrupted 2 nights in a row due to rain and major Mr. Mud Dog. The last 2 nights, when we brought Ami inside, he just paced and paced, looking for Archer, we think. We have thought before that Ami is anxiously looking for Archer when he leaves with my son, so now we walk them out so Ami can see Archer leave with Josh. Also, the shoes I wore at the wedding seriously aggravated the arthritis in my great toe, so I have not been walking Ami as usual - his exercise (and there is plenty) has been racing, romping and wrastlin' with Archer.

The kicker is, in 2 weeks, Josh is on 10 week assignment and Archer will be here at least 5 days every week while Jess works...I want to manage this so Ami does not become overly dependent on Archer. The positive side of this is that he does show spurts of possessiveness over Wayne and I - Archer is a little budger, always wanting in our laps when we sit down outside. Ami is much more reserved and prefers to be about 10 ft away from us but gets antsy with Archer all over us - in a cute way. He comes over and takes Archer by the scruff of the neck and pulls him away, than entices him to play. Or, he uncharacteristically climbs up on all of us and kisses, licks and "flea-bites" our ears etc.

So, long story short, do I have a potential problem here and can I mitigate it by spending more time with Ami alone?

Oh Amy, that's a hard one, lol. I like the idea of Ami going out with you to say goodbye to Archer. But I have to question it myself, they are pack animals, and although they love their humans, they know they can not play with us like they do with each other. I see the same thing with Miya and our next door neighbors husky. All day today she would walk to our properties edge, she could hear him, and she wined, she kept looking at me as if to say come on mom let's go visit Zeke, I want to play with him.

Interestingly I have read of pair bonding, typically it's male/female mating bonds vs male/male buddy bond. That's why I don't find it unusual for the puppy love I see with Miya and Zeke, Zeke is not neutered and Miya's spay was done incorrectly so she goes into heat. So I'm thinking it's more of a pack social or sire/puppy bond vs a pair bond. I'm curious to see how this bond will be once Archer has fully matured.

I don't know if i answered your question. I don't know if it's a potential problem. You and I have a unique problem, because neither one of us go to dog parks, so the socializing that our dogs get with other dogs, tend to be with the same dogs. Very interesting indeed, and now you have me really thinking.

Renee

I forgot to answer your second question, I think alone time is good for you and Ami, let him know he is number one to you, but to also remind him that Archer is temporary vs a constant.

Ok - so Archer went home last night and Ami seems ok - at least he did last night - right now he's sleeping in his dog house.

The kids got home from their honeymoon late Sat, showed up at 10:30 Sun morning (so uncharacteristic to be early for them - we were still in bed, reading the Sun paper and drinking coffee ) The dogs were sacked out in the backyard, unleashed. We all went sailing for afternoon, dogs were tethered. When we got home, husband suggested we let the 2 romp while I fed the the kids. So they played for well over an hour. Then when it was time to leave (boy, do these kids dawdle...I - and everyone else was exhausted!) Josh put Archer on his leash, I put Ami on his leash and we all walked out together. I took Ami to sit and watch as Archer was put in the car. Then hubby and I brought Ami in the house - he cracked some peanuts and hand fed them to Ami while I cleaned up a bit and got Ami his supper, which he ate in the kitchen. I brought out Ami's blanket for under the table - he found some ends of rawhide bones, got all excited and trotted to the door with them to be let out. Chewed them for a while and then went to sleep in the grassy hollow over the septic tank (gives off heat - the cats used to like this in the cool weather...until the "Wolf" showed up ).

So, it seems that letting Ami see Archer leave and returning to routine makes the separation better - we'll see how it goes today.