Last weekend we three ended up helping a friend and her husband with some construction on their new house, and I brought along the Great Dane. We spent the whole day working in the sun while Savage ranged around following squirrels and such. Of course, I was apprehensive about bringing him when I knew there would be another dog around, but he got along fine with their miniature dachshund, which was a great relief to me. I've been (perhaps overly) concerned about aggression since Sav had his scary mood swings when he was on steroids. Since then, whenever he meets another dog I'm quite anxious, even though I try to tell myself to calm down because I'm no doubt making the situation worse.

Anyway, after working for awhile, another friend showed up to help, bringing along his black Lab/Great Dane mix. Then another couple of friends arrived with a yellow Lab (both dogs are male, but neutered). I busied myself with work and hoped for the best, and before I knew it, all three "big" dogs were charging around the house, playing and tearing up grass! When we took a break for lunch, I did my best to keep the dogs separated and they laid down in the sand and simply watched the humans eat barbecued burgers on the deck. No fights, and not even a close call!

Lately I'm finding more and more reasons to be proud of my big doggie. I tend to think that at 4 years and 4 months old, he's becoming more mature, even though he still has his silly puppy behaviors and idiosyncrasies. I did fall in love with Savage as a little 8-week-old puppy, and I hope he keeps that loveable "puppiness" for the rest of his life.