Rufus' had some issues in his previous family setting and they decided he needed a new home. Through the efforts of some dedicated breed club members, some medical issues were revealed, they gathered his medical records and evaluated him. We met at a neutral site and Rufus was clearly attached to the husband, as when he left the area the dog watched him, even though the wife and daughter were trying to get Rufus' attention. He didn't pay much attention to me, unless I was feeding him cheese, or tossing the ball (he is nuts for tennis balls.) After putting his crate in the old Land Rover, the husband put him in the crate and we were off.

When we arrived home I put Mac in the house and then pulled the truck in the back yard and let Rufus out to wander about the yard for a while by himself. Then I moved his crate on the porch and put a bowl of water out. After a bit he was up for playing fetch. Then Mac was jealous, missing out on the fun and I let Mac out and tried to balance throwing between the two. Everything was going pretty well. Then I opened the screen door and left the kitchen open and let him wander in and out with me, or as he pleased. I left the boys outside and after moving my bicycle and some folding chairs out of the back hall, I brought his crate in and set up bowls there as a space for him. The introduction was low-key, allowing Rufus to sniff about and discover his new surroundings.

Even though I was careful to give them treats (bits of cheese) at the same time, when a bit fell on the deck they both went for it there was a bit of competition.

Rufus was whining for something on the table and I finally figured out it was the leash and he eagerly let him self be leashed and he, Mac and I went for a walk. That went without incident between the dogs. Rufus' first tour of the neighborhood went pretty well, though he and Mac tended to want to sniff different things and he was reluctant to venture up the road very far, so we crossed over to and through Indian Head Farm across the street and then returned. Also, Rufus is not bothered by most of the things Mac takes to barking at (the tractor, large engined trucks, etc.) they both barked at the oxen, (I've been working with Mac on that) but Rufus much less so and briefer. So we pulled back until they were a comfortable distance, waited a bit and passed by the Oxen w/o any barking.

The boys were separated for dinner with a bit of leftovers they both wolfed it down. One of the changes for Mac will the the transition from free feeding to two distinct meal times (though his food had been refreshed only morning and evening) while Rufus will be transitioned from IAMS to Origin over the course of a few weeks and a morning feeding will be added.

Another huge change for mac will be sharing me and his toys. In the evening they behaved much as one would expect a toller to, either being a nudge and whining wanting to play (fetch) or curled up peacefully. The sort of minimum safe distance is one on either side of me, or without me about 4-5' apart. Any closer and Mac tends to ask Rufus to back-off. Mac has always been jealously possessive of his human. Rufus' knows to bring the ball and drop it in your lap or chair, or push it toward you. If you ignore that, soon comes the Toller whine, the ultimate in dog pestering humans to get what they want. Mac still sort of prefers to chomp on his prize and occasionally let the human throw it again. Mac also tends to prefer what ever toy the other dog has.

The previous owners said Rufus never got up on the furniture, so it took him until the end of the evening to figure out that it was ok and he could - I moved to the center of the couch so each dog could be next to me. Rufus clearly is as much an attention hound as any other dog, he seems to have figured out I'm going to pet him and isn't reacting to slow motions over head. He is still skittish about that though as he watches approaching hands closely, but there are clearly signs if/when he is uncomfortable.

At the end of the night I tried to let Rufus and Mac be free, for a while one was on my left and the other on the right, but if I coughed the dogs got edgy or when rufus moved mac was edgy, since they weren't settling down, after a short while Rufus was penned in the back hall with his bed, crate & water for the night. He tried his best to whine his way out and was totally ignored, so he gave up and we all got some sleep.