Syd Has A New Friend

Mac and Syd may be litter mates and may look alike, but they have very different personalities. Mac can get in trouble and she likes to play but she has become a good little inside dog. She follows Rob everywhere and likes to sleep wrapped around his head. She can be trusted in the house when we run out to the store and is only crated at night or when we plan to be gone for an extended time.

Syd, on the other hand, wants to be outside most of the time. She loves to watch for squirrels and tries to coax them to come out of the trees and play. No luck with that so far. She loves to dig and has Rob muttering to himself about all the new holes in the yard each day.

She runs with the other dogs  and she and Tess have a good relationship. They run together and lie down next to each other to chew on sticks. They chase balls together and if Syd gets too excited, Tess will have a talk with her and can calm her.

Sebastian will also play with Syd occasionally, though he seems to prefer playing with Mac. The other dogs don't have much to do with Syd, who can be snappy with them. Norma Jean seems to think Syd is a living bowling pin and runs at her and sends her rolling over whenever she gets the chance. Syd doesn't seem to mind. Syd and Mac don't get along well and have to be closely supervised whenever they're together

Sydney lives a somewhat solitary life. She races outside first thing each morning in good weather. She comes into the garage to eat but wants to go right back out. We bring her in at dusk and she's usually tired and snoozes on the couch till bedtime. 

She sleeps in a chair in the bedroom and is awake at first light, ready to head out again.

She loves to hunt and follows trails around the yard left by the night creatures that visit. One day she actually caught a rabbit. Rob was able to get it from her by exchanging it for some treats. The bunny was alive and Rob put him outside the fence in the wooded area. Most animals stay out of the yard when Syd is on patrol.

Imagine my surprise last night when I went to let Syd in for the evening to find her sitting beside the steps with a friend beside her. It was a toad.

When I opened the door, she came to me, but then ran back. I guess she was inviting the toad to come in with her, but he declined the invitation. She came in but looked back a couple times to see if he had changed his mind. I went back about an hour later and Mr Toad was gone. This morning she looked for him first thing but she'll probably have to wait till later to see him again.