Zaltana Anatolians

Can I sit with you?

Leydi approaches Ayla and wants to sit with her. So she approaches politely. She doesn't plop down like some dogs do, she always very carefully lowers herself to the ground. I still think she doesn't like to sit on all these rocks, having grown up in Florida where the ground is softer. When she first arrived she walked on the gravel the same way I would walk if I had to go barefoot. I am sure that's what it must have felt like to her. She has gotten used to that now, and has no problems with it anymore.
On the next two pictures Leydi is still making a real effort to be polite. She is demonstrating "Calming Signals". First she looks away, this is a very common calming signal. It tells the other dog that she isn't looking for trouble. On the other picture she is flicking her tongue, that is also a calming signal used to tell the other dog that this is a peaceful approach. Ayla's sniffing the ground is another calming signal. So both dogs are demonstrating a very polite attitude in these pictures, letting each other know that they are okay with being this close and they aren't looking for any trouble.





And here they are sitting together at last. Now Leydi is looking away from me, and using calming signals towards me, because I am "staring" at her with the camera. Ayla is used to me constantly taking pictures of her ever since she was a puppy. So she knows it's okay to look straight at the camera and maybe get a treat for being such a patient "model".