Family Reunion (Ernie comes to stay)

We had a special visitor yesterday afternoon: Ernie, Isla's brother.  When we last saw him at eight weeks old, Ernie was already a big boy compared to his sister.  Now he's positively huge compared to Isla - probably half as big again, although we didn't actually weigh him...

The two pups spent some time beating the living daylights out of each other, at which point we decided it would be a good idea to separate them for a while.  Far from wanting to be rescued from her bully-boy-brother, Isla was desperate to come back for more.  For a while they gazed at each other longingly through the dining room window.

It seemed a good idea to tire the two dogs out by taking them on a long walk.  In theory they would then settle down for the rest of the afternoon, thereby giving us a small amount of peace.  Fat chance.  By the way, if you find it difficult to tell which dog is which in the pictures, Ernie is wearing a red collar and Isla a black one.

Sometimes the pups would trot along quietly together, and then - for no obvious reason - they'd decide to launch into a vigorous play fight.

Needless to say, when we got them home the pups showed absolutely no sign of wanting to settle down.  Indeed, the situation was remeniscent of having two three-year-olds playing in the house, as they would always be arguing over the same toy.

By the end of the afternoon everyone was completely exhausted, and Isla flopped for the rest of the evening.  Indeed, she's been asleep for most of the following day too.