It finally dawned on me ... Marley has learned to play hard with the big rough puppies at the Sunday Puppy Play sessions, to play a bit more gently with the not-so-rough puppies and to play like a cat when he plays with Charlotte.
When he plays with the puppies, he gets in and is as rough as they want to be, without anybody getting hurt. He learns to respect any dog request to back off, well up to a point anyway. Each week his play style is a little different. He often will lay on his side, as if exhausted, just waiting for one of the pups to make advances.
For once I was just watching Charlotte & Marley play. Not thinking or adding any notions to what I was seeing. And I realized he would stand & square off with her in that semi-sideways posture that cats get, each one trying to look bigger & fiercer than the other, until one of them would lunge and the wrestling would begin. And it dawned on me, they've been playing that way for a while. Charlotte plays and incites and teases the way a cat does. Marley responds by playing the way she has taught him.
Smart little guy, isn't he? And Charlotte is doing a good job of training him to play like a kitty so she has a companion she can trust not to hurt her.
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