Johnny Cash and his bestest friend Zasha

[MUSASHI66]

These two met at the park a few days ago and are now best friends. I shared numbers with her human, and he’s pretty cool too, so we can chat while puppers play.

They just played for 2 hours. They are attached at the hip. Johnny is beyond tired.

Zasha is named after the book Saving Zasha. I think I need to read it, it sounds pretty interesting.

[Just Jeepin']

@musashi66 I think a high energy dog really needs another high energy dog around. Even on a bicycle I was rarely able to exhaust Charlie, my Jack/beagle mix.

[MUSASHI66]

@just-jeepin For sure! We love going to dog parks, and having hours of downtime because dogs get completely pooped after that.

Unfortunately, the other two can’t do parks, so we have to have their activities, and then Johnny gets more as he’s so full of energy.

[Chariotoflove]

@musashi66

I’m seeing double like this is a photoshop or a glitch in the Matrix!

[MUSASHI66]

@chariotoflove Zasha is 10 days older, taller and skinnier while Johnny is shorter and stockier. Plus, his coat is a bit curly and her coat is all straight.

But at a glance, they look like twins - same shade of black and red coat.

[ttyymmnn]

@musashi66

I know dogs have insane abilities to identify scent, but I wonder if dogs recognize that another dog looks like them. Could they possibly have any self awareness if they don't look in a mirror regularly? Would a German shepherd recognize the scent of another German shepherd as being a German shepherd? Or am I anthropomorphizing?

[MUSASHI66]

@ttyymmnn They might, but I think it’s more about recognizing emotions and playfulnesses of other dogs. Johnny is just excited for someone he can wrestle with, that is about the same strength as him.

[nowhere]

@musashi66 Now that looks like a grand day out! They look remarkably similar. Zasha is like a "two weeks into the future Johnny"

The dog I had growing up was high energy. A Welsh Springer Spaniel (well, more or less - we adopted him from the SPCA when he was probably about six months old and we were pretty sure he had some other breeds in him) and he could go all day. And night. And the next day. Even when we took him on backpacking trips he never seemed to get tired. The dog I had until very recently on the other hand would have these huge frantic bursts of energy. Intense play for a half hour to an hour a couple of times a day and for the rest of the day he was pretty mellow and loved his sleep. He was an Australian Kelpie (once again more or less - his mother was purebred but the father was a Lab/Husky/Shepherd/Rottweiler and probably a few other breeds too) and presumably they are bred for that sort of energy and manner as working herding dogs.

[MUSASHI66]

@nowhere Man, I could not do dogs that are on 24/7. All of mine go all out, then charge batteries for a while. I am used to that, and I never had a super high energy breed.

[StreetsofPerth]

@nowhere I've a Kelpie x Labrador and when he was a younger dog, he was like that. He had boundless energy and stamina when he was playing or out for a walk, then the rest of the time he would just loaf around. I think purebred Kelpies are much the same.