Sunny snuggles.

Sunny was very, very tightly bonded to Strider. When Strider returned to his breeder, she went through an emotional crisis. Separation anxiety led to her chewing holes in the wall while people were in the house, a lot of other damage to woodwork, etc. She missed her buddy and didn't have the emotional tools to handle it.

She became very defensive in regards to the other dogs in the house. Everyone else was bigger and got in her space and she didn't like it. She doesn't much like Twist's play style, but it is play. For the most part, Dad is who Sunny uses to gauge her safety now.

Additionally, given her size and the set up, I accidentally made Duncan very jealous of Sunny at first, and then three weeks later, there was Strider to be Duncan's puppy to babysit and play with, so Sunny was not one of 'Duncan's Puppies.' (Interestingly, Keeper sort of is, even though she was 24.5 inches and 90 pounds when she came here.)

There's been some animosity, and Duncan mostly steers clear of Sunny because of how quickly she can get offended and start snapping.

After her second heat cycle, Sunny has been snuggling up to Duncan. The first few times, he looked deeply concerned. Now, he just looks resigned. He'll be laying somewhere, and she'll come over and join him. Most of the time, she chooses to lay with her back to his belly.

I'm not entirely happy with this. I'm glad that after about three years of mourning she seems to be trying to make friends in the pack again. However, Duncan's 9.5ish. Sunny will be 4 at the end of April.

Given that age gap, I see this as a potential setup for another round of separation anxiety and stress and emotional turmoil for Sunny when Duncan passes first. I'd rather she buddied up to Keeper, who's not yet 3.5 and has a much greater likelihood of outliving Sunny, or at least being around for the bulk of Sunny's life.

But it is what it is, and Sunny's made her choice. Duncan was Blaze's buddy, and is Twist's Big Brown Safety Blanket, and now he's Sunny's choice of snuggle partner. Setters love the mutt-man, apparently.