[yorkietalkjilly]

Dogs are happy, social creatures who believe wholeheartedly in the concept of "the more the merrier" in a stable family 'pack' and will ALWAYS greet and spend time with acceptable newcomers to encourage stability of their pack. The calm, well-behaved dog usually sees equanimous visitors as prospective pack members and treat them accordingly. Dogs inherently understand that pack enlargement reinforces the pack's ability to successfully survive - hunt, provide caregiving and increased safety for its members and as long as the prospective newbie isn't hostile or overly aggressive, ill or nervous, pack members usually try to curry favor with the newbie to ensure his likelihood to stay around and join up. I've never seen one of my dogs or fosters behave any other way than how you describe your Max' behavior with my sanguine guests. I have seen them shun or shy away from very nervous, unhappy or ill visitors, in whom they usually sense what they judge to be a weakness. Of course, over time, as long as I accept the 'weak' visitor, my dog(s) come to accept him albeit with a bit of a wary eye.