Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Ruckack carried along a stick for the entire hike today, from the first few minutes on the trail all the way until we got back to the curb by the car.  Oliver was a bit hesitant at the start of the hike but I kept encouraging him to go ahead of me.  By the end, Oliver was leading the pack while his packmates tried to keep up.  Coco was very interested in a baby riding in a backpack-style carrier.  The baby giggled at her and she was taken ab...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack was very good about staying by my side and not pulling on the leash during today's hike.  Oliver and Coco also stayed by my side very well as they usually do.  We came across another group of dogs along the trails and paused to say hello.  Everyone was very friendly and one of the other dogs lingered with our pack a bit before turning and catching up with his own.

The Play Pack

Osiris and Coco enjoyed a kid...

The Adventure Pack

It was sprinkling a bit when we started the hike today, but it didn't soak us too much and it kept things cool for the beginning of the hike.  Rucksack was eager to go and pulled ahead a bit on the leash.  Mogul, on the other hand, fell into his habit of hanging behind.  Coco followed along right by my side.  Everyone stayed on leash because there have apparently been several recent bear sightings around the Chautauqua and there were signs u...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack was back from his hiatus today and his packmates were happy to see him.  He and Coco had a good long bout of tug-of-war over a stick today.  After a while, Rucksack gave up and let Coco keep it but then returned to have another go at it a short while later.  They walked side-by-side, each holding one end, for a while.  Wesley and Benny didn't get involved with the tug-of-war match.  Wesley followed his usual routine of staying ...

The Adventure Pack

Oliver was friendly on the trails today.  He didn't bark at any of the other dogs we passed; he just walked up and sniffed them.  Coco was more mellow today and spent a lot of her time following Mogul around instead of forging the way herself.  Benny's energy level was also pretty low and he trotted along behind me.  I think everyone was feeling the heat.

The Play Pack

Benny and Mogul spent a lot of their time ...

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Benny lied down next to each other and chewed on a couple sticks right after hopping out of the car at the Chautauqua today.  When we got onto the trails, Coco found a much bigger stick to carry and flaunt around for a bit.  Oliver and Benny hiked off leash together and stayed pretty close to each other the whole time.  Oliver got a lot of comments from passing hikers about his ability to keep up with the big dogs.  Later on, Coco a...

The Adventure Pack

Coco carried a pretty big stick around for a brief while early during today's hike.  Later on, I noticed a good, short carrying stick and told her to pick it up.  She carried it for almost the entire rest of the hike and then dropped it off right before we rejoined the Chautauqua trail.  Benny sniffed at it occassionally but didn't try to steal it from her.  Oliver wasn't interested in Coco's stick; he just wanted to sniff and leave scent ma...

The Adventure Pack

Toskey likes to take the lead and scout ahead when she's off leash, just like Coco does.  Benny was playful on the hike today when he and Toskey were off leash together.  He picked up a small stick and flaunted it around in front of Coco, who couldn't chase him because she was on leash with Mogul.  Once he realized that he wasn't going to get Coco after him he gave up, dropped the stick, and went to see what Toskey was sniffing along the trail ah...

The Adventure Pack

Benny was hanging back again during the hike today.  We took a slower pace so Benny could have the positive reinforcement of keeping up instead of feeling like he was being dragged along.  It seemed to be effective because he stalled less and less as the hike went on.  Wesley, Coco, and Oliver didn't mind the slower pace.  Coco had fun rolling around in the tall grass whenever we paused for water breaks.  Everybody posed for a nice grou...

The Adventure Pack

After one of our water breaks today, Benny and Oliver both had very wet faces.  Each took notice of this and they proceded to lick the extra water from one another's faces.  Mogul and Coco apparently weren't quite as thirsty; they only drank the water they got straight from the Camelbak spout.  Earlier on, we met a young pup on the trails and everyone, including Oliver, gave him a very friendly greeting.

The Play ...