Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Coco, Wesley, Sage, and Rucksack were all excited to get out together today, and were raring to go when we got out of the car.  Their enthusiasm was so great that we had to do a lot of work on keeping everyone's attention and getting everyone to walk together.  Coco and Sage had a few playful moments of hopping, play-bowing, and dancing around each other.  Wesley and Rucksack weren't as playful as their packmates but they both enjoyed tromping ar...

The Adventure Pack

Sputnik, Benny, and Rucksack were all interested in chewing on bits of mulch in the parking lot when we first set off.  To set the tone, I asked everyone to sit and leave the mulch alone before heading on.  Oliver had a passing curiosity about what had his packmates so tickled but he just gave a sniff and then waited for everyone to be ready for the hike.  Along the trails, Sputnik did a very good job of treating his packmates with respect and on...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack found a small log to carry today.  Benny was interested and tried to take it for himself at first, but I told him to be more polite and he left it alone.  After a while, I had Rucksack drop it and then gave it to Benny.  Benny gnawed at it briefly and then left it behind, at which point Rucksack ran back and carried it along for the rest of the hike.  Yoda was interested in stealing Rucksack's log.  He followed along with me an...

The Adventure Pack

Benny has gotten back into his habit of stubbornly stopping in place the last few days, especially today.  It was worse when he was walking next to Coco.  When I switched our formation around so that he was walking next to Wesley, he stopped a lot less frequently.  Wesley brought up the rear a few paces back from Benny, which I think encouraged him to keep moving ahead, whereas Coco and Chelsea both tend to pull ahead, which seems to make Benny f...

The Adventure Pack

Sputnik was pretty rambunctious today and went after just about everything in sight - twigs, rocks, pine needles, Chelsea's elbows, Benny's haunches.  The first part of the hike went smoothly but he got a burst of puppy energy a ways into it that lasted until we got back to the car.  Chelsea was mostly unperturbed by his puppy assaults.  Benny whined in complaint whenever Sputnik started harassing him, and I responded each time by separating them...

The Adventure Pack

The pack did a good job of walking together on the leash today, and when we practiced stopping, turning around and coming to sit at the side of the trail to let other dogs pass, Wesley, Rucksack, Sage, and Coco were all very responsive.  It was a great day for reinforcing good manners!

The Play Pack

Milo and Benny had a play-bow match at the park today.  It seemed like some form of doggy limbo, in which each tried to dro...

The Adventure Pack

The pack had a fun time playing in the snow on the trails today.  A particularly amusing moment happened just after Rucksack had been sniffing around in the snow and came up with a facefull sticking to his whiskers.  Benny and Sputnik came at him from either side and nibbled the snow from his mustache as he stood still and enjoyed the grooming.

The Play Pack

Coco spent most of our park visit playing fetch.  Oscar an...

The Adventure Pack

Toskey had her last Adventure Pack outing today and had a fun time exploring the Mesa trail alongside Coco.  At one point, each had found a stick and tried to taunt the other with it - but the other wasn't interested because each had her own stick already.  Rucksack and Benny got a thrill later on when we came upon a flock of deer.  Rucksack chased them off with Benny following behind him.  Thankfully, Benny stopped promptly when I called hi...

The Adventure Pack

Wesley and Benny were both very mellow on the trails today.  They just followed along without much sniffing or any bursts of playful energy, and they didn't take much notice of other dogs we passed.  Coco was more alert and a bit jumpy around other dogs that we passed, so we practiced sitting and waiting at the side of the trail for them to go by.

The Play Pack

Benny's mellow mood continued at the park, where he just fol...

The Adventure Pack

Our on-leash practice week continued today with Benny, Oliver, Rucksack, and Sputnik all doing a very good job.  Every so often, I stopped and asked everyone to sit.  When I tried this earlier in the week, it took a while for everyone to get on the same page.  The first couple times we tried it today, it also took some time to get everyone's attention.  By the end of the hike, today's pack members were all responding fairly promptly.  D...