Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Wesley was friendly again today with the couple pups we passed on the trail.  It seems his grumpy mood from last Friday has passed.  I tried giving him a stick to carry since he seemed to enjoy that last week but he dropped it in seconds and left it behind.  Coco was inspired to grab up another stick a few moments later.  Benny came over to chew on the stick and Coco held it out for him and let him go at it.  It was really sweet how she...

The Adventure Pack

I worked with Coco on how excited she gets when she sees another dog or sees her packmates playing together.  I had her sit and look away from what got her so worked up and then gave her a treat once she settled down.  She had a tough time letting Mogul and Rucksack run around with each other and not leaping toward them but she managed to get some control of herself..  Benny was a bit better today about walking and not stopping stubbornly when we...

The Adventure Pack

Wesley wasn't feeling grumpy today like he was last week.  He seemed to be in a very good mood so I let him off the leash and a short while later he greeted a Poodle very politely.  Benny was off the leash, too, and also gave the Poodle a nice greeting.  Coco tried stealing Rucksack's stick a few times during the hike and I told her to leave it since Rucksack wasn't trying to tease her with it.  After Rucksack had carried the stick a while, ...

The Adventure Pack

Benny and Oliver were excited to see their neighbors on the trails today.  They were two other Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Benny was very happy to say hello.  Oliver was more interested in saying hi to the humans.  Rucksack also got worked up alongside his packmates.  Benny and one of his friends wrestled around a bit and Rucksack started running around to see if anyone would chase him.  He got the attention of the other Ridgeback and they...

The Adventure Pack

The pack was very well behaved on today's hike.  The dogs have been getting a bit over-excited when passing other pups on the trails lately so I made a point to have them sit at the edge of the trail with me each time I saw another dog heading up the trail toward us.  Rucksack, Coco, Toskey, and Mogul all sat and waited very patiently while the other dogs passed by.  Coco stood up, alert, when one dog ran by with a look like he wanted to play, bu...

The Adventure Pack

Benny and Rucksack were playful with each other on the trails today.  Benny chewed at a big stick Rucksack found while Rucksack nibbled on his legs.  Wesley was grumpy today and growled at a couple different dogs who came up to greet the pack.  He's on antihistamines and I recall Coco being particularly grumpy when she was taking Benadryl for allergies in the summer.  Coco got a bit overexcited about the passing dogs and jumped up and down i...

The Adventure Pack

Benny was very stubborn at the beginning of the hike and it took a lot of coaxing to get him to walk while he was on leash.  Once we got to the off-leash part of the trail and I let him off, he kept up happily and even ran around with a goofy gait to get his packmates' attention.  Mogul chased Benny a little bit later on.  There were a lot of joggers on the trails today and each time one passed I had Coco sit and then gave her a treat since she's...

The Adventure Pack

Early on during today's hike we came by a large group of Indians who appeared to be on a guided tour of the Chautauqua.  One of them requested to take a picture of the pack and a few others got photos snapped while they stood with the dogs.  Benny was his usual nosey self.  He tried to reach up to the face of one of the girls who came up to pet him but she was wary of his wet, wandering nose and kept her distance.  Wesley got pets from a few...

The Adventure Pack

Today the pack was more interested in chewing sticks apart than in stealing them from each other.  Benny and Rucksack each got a small stick to work on and and chewed them to bits.  When Rucksack wasn't chewing up his stick, he was sniffing points of interest alongside the trail with Coco.  Oliver wasn't feeling particularly friendly today and barked at passing dogs on the trails.

The Play Pack

Benny was super playf...

The Adventure Pack

Coco grabbed onto the stick Rucksack had been carrying while we were standing still for a moment.  She just stood with the stick in her mouth, not tugging, just waiting out Rucksack until he let it go.  After Coco won the battle of wills, Toskey came over and snagged the stick from her.  Mogul stayed out of the day's stick negotiations, as he usually does, and led the way down the trail.

The Play Pack

Cooper ...