Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Rucksack did a great job of walking at my side today - a great improvement from yesterday.  Wesley and Sage were also very well behaved and walked nicely in place throughout our hike along the Mesa trail.  Rucksack found a short chunk of wood to carry along the way for a bit, then dropped it in the middle of the trail.  On the way back, we passed over it and he picked it back up for a minute before leaving it behind again.  His pack...

The Adventure Pack

We took a slower pace today and focused on staying together as a group throughout the hike.  Rucksack was distracted by anything and everything along the way, often staring intently down the trail at upcoming hikers.  Benny had the opposite problem; he was back in his habit of stopping in place today.  Sputnik did a pretty good job of sticking with me and his packmates, though he did pulll ahead a bit now and then.  Oliver was a wonderful wa...

The Adventure Pack

There were a lot of good-sized sticks for carrying scattered along the Mesa trail today - about 1 - 1 1/2 feet long and thick.  Rucksack, Coco, Toskey, and Benny all took advantage of the abundance; but of course they were all interested in the same one stick at any given time.  I let them have turns with the sticks, asking each to politely drop it after a while so I could give it to one of the others for stint, then doing the same to give it to yet a...

The Adventure Pack

After a short while of pulling ahead on the leash together, Coco and Wesley spent the rest of the hike doing an exception job walking at my side without pulling.  Today's practice was inspired by a squirrel we saw just as we started off the hike; Coco and Wesley both bolted for it with no reservations or second thoughts.  Benny wasn't enticed by the squirrel and went the whole hike at a moderate-to-slow pace.

The Play Pack

The Adventure Pack

Sputnik was eating grass on today's hike and then vomited it up.  Whatever was bothering his stomach came up with the grass because he was fine afterwards.  Benny and Oliver ran up to greet a dog when they were off leash together and the dog got scared and ran back to his guardians.  Benny is usually more mellow about greeting other dogs on the trails, although he has been more playful and energetic in general lately.  Rucksack was a bit bet...

The Adventure Pack

We had another day of on-leash practice on the trails today.  Sage was very good about staying at my side and Wesley did a pretty good job too; Rucksack and Coco took a while to stay with me instead of pulling ahead.  They were both so interested in moving ahead that at first they missed when I stopped in place even when I gave them a verbal cue, and tried to keep going until the leash went tight.  By the end of the hike, everyone was responding ...

The Adventure Pack

Sputnik is maturing quickly.  Today, he greeted another dog on the trails with the most restraint I've ever seen.  There was an energetic American Staffordshire Terrier coming up the trail behind us on a leash, panting heavily and pulling to catch up with us.  She got the whole pack's attention and they all just wanted to go say hi so we stopped to let them pass by us.  Benny and Sputnik were both off leash.  As the other dog approached...

The Adventure Pack

It was very slippery out today.  Many of the rocks had a thin layer of ice coating them.  At one point, Toskey lost her footing and her butt slipped out from under her.  I was especially insistent on Rucksack staying at my side or behind me whenever we came to rocky areas, because he tends to pull ahead a lot of the time and any unexpected tugs on the leash could have been difficult to deal with given the state of the terrain.  Toskey and Co...

The Adventure Pack

Yoda, Sage, Oliver, and I made it all the way up the thrid flatiron today.  Well, almost - we didn't climb to the peak when we reached the final rock face.  That would have been a bit tricky.  Yoda led the way the whole time up the trail.  Sage followed close behind him while Oliver stayed at my heel on the leash.  Oliver managed the big steps up large rocks very well for such little legs.

The Play Pack

Be...

The Adventure Pack

Sputnik was far less of a nuisance to his packmates today.  There was virtually no elbow chewing to speak of and he avoided tunnelling under bellies and consequently getting his leash wrapped up.  I think it's safe to say Oliver, Benny, and Rucksack all appreciated their packmate's more mellow demeanor today.

The Play Pack

Oscar found a white and tan American Staffordshire Terrier mix to wreslte around with at the park t...