Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Benny had fun running around together when we first hit the trails today.  After an initial burst of playful energy, they both stuck close by and sniffed along the trail.  Later on, Benny tried to get Wesley to play with him when we came to a small bridge along the 3rd Flatiron trail.  Benny was on the bridge and Wesley crossed beside it, where the creek was dried up.  When Wesley came near, Benny started bowing and hopping around.&...

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Rucksack ran side-by-side in big loops around me and their packmates as we made our way up the Chautauqua trail at the beginning of today's hike.  I haven't let them off leash together in a while because they had gotten into the habit of racing down the trail together and ignoring me when I called them back.  Today, they did plenty of racing with each other but they stayed in sight and were much better about coming back to me.  Later on,...

The Adventure Pack

The pack had their noses glued to the ground when we first hit the trail.  We made slow progress at the start as everyone wanted to get a good nose-full of every point of interest.  The pups were pretty mellow throughout most of the hike but Toskey grabbed up a stick and got Benny to chase her around for a little bit later on.  Coco found a stick of her own but quickly lost interest in it and left it behind.  Surprisingly, Rucksack was ...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack started off today's hike with a much smaller stick than usual.  One plus for him was that there was none of it sticking out the sides of his mouth for Benny or Coco to grab onto.  On the other hand, it seems it didn't prove to be a challenging enough job and he ended up just chewing it to pieces after a short while.  Later, He found a stick that looked suspiciously like the one he carried yesterday, although it was in a totally different...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack found another hefty stick today and carried it for the entire hike - from a few minutes in, all the way back to the car.  This one was thicker than yesterday's, though shorter, so I didn't have to keep calling him to the side of the trail to avoid him accidentally taking people out at the knees.  Benny thought I was very tasty today and licked my hand for a good minute.  I had just used that hand to refill my treat pouch from t...

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Benny had a lot of fun together on today's hike.  Coco found a small, thick stick that was great for playing keep-away.  Benny chased her all around for it and when Coco had enough she dropped the stick and then hopped over beside Benny and looked back at the stick, as if saying "your turn!"  Benny went over and sniffed the stick while Coco stood back and watched him.  When Benny seemed like he was about to leave it behind, Coco ran...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack was back to his old habit of carrying the biggest stick he could find.  He drew several comments from impressed and amused hikers we passed.  One quipped, "He found a tree!"  Oliver was much more friendly today than he was last Thursday.  He greeted several dogs and people by trotting up to them pleasantly.  Benny wandered around the trail, following where his nose took him and nibbling at snow and plants.

The Adventure Pack

There's little snow left on the trails right now, but Benny, Toskey, and Coco found a small blanket of it on the north face of a hill at the Chautauqua and all chomped on a few bites.  Everyone was interested in sniffing the same spots together, and each of them was the first to discover interesting odors for everyone to enjoy.  Toskey and Coco started play-bowing for each other but I had them settle down because they were both on leash....

The Adventure Pack

Coco enjoyed running around the trails today so much she was hesitant to come back, keeping a few yards away and constantly trying to engage her packmates in play.  Wesley and Benny each chased her around a bit, in turn.  There wasn't enough snow for Wesley to make snow-angels today, but Benny still managed to gnaw on some icy chunks of snow that he picked off the trail.

The Play Pack

Maverick negotiated with a 2-month ...

The Adventure Pack

Coco found a long stick that she tossed all around beside the trail.  Oliver watched her and ran up and down the trail to follow her, but kept a safe distance while she flailed about with her new toy.  Rucksack didn't find any sticks that caught his fancy.  He did a bit better on leash today.  Benny had a burst of playful energy about 2/3rds of the way through the hike, as he often does, and he galloped around in big circles.