Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Every so often, Wesley stops and picks a twig or two out of his abundant fur.  I watched him spend some time picking one out from his hindquarters today, and he was eventually successful.  Coco never has to pick twigs out of her fur like her packmate, but she spent a while in the packmobile licking her paws clean today.  Rucksack generally tends to collect even more debris than Wesley, but his recent haircut has left little fur for things to stic...

The Adventure Pack

Oliver and Rucksack each did their own thing while we hiked today.  Oliver stuck to the trail, sniffing along the edge as we went.  Rucksack did a bit of wandering off-trail and  found a few different sticks to carry for portions of the hike.

The Play Pack

Benny had a burst of playfulness with Coco at the park today and he ran around in circles while Coco chased him.  Maverick got interested in a tennis ball I...

The Adventure Pack

Wesley was right behind me for almost the entire hike, as he often is.  Rucksack was more of a wanderer, as he often is.  Coco stayed on the leash today because of her barking incident yesterday with a passing hiker.  She doesn't react to people that way at all when she's on leash but she seems to feel a need to let her pack know about anything she finds unusual when she's roaming about.  We'll take some more opportunities to introd...

The Adventure Pack

It was really hot out today and we took a slower pace with several water breaks.  Rucksack doesn't let a drop fall when he's drinking.  Benny is also a pretty efficient Camelbak drinker.  Oliver and Coco are both a little more timid about lapping up the water stream, but they still don't let much go to waste.

The Play Pack

Maverick met a Terrier who played hide-and-seek with him at his favorite tree stumps.  C...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack's new haircut makes him look a lot like a Schnauzer.  The big mustachio is very cute.  He was great on the trails today - he didn't wander off at all and always came right back to me when I called him.  Benny found some bear poop off the trail and ignored me when I called to him.  He came finally came back with his breath smelling rancid.  Coco barked at a couple guys who were coming down the trail as we made our way up th...

The Adventure Pack

Wesley rolled around in the grass like he was making a snow-angel today without the snow.  He wasn't as quick to hop up as Rucksack was yesterday but I didn't see any unsavory smears on his coat when he finally did come back over to me.  Meanwhile, Rucksack wandered around, hopping onto big rocks and looking into the distance.  Coco and Benny had a good romp together at the tail end of our hike.  Benny always gets a burst of playful energy w...

The Adventure Pack

Oliver and Benny got into a rhythm while hiking today - Oliver would find an interesting spot to sniff and hang out there for a minute, and then Benny would look over and gallop up the trail to see what Oliver found; once Benny started sniffing at the same spot, Oliver would trot on ahead until something else caught his nose and then Benny would look up and gallop over, and so on.  Rucksack usually isn't one to roll around on the ground when I've taken him...

The Adventure Pack

We practiced on-leash walking during today's hike.  Coco was very good the entire time.  Rucksack was pulling a lot at first but when I shortened the lead significantly he responded very well and stayed at my side.  Benny lingered behind a lot and periodically stopped in place.  Usually, he was distracted by something, like staring off into the distance where we could here other hikers talking or laughing.

The Play Pack...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack was really interested in wrestling around with Benny while we were out on the trails today.  He head-butted his packmate and nibbled at his legs until Benny started mouthing him back.  They sort of snuggle-wrestled for a little bit before breaking out into a short run.  Oliver didn't do any wrestling but he made a few new friends who we passed on the trails.  He's been much more polite with passing dogs lately.

The Adventure Pack

Toskey and Rucksack wandered around together on the trails today.  They both kind of did their own thing but stayed side-by-side most of the time.  Later, when Coco and Benny were off leash, Benny lingered behind to sniff things while Coco walked up ahead of us a little bit; then, when Benny looked up from sniffing and realized he was getting behind, he raced over to catch up with Coco and follow her around until something else caught his nose.

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