Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

We had a rare deer encounter on the hike today.  Rucksack couldn't help himself and went running down the hill beside the trail to chase it off.  Once the deer high-tailed it away, Rucksack came back.  Benny wasn't interested in the deer; I'm not sure whether he even noticed it to begin with.  Earlier in the hike, Rucksack was carrying a reasonably sized stick for a change and Benny picked up a smaller one and trotted along behind him.

The Adventure Pack

The pack had some more playful energy today.  Coco and Wesley ran around with each other a bit.  Benny had trouble trying to hop up that big rock in the trail again today and he just stood there with his paws on it, looking up at me helplessly until I redirected him to the side with smaller stepping stones.  Rucksack found a small stick that Benny and Coco both wanted to steal.  Benny is very tentative and just gnawed on the end gently; Coco...

The Adventure Pack

Coco, Wesley, and Benny were all pretty mellow throughout today's hike.  The only time Coco and Wesley ran while they were off leash was when they started trotting down the wrong fork together and I called them back up the other way.  Benny had a playful spurt toward the end of the hike and ran through the brush, play-bowing every other step, for about 10 or 15 seconds.

The Play Pack

Coco was interested in a huge br...

The Adventure Pack

I was pleased and impressed with how tame Coco was during today's hike.  She still romped with Rucksack and stole his sticks as usual, but she came more readily when I called and she didn't pull at all when she was on leash.  Rucksack was actually the one doing most of the poking and prodding, teasing Coco into playing with him. Mogul's stomach must have been upset today because he kept pausing at the side of the trail to pick at the grass.  Benn...

The Adventure Pack

Wesley was back out today after being skunked Wednesday.  Thankfully, there were no similay encounters today.  Coco had fun chasing after Wesley whenever he trotted up ahead along the trail.  Rucksack found a long stick (though not as long as the tree trunk he found yesterday), and Coco and Benny enjoyed gnawing on either end of it while Rucksack carried it along.

The Play Pack

Brady met another little w...

The Adventure Pack

Rucksack attempted to carry not just a stick, or even a log, but an entire fallen tree trunk today!  He worked at it for a while, trying to find the right place to lift from.  He managed to get one side of it up, but couldn't move it at all; still, it was impressive.  Mogul kept lagging behind and then sprinting up ahead when I called to him; he boomeranged back and forth like that throughout the hike.  Benny enjoyed gnawing on various stick...

The Adventure Pack

We had a skunk encounter on the hike this morning!  Halfway through the hike, Wesley and Toskey went running down a hill alongside the trail just up the bend ahead of me.  They went out of sight for a second and I called to them to come back.  Toskey came running back immediately and Wesley came back about 10 seconds behind her.  When Wesley came up to me and sat down, Coco and Rucksack started sniffing him intently and then Coco tried rubbi...

The Adventure Pack

The parking lot at Settler's Park was coned off and it looked like they were doing some tree maintenance, so we headed down to Chautauqua for the day.  Benny and Coco started off the hike with a lot of romping around together.  Rucksack was jealous, but got a chance to run around with Coco for a little bit later on.  While the two of them played, Benny got Wesley into a little bit of wrestling with him while they were on leash and we were just ha...

The Adventure Pack

The pack was very playful during today's hike.  Fletcher was antsy and whining on our way to Settler's Park, excited to hit the trails.  Coco and Rucksack started off chasing each other up and down the trail ahead, and later on Mogul and Coco played their game where Mogul guards the trail and Coco teases him and tries to get past.

The Play Pack

Mable chased Brady around while Brady chases down tennis balls.  Sh...

The Adventure Pack

Benny had his nose to the ground for just about the entire hike again today.  Coco was also very interested in scenting today, but she also wanted to play with her packmates.  When Rucksack and Wesley chased each other around for a little bit, Coco had a really hard time letting them be and she kept jumping around and trying to go after them even though she was on leash.  I squatted down and put my arm around her until she settled down and then s...