Leader of the Pack

Coco played with a couple other puppies at the park today when she wasn't chasing Rucksack around.  Rucksack likes playing with Coco, but her relentless barrage of puppy energy is sometimes more than he bargained for (even though he's still a puppy himself).  When he's had enough, he just walks on and ignores her assaults until she gets the idea and finds another playmate.  While Coco was distracted with the other puppies, I played fetch with Rucksack.  Chelsea was mellow ...

Coco and Toskey chased each other around all through the hike today.  For a while, they took turns playing keep-away with a small, forked stick that Coco had found.  Toskey snuck up and grabbed it from her then took off running, and Coco chased after.  Eventually, Toskey dropped the stick to sniff around and Coco grabbed it up instantly, which caused Toskey to immediately regain interest in it - and then it was Coco playing keep-away from Toskey.  They went back and forth ...

Rucksack found a huge branch to carry on the hike today.  I don't think it was quite as heavy as the log he had last week, but it was certainly unwieldly.  We came across some other dogs, and two little ones were very interested in Mogul.  The tops of their heads didn't even come up to his stomach as they stood under him while they sniffed him out.  Meanwhile, Rucksack was play-bowing and jumping around with a another dog that was with them.

Coco and Ruck...

Coco found lots of sticks to chew on during the hike this morning.  She's right at the age to start shedding her puppy teeth, so she'll be chewing on everything in sight for the next few months.  At one point, Mogul suddenly became very interested and stole a branch from her, which he proceded break into pieces with just a few bites.  There were plenty of other sticks for Coco to occupy herself with, and she was unfazed.

At the park, Mogul found a Golden Retri...

Snow was dropping from the tree branches above as it melted during the Adventure Pack's hike this morning.  Rucksack was thrilled by the phenomenon, and raced to the site whenever it happened.  Mogul, on the other, hand, was doing his best to avoid the snowy ambushes from above - as was I.  I wish I had my camera out at one point, to capture the image of Rucksack in pure ecstasy as he danced in the midst of a heavy torrent that fell for several seconds.  He leaped into the...

Rucksack and Marley chased each other throughout our park visit today.  They just ran and ran together almost nonstop, aside from occassional pauses in a water-filled ditch that seemed to be serving as "home base".  They would run into there, tromp around in the water for 10 or 15 seconds, then go right back to the chase.

Chelsea and Coco were both very interested in chewing on sticks today, but they dropped their sticks to join in the chase every so often.  A...

Toskey and Coco met some friendly Golden Retrievers and a big yellow Lab on the hike today, and Toskey had a good run with the Retrievers.  She also had fun teasing Coco to chase her for a stick.  Toskey did a good job of not venturing off too far today - a minor problem she had last week.

At the park, the pack all split off into play pairs for most of our visit:  Marley and Chelsea had a good time chasing and wrestling around with one another; Rucksack and a ...

Rucksack has officially graduated from stick-carrying to log-carrying.  I lifted the log he carried myself to see how heavy it was, and it had a good heft to it.  Every hiker that he passed by commented on it, and little kids invariably reacted with a "WOW!"  I just posted a picture of him with it in May's Pack Photos. Whenever he dropped it there was an audible "thud" from the weight of it.

Coco, Rucksack, Marley and Chelsea all played with one another a...

There were a lot of grade schoolers out on Chautauqua this morning during the hike with Coco.  Everytime we passed a group, Coco greeted them and they all ooh'd and ahh'd at how cute she is.  I played more hide-and-seek with her, and one time she went running right past the rock I hid behind, way down the trail we had come from, before I whistled again and she she came bounding back to find me.  When she found me another time, she sat right in my lap and didn't want to budge.&#...

Coco and Rucksack are inseparable during Pack Activities.  During today's hike, Rucksack was carrying his obligatory stick and Coco was bent on stealing it from him, even though it was too big for her to carry herself.  Mogul mostly stuck by me or lingered behind during the hike.  When I call to him to catch up he just looks at me and continues at his lagging pace - until I reach for the treat bag at my hip, at which point he mysteriously gains a sudden burst of energy.