Leader of the Pack

Adventure Pack

Benny was a good hiker as usual.  He followed closely behind throughout and even when his nose started to draw him off the trail he was responsive when I called him back to join the group.  Roger Roger found a stick on the trail and carried it for a short while.  Later on, Rucksack found a stick and as soon as he picked it up his little brother had to try to steal it.  Rucksack gave it over without much of a fight and Roger Roger carried that stick briefly, but then I gave it back to Rucksack and told Roger Roger to leave it to his brother.  Oliver and Sputnik sat calmly at the side of the trail with me on a couple occasions as other, excited dogs passed by.  Oliver didn't bark at them and without Oliver barking, Sputnik didn't growl.  One hiker even commented on how well behaved they were, as her own dog was pulling at a tight leash and staring at Sputnik in a very intense manner.  Thankfully, she didn't let her dog approach and the dog didn't escalate the intensity beyond the staring - it was already a test for him and I'm not sure he would have been able to contain himself if the other dog had run up to us or barked.  But as it was, it was great practice in holding back in a tense moment and not overreacting, for both Sputnik and Oliver.

Play Pack

Sadie and Ruffers kept each other entertained throughout our park visit today.  Ruffers was distracted for a little while by park regular Joey, a yellow Labradoodle, with whom she enjoyed running and chasing.  Sadie was occupied with chasing down a tennis ball that I was throwing for her until Ruffers returned for more play with her.  Milo also had fun chasing down tennis balls that I threw for him, exploding after the ball in playful bursts.  Benny had fun hopping around with an excited Golden Retriever, which was a lot of fun to watch.  Thompson was feeling a bit playful as well and circled some wrestling pups, looking for opportunities to get into for a playful nudge.