Leader of the Pack

Today's Adventure Pack was all filled up with Mogul, Rucksack, Coco, and the temporary additon of Toskey (who usually joins Coco on Tuesdays)!  Everyone got along great, and Rucksack and Toskey especially hit it off.  The two of them began the hike with plenty of side-by-side running and pawing around with each other.  I made a point of keeping Mogul up with the group again today, so when he started lagging behind I waited and called for him.  He would trot up to about 5 feet behind me and then just stand and look at me.  I'd give him an encouraging, "Come on, Mogul!" in a high pitch and then he'd prance by and up ahead with a little extra spring in his step for a while.  Rucksack found a pinecone to carry with us for part of the hike, and Coco found herself a few different sticks along the way.

At the park, Keeyush (an Alaskan Malamute/German Shepherd mix - search for her in the Pack Photos and a few pictures will come up) showed up just after we did and I happened to take particular notice of how she interacted with each of today's Play Pack members.  They didn't all greet at once - they were doing their own things and Keeyush came over to see each of them throughout the visit.  First, I noticed her approach Mogul.  She sat down in front of him and licked at his mouth in a submissive/playful display.  Mogul seemed a bit irked as he stood still and let her perform her invasive greeting while his lip curled ever so slightly.  A little while later, Keeyush came up to Coco and Hershey, who were rolling around with each other.  Coco was too caught up to care about Keeyush's approach and then got distracted by another playful puppy that ran by, but Hershey responded to Keeyush's towering presence by lying right on his back and keeping still.  He gently pawed at Keeyush's snout a little as she gave him a good sniffing, and then he remained like that while she stood over him for a good couple minutes.  A bit later, I saw Keeyush performing the submissive/playful greeting with Rucksack that she had tried earlier with Mogul; and Rucksack immediately began returning her treatment by licking back at her, and the two of them continued kissing like that for probably about half a minute.  Coco then came over to see what the deal was and immediately started jumping on Keeyush's head and teasing her into a wrestle, which Keeyush obliged.  It was a lot of fun seeing how each of the pack members interacted with the same dog!