Leader of the Pack

Adventure Pack

Milo, Benny, Rucksack, and Roger Roger all hiked along together at a fairly quick pace today.  That is, until the final leg when Benny was tuckered out and kept stalling every time we came across a bit of shade, even though it wasn't very hot out.  Neither Rucksack nor Roger Roger found any sticks or pinecones they felt were worth carrying today.  Milo made less pit stops to scent-mark than usual today and was happy to just keep on the move.

Play Pack

We had a new member join the pack today: Luca!  Luca is an eleven-year-old Corgi.  With our former Corgi Sadie's absence, since she moved to New Mexico, our new Corgi packmate fit right in with the pack!  Upon first greeting, he grumbled his uncertainty about getting into the car with unfamiliar dogs.  Milo and Thompson just chilled out and waited, while Sputnik noticed Luca's uneasiness and snarled back.  I had Sputnik step back and lie down, and he listened well.  Then Thompson came over and gave Luca a thorough sniffing while Luca sniffed tentatively back.  We then dropped off Milo and picked up Mamacita and Stella to round out the afternoon group, and everyone sniffed politely and calmly.  Luca took a little bit of urging to keep walking along at first.  The fact that Sputnik, Stella, and Thompson were all trying to go in different directions didn't really help to convey our purpose to Luca.  But, eventually everyone fell into a rhythm.  Luca and Sputnik walked right alongside each other without any hint of their initial uncertainty about each other., and we had a great rest of the walk!  A Cocker Spaniel puppy ran up to us at one point and excitedly weaved its way amongst the pack, and everyone stayed calm and friendly as they sniffed at the happy young pup, then continued on in sync together for the last stretch of the walk.