Leader of the Pack

Adventure Pack

Oliver frequently gets comments from hikers who are impressed by his ability to keep up with the pack, and suggest that he hitch a ride on Benny's back or that I carry him.  Oftentimes, these comments are inspired by the fact the Oliver lags a bit behind the group.  What they don't realize is that Oliver is just busy exploring, sniffing, and peeing on things at his leisure, and happily bounces ahead of the group to continue on if we pause for a minute.  Meanwhile, Benny - the tallest dog in the pack - seems to be the most put out by the uphill climbs.  Rucksack found a pinecone to his liking and carried it for a brief while.  On our descent, there was a neat pile of pinecones set in the middle of the trail with a leafy stem sticking up from the center, apparently someone's in-the-moment, natural art project.  Roger Roger eyed the collection with a mixture of interest and suspicion as we passed by.

Play Pack

Ruffers, Sputnik, and Isaac all joined in with a group of four or five other dogs for a long stretch of chases that kept going around and around the park.  Every so often, the group would break up into smaller playgroups who would bow, dodge, and wrestle with eachother before taking off for another big run together.  It was great to see them all having so much fun.  Milo and Thompson didn't join in for the chases, but they made friendly greetings with all of the dogs during their occasional breaks.  Also, at one point, Milo and Ruffers lay down together in the shade in an adorable pose and I snapped a photo of them that I will post in the pack photos.