Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Since Coco and Rucksack both have a tendency to pull a bit on leash, I spent some time working on that with each of them during today's hike.  They were both pretty good at it for a while, but I've noticed their attention slacking lately and their leash-pulling increasing, so I used the technique of turning around and walking the other way whenever they started to pull ahead.  After walking back a bit and turning back around, I had them stop and wait at my side for a moment and then try again; if they pulled ahead again then we went right back, if they stayed at my side then we kept going.  It helped a lot and after a session with each of them, they were both more attentive to me than they have been lately.  Mogul is always good on leash.  Sometimes he's been hesitant to come when I call him, but he's been a lot better about that lately, too.  I'm glad to see him having more of a skip in his step again after seeming kind of lazy and unenthused through a lot of the summer.

While Coco was rummaging through the bushes she must have sniffed something up into her nose, because I heard her sneezing in the tall grass over and over about 10 times in quick succession - it was pretty funny.

The Play Pack

Pico found some playmates to chase her today, including a high-energy yellow Labradoodle.  Coco also gave her chase a lot of times throughout our park visit.  Pico has become more assertive in her attempts to get dogs to chase her; now, instead of just walking up and then darting away she'll go up to other dogs playing and bark at them until one of them looks at her, and then she darts away.  Her barks usually end in a long, quiet, drawn-out whine, just pleading for the other dog's attention.  Mogul found a couple playmates at the park today.  There was a Spaniel that got the attention of a lot of dogs, including Mogul and Coco, and Mogul liked putting his paw on the Spaniel's back and making him lie down.  Later, a big German Shepherd showed up and he and Mogul hopped and spun and danced around with each other.  Coco wrestled with her friend Zeus some and also played a lot of fetch.  Brady was mostly into playing fetch today, and has been getting VERY good at coming back, dropping the ball, and sitting to wait for me to pick it up and throw it again.  He didn't find any puppy playmates today but he was pretty interested in greeting humans and he jumped into a few welcoming laps.