Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Wesley had fun running together right off the bat again today while Toskey started the hike on leash.  A lot of the Adventure Pack dogs have been getting a bit less attentive and have been pulling more lately, so I'm making a deliberate point to work on that with them.  The method I'm using is to notice when the dogs on leash start to pull ahead of me, and then to give a gentle verbal "shhh" to indicate that they need to slow down.  If they ignore the verbal warning then I stop in place and give them a quick tug on the leash, which has always caused them to stop in place.  Then I turn around and pat my leg for them to come back to me.  This step got a mixed response: Wesley immediately walked back to me (which he often does even before I turn around or pat my leg, as soon as he gets the tug and realizes he's ahead); Coco stayed in place and ignored me, choosing to instead watch Toskey (who was then off leash) and see whatever she was up to; Toskey walked back to me but with some hesitation and frequent glances to the path up ahead, as if thinking to herself "But I want to go that way..."  After giving Coco a few moments, she got another short tug to break her concentration on Toskey and then I turned away and patted my leg again.  The first few times we went through this process, it took her a couple minutes before she willingly turned her attention from Toskey onto me; but after a bit of practice and some positive reinforcement when she followed me, she started coming back much more quickly.  When they start following me the other way, I walk a few steps with them at my heel and then turn back up to the trail ahead and continue on as long as they stay by my side.  By the end of the hike, all three of them were more attentive.  While I was working with any one on leash at a given time, the other two explored the brush around the trail and sometimes came over and went through the exercise at my side even though they weren't on leash, which was a great sign!

The Play Pack

For once, Coco didn't really play with any dogs at the park.  Her attention was all on me and she just wanted to play fetch (aside from when she discovered a hollow frisbee-ring toy that she enjoyed prancing around with).  We saw our new pack member Benny at the park today with his human, and he and Coco greeted fondly but weren't playful with one another like they were when they first met yesterday.  Fletcher and Brady were both also just interested in following me around and playing fetch for most of the visit today, although Fletcher did meet another German Shepherd that caught his interest and he followed him around for a little while.  Meanwhile, Mable was sniffing around all over the park, caught up in her own world until toward the end of the visit when she, too, just wanted to play fetch.  She's getting more and more comfortable by the day.  When we were in the packmobile on the way home from the park and I glanced over my shoulder, there was Mable's smiling face, right behind me, looking out the windshield ahead.  When I reached my hand back, she leaned forward to sniff it instead of backing away.