Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Oliver is totally comfortable with his packmates now and really enjoys being out on the trail.  He led the way again for a lot of the time today.  Mogul discovered another piece of bone today.  He was very excited about it, but I traded him a treat for dropping it and when carried on and left it behind.  Coco and Rucksack got a lot of practice walking on leash without pulling.  I've tried a few different techniques with the pack members and today's seemed to have the best and quickest results.  Every dozen paces or so, I stopped and took several steps backwards.  I pulled Coco and Rucskack back with me and they had to turn around since I walked back too far and too quickly for them to just take a step back.  This forced them to stop their forward motion and follow me instead of just waiting to take the next step (which is what they've done when I've tried just stopping in place).  Before long I was able to walk a lot further without a tug from either of them.  Then, every so often, I stopped and took several steps backwards again, just to keep them on their toes.  It was great to see them respond so well to this method!  Hopefully it will translate to them keeping their attention on me more when they're off-leash, too, since they both tend to wander a bit far and do their own thing (especially Rucksack lately).

The Play Pack

There were very few dogs at the park when we arrived today - Buzz and Benny, who have long been regulars, and Hobbes, a young Mastiff who we've been seeing more of lately.  Mogul took an interest in Hobbes and Hobbes likewise with Mogul.  Mogul stood stiff while Hobbes hopped around him playfully at a short distance.  Then Hobbes would move in and Mogul would do a quick little dodge move and Hobbes would dive back and dance around again.  Daisy and Coco both played with a Bull Terrier.  Diasy started off running around with her new friend and then Coco joined in and stole the Terrier's attention.  The Terrier gave Coco some good chases while Daisy joined in and chased her packmate, too.