Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

Coco and Benny lied down next to each other and chewed on a couple sticks right after hopping out of the car at the Chautauqua today.  When we got onto the trails, Coco found a much bigger stick to carry and flaunt around for a bit.  Oliver and Benny hiked off leash together and stayed pretty close to each other the whole time.  Oliver got a lot of comments from passing hikers about his ability to keep up with the big dogs.  Later on, Coco and Wesley played around a pile of big rocks over at Enchanted Mesa.  They chased each other around and over it, paused to drink from some rain water that collected in a depression in one of the rocks, then chased each other around a bit more.

The Play Pack

Guess who Charlie played with today...that's right - a puppy!  The moment a new pup shows up at the park, Charlie is attached to their hip.  This time it was a little black Poodle or Labradoodle named Boogie.  They had a fun time running around together and Charlie enjoyed lying down in front of Boogie, barking, and then nibbling at his legs until Boogie jumped all over him.  I worked with Coco on leaving the tennis ball alone when I reach down for it.  I used two balls so when she came back with the first I showed her the second; then she dropped the first ball and kept her attention on the one I was holding while I reached down and picked up the one she just dropped.  It worked well - I don't think she dove for the ball she had dropped a single time!  Benny played a little catch and later on he was interested in a Pit Bull puppy and started dropping into play-bows, but Coco barked at them and made things tense instead of playful so I got their attention and we went back to playing fetch and catch.