Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

When we passed a certain spot along the Anemone Trail today, I was reminded of this time last year when Benny was just a little pup.  There was a big rock in the trail that Benny had trouble with multiple times.  It's tall, so it's a big leap up it, and the first many times we passed it Benny planted his front legs on the rock but didn't have the strength or momentum to get his other half up.  Today, he did the exact same thing!  Even now that he's grown it was still too tough for him to hop up from a standing position once his front paws were up.  There's a smaller stone next to it that the other dogs used to climb up, but little Oliver was standing on it when Benny wanted to get up, so he tried jumping up the shear face of the rock like he used to, and it turned out the same way it always had: Benny standing up on his hind legs, with his front paws resting on top of the rock, and looking about helplessly as he tried to figure out what he did wrong while his packmates looked back at him.  Rucksack was good on leash today, especially when we made the sandy descent at a slow pace.  Coco was well behaved throughout the hike and her ears seem to be bothering her less, which has left her in a more pleasant mood for her packmates.

The Play Pack

Charlie and Coco sprinted around the park together a lot today.  During one of their chases, Benny joined in and kept running up to Charlie, hopping around in a goofy and playful manner, and then turning tail and bounding away from him.  As ever, Charlie was too caught up in watching Coco's every move to bother with Benny; but that didn't stop Benny from having a good time.  Maverick hung out around the other dogs a lot more today, though he mostly lied around.  At one point, I squatted down with him and started rubbing his back and he immediately rolled over to his side and looked up at me with squinty eyes to let me know I found a good spot.  Benny sauntered over to see what was going on and Maverick was surprisingly unbothered with Benny sniffing and nosing at his face - I've found that Maverick usually doesn't like to be approached so directly but he seems to be getting more and more comfortable.