Leader of the Pack

The Adventure Pack

The packs have been walking on leash lately since we spent a while at some of the cooler, well-shaded, and predator-free paths along Bear Creek and Boulder Creek while both temperatures and wildlife activity were high in the summer.  We kept the leashes on last week when we started hiking the Anenome and Red Rocks trails as I hoped to transfer all of the great practice of walking on them without pulling and sticking close by.  Coco and Mogul were great during their off-leash time today.  They both went up ahead a short way on the trail but didn't wander far.  They stuck close to each other most of the time, except when one or the other occassionally stopped to sniff something out while the other kept walking.  Toskey and Rucksack were a somewhat different story.  They started out well - running a short way up ahead together then stopping and waiting for the rest of us to catch up.  After a short while, though, they stopped waiting and just kept going on ahead.  When I called to them, Toskey stopped briefly and looked back but then turned and ran when she saw Rucksack had no intention of coming back.  The primary temptation was water - big puddles in hollowed out rocks beside the trail and the stream that runs by the Red Rocks Trail.  It looks like Rucksack will have to stay on leash, at least when there's water around.  We'll see how Toskey does next week when she isn't following after him.

The Play Pack

Everyone was pretty lazy at the beginning of park playtime today.  Mogul lied in the sun, Maverick stood in place watching everyone and sniffing at his immediate vicinty, and Cooper mosied along at my heels while I called to his packmates and tried to get them moving.  Later on, I got Cooper interested in a tennis ball briefly.  After he lost interest in that, I found a deflated basketball and made his day.  He loved chasing it down when I kicked it for him.  Then he'd pick it up and give it a good shake before bringing it by me again for another kick.  Maverick had more fun with the tennis ball than Cooper, but also lost interest after a few minutes.  A short wile later, though, he discovered the dug-out hollow under a huge dead tree trunk in the small dog area.  He slipped into it and when I called him he popped out suddenly and then started running laps around the trunk.  He caught the interest of Cooper and another dog and they played peek-a-boo/catch-me-if-you-can for a while.  Meanwhile, Mogul followed around a Miniature Pinscher/Chihuahua mix who looked a lot like former pack member Mable.