Wednesday, May 17th Pack Activities

Adventure Pack

Sputnik - who has been much calmer and more pleasant for our recent encounters with other dogs on the trails - saw a Bernese Mountain Dog from the car this morning, after we parked by the trailhead, and reacted poorly by growling and barking. On the trails a short while later, we were approached by a very wired young dog on a leash, at whom Sputnik growled before he continued on by. I heard another growl at the same time and I wasn't sure whether it came from Coco or Colby. Mamacita took the intrusion in stride. After that, the dogs mostly settled down; although Sputnik was a bit insistent about pulling over to the side of the trail to leave scent marks. When it was obvious he wasn't looking for a place to really relieve himself, I kept him moving with the pack instead of going along with his frequent demands to stop and mark. Eventually, he got the idea and we had a pleasant time hiking along at a steady pace after that, without any more negative reactions to the other dogs we saw. Colby has been less skittish than she used to be and doesn't spin around every time she hears a noise or notices someone else on the trail anymore.

Variety Pack

Isaac went straight for the first tennis ball in sight at the park today, as usual. Thompson took his normal route through the park, past the pile of boulders, and over to the concrete pad; but today he lingered by the boulders for a while because there were some dogs and humans hanging out there. One of the dogs was a big Rottweiler, who drew the interest of both Coco and Ruffers. Coco was satisfied with a thorough sniff, but Ruffers broke out into playbows and wiggles, and was eventually jumping all over the Rottweiler while he made minimal effort to play back at her. Later, Ruffers tried getting in on a play session between two younger dogs, but they were more interested in each other and Ruffers just ended up trying to mount them when they weren't paying attention. She had more luck with a Husky who went on a run with her and then later with a Dachshund who was fully absorbed in jumping all over her and wrestling around. Meanwhile, Coco showed more commitment to chasing the tennis ball than usual. She actually ran down some of the longer throws even when Isaac was going for them, too.