Monday Pack Activities

Adventure Pack

Mamacita wiggled in the grass early on during the hike this morning while Sputnik was sniffing around, and Coco surprisingly refrained from joining her. We took our time along the Baseline Trail because Sputnik was in the mood to leave lots of scent marks again today. When we started up the mountain, Coco and Rucksack went off leash together. Rucksack got distracted sniffing around in the brush and when I called him to catch up, he looked up and then turned and started trotting back down the mountain through the bushes. I brought the pack back down the trail to get him but I couldn't figure out where he went. It was so out of character for Rucksack not to come when I call him. After scouring the area, it turned out he had headed back to the area where we had parked and someone brought him to the ranger station. I'm not sure what got into him, but he will be staying on leash at least for the time being.

Variety Pack

We had a new packmate join today - Milo! Milo is a very sweet, 3-year-old, Goldendoodle. When I picked him up, we still had Sputnik in the car from the morning hike. Since Sputnik is our most uneasy pack member when it comes to greeting new dogs, I had him hop out of the car to meet Milo on neutral territory and I watched him closely. As soon as Sputnik hopped out of the car, he seemed pretty comfortable with our new packmate. Sputnik's posture stiffened a couple times as they were sniffing hello, but Milo played it cool. Coco hopped out and sniffed hello with him next, and that went very smoothly. Once everyone hopped into the packmobile together, Sputnik started licking Milo's ears, which was a clear sign of approval. We finished dropping off and picking up the rest of the dogs and then headed out for a walk along the Boulder Creek Path. While in the car, Milo was a little nervous and sort of halfway-sat against the side of the cabin, unsure of what to do with himself in an enclosed space with all these new faces; but once we started walking, he fell right into place alongside his packmates - Thompson, Coco, Zoey, and Stella. Milo and Zoey both perked up at the sight of a pigeon beside the path at one point. Zoey actually attempted a lunge, while Milo just picked up his pace a bit and watched it intently. None of the rest of the pack were interested. We made a stop at the Creek, which made Thompson very happy. Zoey, Coco, and Stella all headed right into the water as well. Milo was hesitant to get in and lingered on the bank for a minute, but he did dip his paws in briefly. On the way back, Thompson was starting to slow down quite a bit, but he really picked up his pace when a squirrel ran across the trail ahead of us. Milo spent most of the walk on a loose leash beside his new packmates, but occasionally started to pull ahead a bit, like when he was watching that pigeon. On the whole it was a smooth introduction to the pack. His nervousness was pretty mild and seemed to pass once we got walking. The pack will be looking forward to seeing him again next week!