Tuesday Pack Activities

Adventure Pack

We had a new member join the pack today - Racer! Racer is a very fun and friendly, black, Lab/Pointed mix. She got along with Sputnik, Griff, and Colby immediately. They all sniffed each other and quickly decided they could be friends. When we hit the trail, Racer was all over the place with excitement. Colby was a bit annoyed with the spastic outburst, and cuffed Racer's muzzle with an open mouth, without biting down. It was enough for Racer to take the point, and she stopped bouncing and dodging all over the place amidst her new packmates, but she was still full of eager energy to get hiking. Racer pulled quite a bit for about the first 20 minutes of the hike, but then she started to settle into the pack's pace and stick with us better. We took an early water break due to the hot weather. Sputnik and Colby were happy to take some water, as they usually are. I was surprised when Racer took right to drinking from the CamelBak without a moment's hesitation. Griff was less interested, though he did drink a bit from the stream we crossed a bit up the trail, and he took some water from the CamelBak during another break that we took a while later. All the dogs were happy to spend a little time in the stream on our way out and our way back. By the end of the hike, Griff seemed to pick up on the lesson I was conveying to Racer about not pulling ahead. He chose to walk to the outside, with Racer in between us, and subtly body blocked her when she tried to slip ahead. It was a very helpful move; Racer really started to get the idea and spent most of the last leg of the hike on a loose leash right at my side along with her other packmates.

Variety Pack

Zoey still played fetch at the park today, but didn't stick with it as closely now that Isaac was chasing down balls beside her. She wandered off more to sniff around and greet other dogs, while Isaac kept up a steady pace of fetching several throws, taking a dunk in the kiddie pool, and then coming back to me to start the next round. A friendly, young German Shepherd mix came over and followed Isaac and Zoey around for a bit, enthusiastically chasing after them as they fetched tennis balls.