Wednesday Pack Activities
Mamacita went for a wiggle in the tall grass along the Baseline Trail this morning. Griff played scout while he was off leash, keeping ahead of the pack by a bit. Meanwhile, Ruffers brought up the rear, only to catch up when I called her and waited. She was very interested in sniffing around at the edge of the trail, examining scents her packmates overlooked. Griff actually took some water from the CamelBak today, along with Mamacita and Sputnik.
Variety Pack
Rey had her first pack visit to the Valmont Dog Park this afternoon! There was a 6-month-old Australian Shepherd puppy right at the gate when we entered, and the two of them immediately started wrestling around with each other. Meanwhile, Isaac got straight to fetching a tennis ball. Zoey followed the pups around and splashed in the kiddie pool a bit, then stole Isaac's tennis ball and wouldn't give it up. I found another ball to throw for Isaac, and then Rey's attention turned from wrestling with the other pup, to chasing after Isaac while he fetched his tennis ball. We walked around the park while Isaac and Zoey continued to fetch their respective balls and Rey chased after them. Rey encountered one dog - a 10-month-old dog who looked like a Samoyed, but with black fur (maybe a Chow Chow?) - who was a bit pushy and kept gnawing at her legs and tackling her. She took it for a while, and then started dishing it back with little puppy growls and ear-chewing. It was a delicate balance between letting her learn to socialize, and keeping her from getting bullied by a dog with poor self-restraint/recognition of social cues. I let them work it out for the most part, because nobody was really getting nasty; but, we eventually moved on to a different area when it became clear that the other dog wasn't going to give little Rey a break. After that, she met a crew of much more polite, much bigger dogs, and everyone sniffed hello with each other very nicely. She then made friends with another Australian Shepherd, whom she chased all over the park. After running together, the two of them wrestled around for a while. Meanwhile, Isaac and Zoey kept up their fetching, broken up by trips to the kiddie pool. Altogether, it was a fun and exciting first pack trip to the dog park for Rey!