Tuesday Pack Activities

Adventure Pack

Sputnik was a little more tolerant of the other dogs we saw on the trail today, and stayed calm while one came over and briefly sniffed hello. About halfway through our walk, he discovered a tennis ball and carried it along for a while. Racer stared at the tennis ball in his mouth and hopped around him with excitement for a minute before she realized he wasn't going to give it up. When he did eventually drop the ball, she had moved on and didn't notice, so it was left behind. Meanwhile, Griff and Yoda were wandering and sniffing around together. At first, they were doing a good job of coming back to me when called. When we came near a fence, on the other side of which were some horses in the distance, they suddenly lost their hearing and lingered at the fence, staring at the horses. It took some time to regain their attention. Griff was the last to turn back to the pack, after doing a good job of making me afraid that he was about to slip through the fence and go chase the horses.

Variety Pack

Avo and Rey immediately started a game of chase with a new friend when we arrived at the park today. Rey cut their play short when she came crashing into their new friend from the side, mid-stride and full force, sandwiched against one of the large boulders scattered around the Valmont Dog Park. The other dog ultimately seemed to be okay, but wasn't interested in getting into any more chases with Rey around. Isaac spent most of the visit playing fetch, as usual; but he didn't speed after the ball with quite as much zeal, as he is recovering from a stomach bug he had over the weekend. Later on, Avo played rabbit and got Zoey, Milo, Rey, and Isaac all chasing after her. After a good, long run, Avo ended next to me, with her side leaning gently against my leg like I was "home base". Most of her packmates understood, but Rey came running toward us full speed and then launched herself into the air at us. It seems this is a habit that is going to require addressing. I had Rey sit and then lie down for a minute as a time-out. Avo led another chase with all of her packmates later on, and there were no big collisions. Milo, Isaac, and Avo all enjoyed wiggling around on their backs in the grass at various points. Zoey chased a lot of tennis balls, and kept bringing them back to a stranger even though I was the one throwing them for her. Near the end of our visit, Avo recognized someone from her days at doggie daycare over a year ago, and she was very excited to greet her. Rey also got in on the greeting, and they wiggled and hopped all around her.