Neo was very disappointed in all the hiking smells of yesterday, when he couldn’t join in, so today was a short hike for him at Cougar, in via Shangri-La and out via the Tibbett’s trails.  Jason decided to join us for this three mile hike, making it an outing with the whole pack.

It was a cool morning, making fleece a good accompaniment, but otherwise was very quiet and free of people.  So, we gave Neo a bit of off leash time, to see how he’d do.  Like the good little scout he is, he tried to stay in front (though wasn’t really concerned if he wasn’t), but kept strictly to his duty of making sure that the whole pack was visible to him at all times.  If Jason lingered behind, he’d turn and wait for him to catch up.  If we tried to separate by a couple dozen feet, he’d turn, wait for the person in the back, even as the person in front passed him, then zoom back to the front just long enough to have to turn and wait for the person in back again.  He kept us both in view, but didn’t quite figure out the trick of just walking in the middle.  It was cute, and gave us a chance to practice off leash recalls.  It wasn’t bad, but let’s just say he has more work.

All in all, a lovely day out.