Quiet day

Today we walked up on the fire trail behind UC Berkeley. We hiked up the hill and had our break with some nice young people in the Air Force ROTC from UC Berkeley. Murphy and Blue soaked up the petting while Turnpike and Relay stayed on my lap. Wednesday afternoon group hike has space for two more well-mannered small dogs.

Farewell Luna

Luna's last walk was yesterday afternoon. We will all miss her in our groups and her lively, take-no-prisoners attitude. Yesterday Relay and Turnpike walked on the retractable lead, a splitter is between them. Luna walked on my favorite hot pink lead, and Murphy walked on his own because he's the perfect dog. I could wax poetic about Murphy.

Monday groups are back down to just three, so we're looking for three more dogs to join this group and flesh it out. Do you think your dog can compete with Murphy's love-ability? Do you live in Oakland or Piedmont? Visit us on the web to learn more about who Little Paws Big Adventures is and how you can join in the fun: www.LPBA.net

Luna's Back!

Yay! Luna is back with Little Paws Big Adventures for the next three group walks while her mom, artisan Nina Dillof, is off on an adventure of her own. Luna and Scout were leashed together on our romp today. Luna kept Scout near their pack leader, Karin Cornwall, and Scout kept Luna moving at a brisk jog.

Luna is perpetually overweight. Her mom is diligent about portioning Luna's food, but Luna remains a stout little girl. Luna likes being a part of a pack but is very protective of her human, in this case, pack leader Karin Cornwall. She barks at most people on the trail. To curtail this behavior, Karin calls her name and jogs past any new people on the trail. Thank goodness she adores Karin, she keeps her eyes locked on Karin and just ignores the other people on the trail.

Scout moves too fast for decent pictures of her adorable face. Scout is working on greeting new dogs without talking and keeping her enthusiasm, which can be daunting, in check.

Blue did a great job of keeping up with the group today. Blue has a much heavier coat than the rest of the pack, so I make sure to walk her on shady trails when it's hot out. Today we walked in Redwood Park on one of the "ridge" trails, I can't remember which.

Parker found a ball today and kept me playing fetch with him for most of the walk until it fell down a steep slope and into some brambles.

Pace kept a keen eye on the trail ahead and bounded back to the pack for romps with Scout and occasional "cookies". We had several small obedience break on the trail today as Scout and Luna adjust to walking in our pack.

Ladybug Mania

For reasons unbeknownst to me, the ladybugs are out in droves, flying all over everything, in great pulsing masses on all the dead thistles and cow parsnip. The dogs don't notice. Yesterday afternoon we had Murphy, Relay, Blue and Turnpike out at the fire trail above UC Berkeley. The fire trail is a great place to hike because bicycles and horses are not allowed. This limits the amount of people on the trails as well as the amount of triggers for crazy-acting behavior for the little ones who walk with us.

Relay and Turnpike are on leash. Their leashes get tangled often, but I've found that as long as no legs are tangled the two of them seem to untangle themselves relatively quickly without my intercession.

Wed afternoon group has two spaces open that we'd love to fill with sweet-tempered small dogs. To learn more about us please visit our website: www.LPBA.net

oops!

Of course on Scout's first day walking with Little Paws Big Adventures, I leave my camera-phone in the car. Scout had a great time walking. I'm looking forward to the day she can run amok off leash and create havoc with Turnpike and Pace. Already Scout and Turnpike were playing and wrestling and getting all tangled up in each other's leashes. They seem to be best buddies. Tue/Thurs afternoons are now full! Hip Hip Hooray! It's been a long time coming. We're still accepting small dogs into our Mon/Wed/Fri afternoon groups and have plenty of space to open up new morning group hikes on Tue/Thurs.

Here's a pic of Relay, Turnpike and Scout after our hike this afternoon. The passenger airbag is always turned off so that the smallest dogs, who ride up front, will be safe.

This afternoon

Pikey, Murphy, Relay and I walked on the Dunn Trail to the Graham trail at Redwood Park today. These three love to play and romp together. Relay is on leash as his recall isn't in place, and Pikey is on leash because she doesn't have her microchip or any sort of manners at all. But we love her just the same. This group has room for three more small dogs. To learn more about Karin Cornwall and Little Paws Big Adventures, please visit our website at: www.LPBA.net