Dog Math

Maya, Theo, and Max

Remember story problems?  Here's one:  Three dogs walk five miles, then three dogs walk three miles, and finally, three dogs walk two miles. At least one dog is present on all three walks. What is the maximum number of dogs walked?

I've been fighting with a cold for two weeks now, but I slept well Saturday night and felt pretty good on Sunday. I was needing to make up some sick days when I had skipped hiking, so I set out for a multiple dog, multiple walk day.

I put a harness on Theo today. He really didn't need the prong
collar and using the harness puts him an additional foot in
front of me. He's so long that I was stepping on his heels a lot.

First up it was Maya, Max, and Theo, my daily trio. We did five miles and it was hot. Actually the app on my phone cut out on me for a while, so it may have been six miles. We did multiple water crossings for the dogs and they held up better than I did.

We came home and cooled off. After a while I went out again with Maya, Barkley, and Cole for another three miles. We started from a different location and covered entirely different trails.

After another cooling down period, I set out again with Maya, Trooper, and Gigi for the final hike of the day. We just did two miles, which was enough for all of us at that point.

Max (left) and Theo jumping over a
log on the trail. Maya is just behind them.

Maya, Barkley, and Cole

Cole was the one out front for most of this walk.

Five miles, with Maya, Max, and Theo

Three miles with Maya, Barkley, and Cole

Two miles, with Maya, Gigi, and Trooper