Your Daily Double Dose of Danes

I took the two new Danes, Indigo and Hunter, along with Maya to Walnut Creek park today for a five mile hike. We were joined by my friend Meg, who walked Indigo primarily, although we switched off to see if it made any difference.

I think we can safely say that Indy prefers women, or at least she prefers Meg to me. Meg is a nicer person. She was more relaxed and comfortable with Meg and when we switched Danes, Indy tried her best to get back to Meg. Hunter didn't really care which person had his leash, but he wanted to be with Indy. Both dogs were really pretty good on leash, although Hunter pulled in his effort to be close to Indigo. Both dogs were good when we encountered other people, other dogs, and even a mountain biker, although we didn't have any nose-to-nose meetings.

I am not sure if walking was new to these two or not, but they definitely enjoyed it and they were tired afterwards. Maya and I were too. This is the first time in a while that we've done five miles and the terrain at Walnut Creek is rougher and hillier than at Pleasant Grove.

Both dogs were more comfortable with me afterwards and I've always thought that walking a dog is the best way to build trust. I can't say it made a lot of difference after we got home, but it was a start.

Thanks to Meg for the best of these pictures.

This is Indigo (Indy).

My little girl, Maya.

Hunter picked this place to rest for a bit.