Hikes!

Hamlet in Rothrock.

Hamlet gets his exercise. Beyond walking a few miles each day to get to school and back, we routinely take him on walks on weekday evenings, and longer hikes on the weekends. These longer hikes are great -- we're out in the woods by ourselves and we let him off leash to explore the world a little more freely. Most of the time we head to our local state forest, Rothrock, which has a large variety of hiking trails. (It is also great for biking, by the way...)

Since he is still a puppy (and in general) we don't let him off leash without a back-up plan! Our strategy: always be equipped with chicken. If we need him to "come" in any situation chicken is his reward -- and he definitely responds! However, we don't really need it on hikes, because he stays pretty close of his own accord. I take that as a sign that he likes us. ;)

(Drinking, err...) Playing in the water

Fall is here, and the ferns are changing color!

Hide & seek

Happiness

More happiness

Tired? ... nah.

Sometimes he'll pretend to be tired. At that point he'll lay down in the middle of the path and kick out his hind legs to rest his full underbelly on the ground. Of course, as soon as we offer a few words of encouragement or praise he is back up and running along!

Super-puppy ears.