We're slowly making Tinkham into an adventure dog. It's how we've raised our kids to be backpackers and it's a little frustrating, but it's an investment in the future. It's definitely paid off with the kids and with our previous dogs so... I guess it's worth it. Especially if you can find places to go that are still pretty awesome and within the capabilities of your pup.

My least junior Junior Adventurer, Clara, and I headed out to a local and infrequently used trail to push Tinkham's capabilities just a little. It's a climbers' trail so it was steep and full of rocks and roots. Tink strained at the leash, challenged not in the least by the steps taller than she was. I, I was glad when we reached the flat trail that connected the climbers' trail with our trail.

Of course, our trail wasn't much better than the climbers' trail. It was steep and rocky, but not too many roots. Tink had done so well off leash on a few previous adventures I thought it'd be ok to let her run a bit. Clara was higher up the hill so I figured Tinkham would run back and forth between us. Ha. Not likely. She busted by Clara and continued up and out of sight. She was only "missing" for a moment, but that was plenty long enough to convince me she'd be on leash for the foreseeable future.

There was a touch of snow on the trail to make navigating the last storm's damage all the more exciting, but every time I thought Tink would have a problem she came through like an expert. Up at the high point (not really a summit, but it was where we were hoping to go) Tinkham properly appreciated the view, failed at posing for pictures, and whined to get moving again. She was remarkably well behaved on the hike down (and securely on leash).

Like any youngster (kids or puppies) Tink's less prone to making bad choices when tired. Actually, I take that back. Kids tend to make their worst choices when they're tired. But in every other way they're pretty much the same. By the time we got back to the car she was full of adventure and perfectly happy to melt into her crate for the short ride home and then curl up for a nap in front of the fire back at the house.

It was the perfect mini adventure to push her just enough and help her take the next step toward her life as an adventure dog.