Hi Kay Lee,
Last weekend Danny and I took River on her first backpacking trip. We've mostly stayed away from backpacking this summer, as she hasn't been big enough to do the longer distances, but we decided she was just about ready for the 3 mile hike into Drift Creek, a beautiful old growth canyon in Suislaw National Forest near the coast. She was a great companion and had a wonderful time catching crawdads and running surveillance on our creek-side campsite for two nights. She also enjoyed burying and then exhuming her beef-flavored rawhide in various spots around our camp. At night she slept at the foot of our little two-person tent, taking up about a third of my sleeping pad, and in the mornings she crawled up to snuggle in between us. Next summer I reckon I'll have to buy her her own pad to sleep on. 
At the end of the backpacking trip, we enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day at the beach and a night on my family's little sailboat, which was docked at the Embarcadero in Newport. Despite some initial doubts, she soon found her sea legs and was quite well-behaved--we'll have her out on the water in no time, I hope. 
She flew through her obedience class, and on the last day her trainer pulled me aside to tell me that she would be a great candidate for rally obedience. I think we're going to give it a try when she's a bit older.
I've attached a few pictures from the beach and our backpacking trip. River looks quite a bit like her mom in a few of them!
Thanks, and best wishes, Leila
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