Profile
Name: Take A Hike // Hike
Gender: Female
Phenotype: Black and tan brindle point
Genotype: atat BB cchcch DD EE hh kbrky ll mm SS tt UU Vv ZZ
FF OO PP Rr
Height: 24 in
Weight: 47 lbs
Equipment: None
Traits: Outdoor Enthusiast (+5 to tracking and SAR)
Personality: Her name is very fitting because Hike’s absolute favorite thing is hiking! There’s always so much to sniff and explore. Secondary to hiking if tracking. Both formal and informal. She will track ANYTHING! Lost stuff, deer tracks, human’s path through the house, etc. She really dislikes concrete/pavement and will actively avoid walking on sidewalks in preference to yards/grass if available. Hike enjoys chasing bugs (but doesn’t hurt them) and watching them go about their day.
Likes- HIKES, nature, running, following odor, puzzle games, apple slices, finding mushrooms
Dislikes- cities, concrete/pavement, strong perfume/cologne/candles, lawnmowers, squeaky stuffed animals
Story 1- An Average Hike:
The dogs see their human start to grab, organize, and pack their hiking gear. Everyone quickly begins to get squirmy and excited. A quick bathroom break then everyone’s loaded up into the car and on the way to today's destination. They soon arrive at one of their favorite remote trailheads and unload. It’s a warm, late spring day and the pack with their human along sets out on a hike. It’s a sunny day kept nice by the cool gentle breeze. It’s the time of year with lots of activity from the plants and animals that inhabit the forest where this trial meanders through. As they get going, the pack falls into their routine order. Allo bounds to the front, eagerly looking for his first piece of trash to collect. Chalk walks next to their owner. Mahrukh is hanging quietly in the middle of the group, never stepping on a wayward twig. Compete is zipping between them all, trying to get someone to race her or, second-best, time her as she runs to the next landmark and back. As for Hike, she generally runs to the front, then gets distracted by something and falls behind until remembering to catch up again. After a long distraction (story 2), Hike returns just in time for the creek crossing. Compete tries to get them all to do a jumping contest but eventually settles for seeing how far she can jump to the other side, then does it again to try to improve, then again, and again, and again. Mahrukh finds a thin log that’s fallen across the water and easily walks across without any hesitation or wobble. Chalk keeps his eye on their owner as they carefully cross some dry rocks together. Allo leaps into the water with a muffled yip as he manages to keep a hold of the discarded water bottle he found. He makes sure to get thoroughly soaked before climbing out the other side. Hike makes a couple of creek friends as she walks through the water, pausing occasionally to get a closer look at something but eventually climbs out as well. At the summit, they all take a break. The human breaks out peanut butter covered apple slices and carrots (making sure Mahrukh gets plain ones of course) to share. Chalk settles next to the owner while Hike looks for more critters. Compete finally convinces Allo to drop his bottle long enough for a quick wrestling match and Mahrukh gets some scratches from the human. After a while they all get up and start the trek back down. As they reach the trailhead they fall into their post-hike routine. Allo drops his trash and recyclables in the correct bins and Hike gets some last minute tracking in while the owner begins stretching and cooling down each dog before they get in the car. She also uses this time to check for any ticks, seeds, thorns, burrs, cuts, or scrapes. With everyone looking good they finally load up and head back to their house. There’s more than one light snore coming from the back of the car as they travel home.
Story 2- Hike’s Hike:
Hike early hops out of the car and inhales deeply. She can already tell today’s going to be a great day for tracking and observing! Though the pack starts out close together, they quickly start spacing out. Especially Hike because today there’s all kinds of things to be distracted by so she’s lagging farther behind than normal. First she watches a snail creep across a stick, then she sees a caterpillar munching on a leaf. Next her nose engages and she tracks down some turkey-tail mushrooms by their earth scent. Then some actual turkeys! Or, at least some of their feathers and tracks from scavenging for food. This reminds her of her own hunger so she races back to the pack to grab a snack from the helpful human. She stays on the trail for a while until it’s intersected by an old deer trail. While following it, she comes across the fresh scent of a scampering chipmunk. While trying to catch up to the small critter she hears a commotion ahead. Ah, the squirrels are busy burying nuts from the winter ahead but they have to try to avoid their squirrel neighbors watching them hide them to avoid thefts. Hike carefully watches them and after they’ve moved a bit away, decides to play her own trick on them. She carefully, using her memory and nose to check, digs up the hidden nuts and re-buries each one a couple feet away from the original locations as a prank. At this point, Hike realizes she’s been gone much too long so she races back to the trail. She catches up with the pack right as they are about to male a creek crossing. Hike watches the frogs leap into the water at their approach. She tries to mimic them and it results in a big splash! While in the water she quickly gets distracted by the shiny water beetles zipping across the surface. She wishes she could zip across water as quickly as they do. Then She notices shimmering beneath the water. Holding her breath, she plunges her head beneath the current to get a clever look at the school of minnows flashing around her legs. She hears a muffled call and pops her head up only to realize the rest of the group is across and waiting on her. With a promise to jump with the frogs again on the way back, Hike quickly climbs out of the creek and rejoins the group. The rest of the hike passes similarly. She follows some of her own trails just for fun. She also finally agrees to a quick race with Compete but veers off right before the finish line as her nose catches wind of a rare vole scent. The small critters don’t come above ground that often after all. Compete was so focused on the finish line and winning that she didn’t even notice. As they reach the end of the trail, Hike savors the last few scents. She checks out the odor trails of those who arrived before and after them before being called over for her turn with the human. Hike is very content as she curls up for a nap on the ride home.
