Off leash, relaxed, and ready to play

At the registration table, Annie Brody, Camp Unleashed's founder, greeted us with a welcome package including the activity schedule and a goodie bag with collapsible water bowls, a squeaky toy, and bone-shaped biscuits with each dog's name spelled out in carob icing.

Then the campers jumped into planned activities. Friday afternoon began with a guided nature hike through the woods. While the humans treaded carefully along the trail, on the lookout for poison ivy, the dogs sorted out their relationships. Several people kept their dogs on leash, especially those pooches with little experience running free. The majority ran and barked wildly, unrestrained and uninhibited.

The breeds ranged from a gentle young Rhodesian ridgeback named Phoebe to a passel of lap dogs, some of whom got a lift from their humans along the trail.

The hike wore the dogs out before the next session, a workshop called ''Doglish: Understanding how dogs communicate." Brody guided us to a firepit in the woods, humans enticed by cold drinks and snacks and dogs by a bountiful platter of multihued treats. Bryna Davidow, an obedience trainer, described some of the things people commonly do that dogs consider impolite, such as staring directly into their eyes, pointing cameras in their faces, patting them on top of their heads, and hugging them around their necks. She also explained basic canine body language, such as how they communicate submissiveness or nervousness, and behaviors they use as calming signals, such as looking sideways or shifting their eyes, blinking, yawning, stretching, and licking their noses.