A small smile creased my maw, pleased with the boy’s attempts to follow my guidance. Though his excitement was still palpable in the air, his breathing had quieted and become steadier. The golden form of the pup crouched in the snow next to me, and together we surveyed the bushes before us. Always I kept one ear on the prey I had located off to our left, and one on the boy. When Emil’s gaze finally trained on the hare, I could feel him tense up with anticipation. Just as I was about to tell the boy about different tactics in chasing down prey that could ultimately outrun you, his golden form streaked forward.

I stood up, watching him for a moment. Rather than yelling at him and telling him he was doing it all wrong, I decided to test the boy’s instincts. What would he do, without a coach to tell him exactly how to win the game? I couldn’t help but cringe slightly as Emil crashed through the bush, hot on the heels of the hare. But the hare was not as young as the pup, and he easily evaded capture. Brows lifted in surprise as the youth quickly –albeit not exactly gracefully – changed course to pursue the hare. The young prince had it in him; he just needed to learn to focus himself as he had with the breathing exercise.

It was then that I launched forward, darting out ahead of the pup and hare both. “Emil!” I called out, hoping to catch his attention, “I’m going to turn him back to you, are you ready?” Ready or not, I lowered my head and put on a sudden burst of speed, turning into the hare’s path at the last possible second. The unexpected pressure from a second, much larger, wolf confused the hare for a moment, and suddenly he had turned and began running back towards Emil. I knew it would only be a few seconds before it realized the error of its choice and darted off to the side again. I continued forward, slowing my gait and once more watching the boy to see what he would try this time in hopes of success.