Easter Viz Whizz - SF Bay Area

Easter morning.  I couldn't think of anywhere else I wanted to be.

 Point Pinole was moist after an evening rain yesterday. 

Good group of dogs enjoyed the walk.  We started with a dozen dogs and people. 

Two of us went to the point and waded out into the mud flats created by the very low tide to throw sticks for Penny and Chloe

Chloe and Lily's Door

 

Just a dog door.  But thousands of folks who have walked by our house has been greeted by two red bird dogs bounding through this opening to say:

 "Hi, we are Bailey and Chloe, and we live here!"

 

I posted these next two pictures about 18 months ago (August 2011).

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/08/lily-honorary-vizsla-pup-comes-over-to.html

The doggie door was so big!

Back when Lily was a small pup next to the doggie door

Lily has grown up a lot in that time.

Lily came by work so we programmed a message board for her

Not so little anymore, but still she can use the "doggie door" to go out into the fenced yard

Chloe and Lily both getting older

The new Extra Large All Climate double magnetized flap door ready to install

The five-year-old door had been opened a million times

It was time to start with a new one for the next five years

Chloe going on six years old ready for her next six

Chloe's first time through her and Lily's new door

Perfect 10! 60/60

OK, so Bailey and I have been playing the hunt test game for a couple years now.

  I started out going for a Master Hunter title after our field trial adventures.  Realized after seven attempts that maybe Senior Hunter was more like it.  So over the last 18 months we have worked on achieving the Senior Hunter title.  Just going out to Hastings Island when they held the trials.

Bailey needs five passes, and not the normal four, because he did not compete in Junior Hunt tests to get the title.  We were busy working on field trials when he was younger and never thought Junior Hunter fitted the boy.  He had proved he could hunt very early on.

As Bailey gets ready for the Vizsla National Gun Dog Championships in Colorado, April 5th through April 10th, Ken (our professional trainer and owner of Willowynd Kennels) took Bailey to Hastings Island to run in two braces in Senior Hunter today. 

Bailey has three passes and if he would get through both, on this wonderful Sunday morning, he would get the title:

 Highlander's Bailey's Wildest Dream SH NAVHDA NA level 1.

I went out to watch and was accompanied by Terry, who is looking at getting a Vizsla and wanted to see what a hunt test was about, to watch how Bailey would do.

Bailey did great!  After his first run he had pointed and handled through three retrieves, a stolen point by his brace mate, and to finish it off the run, a steady to wing and gun of a cock pheasant that ended up on the course.  I could tell by Ken's reaction that he was pleased and my guess was that the judges liked what they saw also.

Half an hour after the run, Terry and I went back to the clubhouse to see if he had passed and gotten the orange rosette of a hunt test leg complete.  A Vizsla friend of mine, Walter, who was acting as hunt test secretary for the event, gave me the news Bailey had passed and then showed me the scores.  A perfect 10!  This was in six categories a 10 and by both judges.  He said he has been doing this for years and not seen that in a Senior Hunt test before.

 

Ken and I agreed to end the day on a high note and not risk problems in the afternoon run and save the boy for Colorado.  Everything had gone very well under tough conditions and we had a bigger goal of the National Gun Dog Championship trophy.

One more leg to go.  We will get it this spring after they come back from Colorado.  The boy is very good.  He just needed the right handler.

Hidden Treasure: Trinity Alps

A different kind of road trip we took last weekend.  With just Chloe, traveling is much easier.  Instead of the Jeep that gets 15 mpg or the RV that gets 9 mpg, we could take our little VW Golf two door that gets 35 mpg.

We left the S.F. Bay Area Friday late afternoon and headed to Redding, California.  By nightfall we had arrived and stayed at a Red Lion Inn.  This is a dog-friendly chain of nice hotels that allow dogs in the rooms for a $15 per dog charge (free if you become a "member").  Highly recommend them.  The staff actually were all smiles as we walked Chloe into the lobby to check in.  They had never seen a Vizsla.

The next morning we headed west up into the Trinity Alps and to Trinity Lake.  This was a stop along the way to the coast city of Eureka, where we spent Saturday afternoon.  The Trinity Alps area is a National Forest area and very dog-friendly (unlike most California State Parks).  In mid-March there was almost no one around.  By July the campgrounds will be full, but with snow still on the ground and the the water very cold, we had most of the forests, streams, and lakes to ourselves.

We traveled along the Trinity river (Hwy 299), a great drive through some wonderful country. We drove west through the Coastal Mountain ranges to the ocean.  In Eurkea are sand dunes on Somoa Island.  Here dogs can play on the beach and surf leash free. This area is an ATV and off road vehicle area, so I would only do this with dogs in the off season.  We only saw a handful ATVs in the two hours we were there and no one was going fast.

A great weekend get-away.  We were back in the Bay Area by Sunday afternoon.  Chloe swam in lakes, streams, and the ocean. She was in heaven and we had a great time also.