Late November: Vizslas Loving Morgan Territory

Three hours of trail hiking in Morgan Territory. First part was taken with a four other people and two Vizslas. One was Louie. He is one of Bailey's pups.

Louie in front, Risco to the right and Louie's dad Bailey in the back of the log.

After 90 minutes of walking with the other Vizsla owners and their dogs, Bailey, Chloe and I still needed some miles to do. We drove up to another trailhead and headed up into the hills to the west.

For another 90 minutes we roamed some nicely wooded trails and some rolling hills where Bailey and Chloe could run a quarter mile away and still see me clearly as I hiked along the trails.

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Just a Normal Sunday Morning

The sun came up over the Mount Diablo range hills around 7:30 this morning. We were out before it came up and the dogs enjoyed the upper 30 degree weather running the open spaces. We parked at the Borges Ranch parking lot in Walnut Creek and headed out into the hills.

"Borges Ranch is an historic ranch originally owned by Frank Borges. The ranch includes a blacksmith shop, numerous outbuildings, a fishing pond, and farm equipment displays. It also features a barn and covered trellis available for group reservations. The original Borges house was constructed in 1901 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Borges Ranch offers parking and access to hiking on Shell Ridge. It is located off of Castle Rock Road, about 1/2 mile past Northgate High School."

Bailey looks up one of the many valleys of Shell Ridge that we hiked this morning.

Up this valley this lone tree was catching the first rays of the morning sun. The pictures do not capture the fire yellow color the tree gave off.

Chloe enjoying the fields before we dropped into the Castle Rock canyon.

Bailey enjoying the cool air and the moist earth from a storm that blew through earlier in the week.

The trails got smaller as we entered the canyon that is over looked by the Castle Rocks.

Near the end of the hike, we walked along this ridge that looked out over our city in the distance.

Just a normal Sunday morning twenty minutes away from our front door.

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Vizsla's Obsessive Compulsive Order

Chloe found a log floating in this small pond during our eight- mile hike this morning. The water-soaked log must have weighed at least 15 pounds. Chloe weighs in at 41 pounds.

Here she strides proudly with her found possession.

She has always been obsessed with retrieving items. We used to take tennis balls along, but when we quit doing this, she converted her obsession to a stick she would pick up during the hike.

For over an hour she carried the log and dropped it for me to throw, or she would pause to chew on it.

The stick never left her.

This new bench has been installed at a spot an hour into the walk. The log stays closeby as Chloe and Bailey pose for the camera.

After 6 miles, she finally said good-bye to her cherished stick. It had become much smaller and lighter.

The Hungarian Pointer has an embedded obsessive character. That is why they have been such good gun dogs. The bird or item becomes a compulsion. But this isn't O.C.D., as it is not a disorder.