the Adventure Vizsla Life
Photographing dogs is like photographing babies that can run faster than a bike… It’s just not easy. We recently hiked up Eagle Bluffs again in snowy, freezing rainy, and cloudy conditions. It was cold and dark and wet but I’m really happy I still got…
One of the views from Eagle Ridge Last week we hit St Marks Summit again, but unfortunately this we were hit with crowds everywhere (our previous hikes up here had very little people)! So this weekend our goal was an uncrowded hike with breathtaking views.…
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| Agility is not just dogs jumping around |
We knew Vizslas were fast runners, amazing trail/obstacle racers, and we knew they could jump high, but we didn’t quite realize what an agile little bunny we had with Whiskey. Early on we encouraged her to climb up stumps, problem solve barriers, and navigate steep cliffs. We were thinking to ingrain her with a joy of climbing, yet a healthy regard about what was within her limits or unsafe. Now she loves to climb for fun!
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| a very little Whiskey learning to walk along logs |
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| we encouraged her to climb |
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| and so she was fearless! |
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| balancing on strange shapes |
All this made agility classes seem so attractive. We were lucky enough to find an agility class downtown that also mixed in intermediate obedience. In fact, there is a ton of obedience necessary to run an agility course well. A dog that is easily distracted, or doesn’t follow at heel would be really difficult to get through a course. And a super bonus and surprise was our class had 3 vizslas (out of 4 dogs!). Watch the experts here– I’m just super amazed at these dogs and trainers!
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| are we ready for class today? |
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| practicing stay with distractions |
Whiskey’s half-sister Millie was one of those Vizslas, and we would usually meet up for a romp at the park before heading to class so they were sufficiently tired enough to concentrate. Our first classes we started with some obedience training (heeling, staying with distractions) before trying out the course. We also switched to short leashes that didn’t trail when they went into tunnels.
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| I dunno about this! |
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| our first classes had the ladder on the ground |
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| gets raised as we go |
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| flying Whiskey |
The hardest obstacle was the weaving poles. It’s not a natural movement for these hunting dogs, and I would venture to say that herding dogs would have an easier time with the movement. Tunnels and jumps were super easy though, and we’ve had Whiskey balance on logs so often as a pup that the see-saw wasn’t a problem at all. The biggest challenges were when the tunnels got longer, or had a sharp bend in them. Also, Whiskey found the chute and sharp corners in the course (two jumps at 90 degrees) difficult not to veer off course. Our instructor changed the course several times a lesson so we never got bored.
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| weaving is hard! |
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| you must tell them which way to go |
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| see-saws can be hard for lots of dogs |
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| waiting our turn |
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| this chute business isn’t so easy either |
One of the things worth considering was that our lessons were held indoors on a hard surface (the green was a thin layer) and a 10 month old is still developing so jolts and jumping and running shouldn’t be encouraged much. We thought once a week was ok (we only walk the course a couple times and our speed couldn’t be considered a ‘run’), especially since we do all our training and practicing in the forest. It was also great to get in the obedience training and realize our “stay” was pretty poor with distractions. In the end we were able to run the course mostly off leash (except for the weaving poles. Did I mention our class uses no treats? That’s not easy for Whiskey! We were also the youngest by far and we did pretty good, if I may say so myself.
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| sit-stay, then calling her over the jumps |
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| is that a tired Vizsla I see? |
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| oops I can’t hold the page right! |
our hiking coach Starting at the same parking lots as the popular “Chief” hike, Upper Shannon Falls is slightly longer, with similar views, but less busy and has in my opinion, a nicer trail to enjoy. I really enjoy this option during the Summer/Fall months…
Getting a puppy and cat together So within the span of a couple months I decided to rescue my cat, Moo, and fly home a puppy- Whiskey. I went from never having pets to being surrounded by fur. We purposefully picked up a cat-like dog…
The past long weekend we decided to take a cheap, dog-friendy vacation to Hope for some hiking. We managed to be lucky enough to have one dry day between the crazy rainfall and got in a couple hikes.
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| The view of the town of Hope |
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| playing in the forest |
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| posing in the forest |
Famous for the film location of the first Rambo, we did our research by watching First Blood with Whiskey in bed. We stayed in a beautiful AirBnB suite with a really comfortable bed and friendly family and had a blast. Hope is a pretty small town and we didn’t really meet any tourists out.
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| the roads around Hope are beautiful, even in the rain |
The first day we set out early to conquer Mt. Hope, a 6+ hour hike. Unfortunately, Hope recently had a bad ice storm that damaged a ton of trees around the area. The logging road to the start of the hike was hopelessly blocked but we tried to get through anyway to see if it was just a small section (it wasn’t) and found the extent of damage was pretty incredible. This was the ultimate agility course for Whiskey and she was super quick to jump over, climb on top of, crawl under, and find her way though all the downed trees. She didn’t understand why the humans had so much trouble.
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| road is blocked! |
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| yeah…not the easiest to get through |
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| she gets through this mess like a wiggly snake -no problem |
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| ok, time to try something else |
Next we made a random stop on the highway and found a small section of the Boston Bar Trail. Named after the Americans that had found gold on the Fraser, this is a really old trail that dates back to the 1850s. Now used by ATVs, there was no one out so we just strolled on through, throwing sticks and taking pictures.
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| not too shabby a stroll |
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| weeee! happy dog |
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| little waterfalls everywhere with melting snow and rainfall |
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| Whiskey on the rocks |
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| chasing sticks |
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| a man and his dog |
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| posing for treats |
Coming back to town, we next did the Hope Lookout trail, “the Grouse Grind of Hope”. It certainly was a grind and a good workout but with more variation in scenery than the Vancouver one, and much much less crowded. The finish wasn’t at the top of the mountain, but had a cute bench and a nice view of the city.
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| we have a pointer |
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| common slowpokes! |
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| mid hike hugs |
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| hurry up humans! |
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| evidence from the icestorm |
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| up up up |
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| mossy monkey arms |
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| Lion King moment |
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| chasing sticks up the mountain |
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| view from the top |
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| our little mountain goat in her element |
Another short-ish hike because, hey, it’s the long weekend and we wanted to sleep in a bit. We were the only ones on this hike which starts right off the highway. There’s no precursor- it’s just up up up and there are some scrambling parts as well with ropes to help out. The top has quite a bit of ice storm damage but the trail was really easy to follow. I would say that this might not be dog-friendly to small or old dogs because of the incline but any athletic dog would be fine (Whiskey was chasing sticks up and down like it was nothing). Also, since it was a rainy day, I would suggest to make sure you have good traction shoes for this hike. We had the most fun on this one, but be warned- we found ticks!!
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| the trail starts up right away |
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| in lumpy moss land |
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| we gain height quickly |
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| taking a breather |
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| she really doesn’t understand why we are always so slow |
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| a quick peek |
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| a couple ropes to help |
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| Whiskey sits on my lap in the middle of a scramble |
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| top top top! |
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| waiting for me to finish the ropes |
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| This is one gorgeous hike |
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| she races up and down this mountain |
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| until next time |
Oh gross oh gross oh gross. I’m not really good with bugs and was really happy to have someone else pull these buggers out. They can grow to enormous sizes and carry some serious diseases (rare) so make sure you check your dog if a hike is known to have ticks. We found 2 well hidden behind Whiskey’s ears and killed them in alcohol (flushing them down does not kill them).
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| a tick embedded at the back of her ear (6 hours) |
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| one dead tick, one headless tick GROSS |
If you’re looking for a long beach walk with excellent views, close to the city, and undisturbed, this is it! We’ve come here twice, both on weekends, and we’ve seen very few people here. It may be because it involves a bit of driving, and…
or (if you are in NZ or OZ) We look forward to our quarterly Vizsla meetup for weeks and this time we met at a 100 acre off leash field area called North 40 in Delta. It was rainy and gray and we didn’t expect…
We’ve done this hike a couple times with Whiskey but what makes it so strange this year is that Cypress Mountain has no snow! The ski mountain is bare this year and I’ve never seen it like this, especially in January.
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| The Cypress Ski slopes in January |
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| Not much snow on the trails either, but a little slippery |
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| beautiful mist on a snow covered pond |
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| Whiskey blends in, this is her land! |
Eagle Bluffs is a great short hike if you are ok with a steady incline. The elevation is only 350 meters and is over pretty quickly. Once you reach the top of the elevation climb, there is a nice view from Black Mountain and then you head through a meandering trail to Eagle Bluffs for a beautiful view of the city. It’s a great 3-4 hour hike from the Cypress parking lots but be warned you’ll need to get a free yellow “hiking pass” to walk past the ski area during the ski season (you can get the pass at the old lodge where the buses pick up and drop off).
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| A little stream of melting water |
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| Vancouver’s mountains are gorgeous |
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| pausing for a break on top of Black Mountain |
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| A view from Black Mountain |
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| the trail is sometimes also the stream |
Normally I wouldn’t attempt this hike in winter because of the incline and the snow (well maybe with snowshoes), but there was barely anything this year and with only a couple slippery bits, we could easily accomplish it in hiking boots.
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| markers and trail is very easy to follow |
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| breathtaking view from the Bluffs |
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| the city from the mountain |
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| Whiskey just wants to play with the snowboarders |
We had a bit of trouble keeping our curious Vizsla off the ski slopes, as the hike follows the ski slope up. Be sure to keep your dog on-leash if there is any traffic! Whiskey was exceptionally bouncy today and must have ran 3x times the path going up and down like it was nothing. This must be an “extra bouncy” stage of puppy-hood.
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| At the peak with my Vizsla girl! |
One thing when you have a dog and need to get out for walks is that you quickly get bored of your local park no matter how awesome it is (ours is pretty awesome). So when our washing machine broke and we needed to pick…