One thing we’ve begun to notice over the past several months is that Penny isn’t quite as worn out by our morning walk to the top of Mt Miramar as she used to be, and that she is almost always ready to go-go-go when we get home from work in the afternoon. At 2 ½ years old, it’s not a big surprise that she is coming into the peak of her energy level.
Recently, rather than a leash-walk (which is boring) I’ve been taking her to the end of our cul-de-sac which opens out onto the flanks of the hill that The Aerie sits on. There, she gets to run around, but my attempts to turn these times into tennis ball retrieving sessions have resulted in a few too many Penn1s being left behind to create nesting material.
Stretching the legs
Of course, Penny isn’t the only one that needs exercise so over the past month or so I’ve been taking late afternoon excursions out onto the chaparral with her after she gets her initial runs in. Yesterday was a gorgeous, misty late afternoon so I thought to take along my camera.
Are we going??
We walk down away from our house into the brush. There aren’t really any trails, but the native plants are mostly grasses (completely dead this time of year) and bushes (don’t trip into the sticker-ones) that are sparse enough so that it’s not too hard to make your way around them and the exposed boulders that dot the slopes. With a call of “Dog in front!” Penny seems very happy to take the lead and chase bunnies and flush doves and quail while I come along behind.
Chaparral dog
Taking a break
Leaping!
After a while, we angle our way up, miaking our way to one of the trails in the open space park above our neighborhood, which we call The Red Trail – for pretty obvious reasons. There are a couple of big dips and climbs and one of us always seems to be waiting for the other at the top.
Veiled Sunset
Waiting for Steve
End of the trail sniffing
The Red Trail winds back to the other side of our neighborhood and we complete the circuit on-leash. Penny is worn out after all that running (for a little while at least) and I’ve come to like these trips too – I like the crunch of the grass under my shoes, seeing if I can spot any critters, and the peace of just walking in quiet and getting a chance to reflect on the day.
Dog Tired
Stevil 
she likes to pose for the camera, doesn’t she?
She’s a very photogenic pooch… :)
Especially LOVE the leaping shot!
She’s a great jumper — sometimes it looks like she’s doing a steeplechase out there.
Those trail shots look like some around Elfin Forest in Escondido and Mt. Calavera practically in our back yard in Carlsbad. You are lucky Penny returns when off leash, Max gets his hound nose to the ground and, even though he was obedience trained, he’s off and running. I read that if you don’t train a dog that’s even part hound when they are puppies, the best thing you can do is make sure they are micro-chipped. He’s our rescue and only with us a little over a year – he will be five next month.
Wrote another drabble for Friday – will send then. Happy Tails.
trailblazer — we were very concerned about whether Penny would return when off leash — there is a lot of Pointer lore about dogs being found miles away from home. That’s never really been the case with Penny though — we taught her to return early on and she’s done very well ranging away from us, but always staying close enough.
Great pictures, Steve! Penny is a lucky pooch to have such a wide open space to explore.
“Dog tired.” Too funny.
LD — when we bought the house, we knew that the open space around it would be great for a dog. (Even though we didn’t have Penny at the time, but a very old dignified dog that didn’t use the open space all that much…)
https://stevebetz.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/eutaw-red-sky/
What pretty trails you have access to!
They’re great — it’s a real treat for us.
Where are the photos of Steve with his tongue hanging out?
Slow and steady wins the race. And by “wins the race” I mean “makes it home”.
She is truly the essence of “joy in being a dog” here.
L — one of the things that’s best about Penny is that she really seems to enjoy herself. I hope that it’s true.
I can barely read these. It’s been four years since I had to put Molly down, and it’s still too close.
It’s never easy to lose your best friend, I have tears now for you and hopes of healing – new dog in the future?
I look at those old pictures of Eutaw and think about Penny getting old like that and I can’t imagine it, but I know it’s going to happen.
Awesome pics again – wish I had such a nice place to walk the dog (s)!
They don’t go to Tennessee??
Penny is a lucky girl to have all that land to run around in! But how did Steve do on those hills? Just looking at that one uphill shot made my knees ache. It must be the equivalent of an hour on a Stairmaster.
HG — we walk to the top of the “mountain” every morning which has several good climbs, and there is a “long way” around to the top that has even more that we do on the weekends sometimes. I like the up-and-down.
Have dog, will travel. And take amazing photos. *sigh*
BD — speaking of traveling, we were just thinking of when the next pack road trip should be!
This is the greatest Penny story (illustrated!), ever!
mt — greatest — and one that she gets to have almost every afternoon! :)
You’re right. I need to move to SD. Sigh.
Yes. Yes, you do.
How wonderful that you two do these walks. You must have a terrific bond with Penny. Your pictures are fantastic. I love seeing her run, but also, the ones where she is facing you. She is such a lovely dog and very photogenic :) Thanks for sharing your walks with us.
FS — thanks! We realize how lucky we were to get Penny when I was laid-off so that she and I got to spend every day together when she was a puppy — I think that really helped with the bonding.
LOL! I love the micro-Penny off in the distance in most of your photos. And the epic tongue when she’s “taking a break.” :P :D
AB — she’s often off in the distance. But she’s gotten really good at quartering in semi-circles in front of us, so I don’t worry about her too much.
Love, love, love the one of her leaping! That is a great shot. I love San Diego. So beautiful.
Thanks! I was lucky to catch her in full-ear extension! :)
My favorite picture is the one where Penny is leaping….I especially love the way her ears are flopping as she leaps.
I’m not sure where you reside—but it looks like perfect rattlesnake country. Please be careful. (this coming from a woman that will honestly answer she has an unreasonable fear of snakes. Which is why it is called a phobia.)
trisch — I was lucky to get that shot with her in full ear-extension. Also a good one in this post (https://stevebetz.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/back-to-the-beach/)
We are definitely in rattlesnake country, though the past couple of years we haven’t had many. Penny got rattled at once when she was a puppy and ran, so that’s good.
Your photos are really lovely…. Penny, as has been stated many times is just so photogenic! The area you live in reminds me of around here in Phoenix . . . just much more temperate, you are lucky!
Thanks Evie — it’s a good place to be — we are lucky! :)
Lucky Penny! Looks like a great place for off-leash exercise. Wish we had something similar around here.
Red — yeah, we’re all pretty lucky with it. The decision to buy the house was solidified knowing we’d have access to it.