Fairly accurate photos

It's always been hard to capture an accurate photo of how Kargo the Dog looks. She has a mix of colors in her fur (a.k.a expensive highlights) and she has a black face that does not show up unless the lighting is just right. I took these two photos on a recent morning walk when the sun was shining just so and I think the photos are pretty realistic. The one above even shows her white soul patch on her chin. The one below is a good profile shot of her head. Many people think she looks like a mini wolf.

Carmel trip

Kargo is just over 15 months old now, and her weight appears to have stabilized at 38 lbs. She is mainly black and grey in color and is full of energy. We took her along on our fall trip to dog-friendly Carmel-by-the-sea. Here she is on Scenic Rd. overlooking the beach.

This trip is not complete without a hike in Garland Ranch. Look ma -- no leash! We let her walk off-leash for a good part of the downhill hike and she did just great -- she would trot on ahead of us but always turn around and stop and wait after a short distance.

A trip to Cambria, CA

Last weekend, we drove down to Cambria, a lovely town on California's central coast, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It's a very dog-friendly town, so of course Kargo went along. One of the attractions of the town is the meandering boardwalk above Moonstone Beach. It's a very popular strolling place for both humans and canines. Here's Kargo on the stroll.

We stayed at the dog-friendly Cambria Shores Inn.

The beach at sunset is a photographer's dream come true.

The other great hiking destination is the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve. It has great ocean views and fabulous benches scattered throughout the trails.

Trip to Truckee CA

We traveled to Truckee, CA, recently and took Kargo along. We rode the gondola up the mountain at Northstar to do a little hiking. Here's Kargo in the gondola car. She wasn't too happy about getting into it but we managed to urge her in. She was much happier to disembark.

While hiking, we stumbled upon this geocaching box.

The next day, we took a hike along Donner Lake in Donner Memorial State Park.

This is the arch that stands at the entrance to the Truckee community memorial garden.

During the two days in Truckee, Kargo met tons of people and tons of dogs. We believe she had a grand old time.

Saint Sheprador

Based upon Kargo's ancestry, we're calling her a Saint Sheprador, or more appropriately a Weisser Saint Sheprador. Just think of it as a designer breed.

Kargo's ancestry

This is Kargo now just before her first birthday. Her ears are both fully up, and she weighs just under 40 lbs. Her fur color has great highlighting. We decided to get her DNA analyzed by Wisdom Panel. According to their analysis, she is 1/4 German Shepherd, 1/4 white Swiss shepherd, 1/4 labrador retriever, and 1/4, wait for it ... Saint Bernard! I can believe everything except the Saint Bernard, but I think I'll just go around telling everyone who asks that she's a Saint Bernard mix anyway to see what they say. All those dogs are big, but the analysis says that her adult weight will be 37 to 59 lbs, so I guess she's on the lighter end of the weight chart. When we adopted her from the SF-SPCA, they listed her as a shepherd/labrador mix, so they were pretty close all along. Here's her ancestry in chart form:

Carmel visit

We took Kargo along for a trip to Carmel-by-the-sea and its surrounding areas. We usually make the trip twice a year and this was Kargo's first trip. Here she is on our walk on Scenic Dr. overlooking the beach.

This is on a path on our hike in Garland Ranch, a favorite hiking spot in Carmel Valley for both humans and dogs.

And of course we had to visit Diggity Dog in Carmel.

Here we are in front of a mural in Cannery Row.

This is a view of Monterey bay.