The Hidden Valley Obedience Club (HVOC) of North San Diego County, founded in 1986, has been a cornerstone for dog enthusiasts in Escondido, California, for nearly four decades. The club offers a dedicated training field at 3396 East Valley Parkway that serves as a vital resource for obedience classes, trials, and community events.
This well-maintained facility, nestled next to the separate and fully fenced Mayflower Dog Park, has helped countless individuals strengthen their bonds with their canine companions through structured training programs, responsible ownership education, and engaging activities. HVOC hosts events such as AKC Obedience, Rally, and IGP (Schutzhund) competitions, as well as testing including AKC Fetch, Farm Dog, and Canine Good Citizen. These opportunities foster a strong dog sporting community and create a supportive network for dog owners across Southern California.
We are immensely thankful for the opportunity to utilize this exceptional field for our event. The space provides a safe, spacious venue that enhances our activities and reflects the club’s generous spirit in sharing such a valuable community asset.
Climate
San Diego is a semi arid/ sub- mediterranean climate; This means we are pretty much dry, sunny, and comfortable year round! It is most likely to be sunny and 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit at the field during the Day, with the nights cooling down to the high 40’s-low 50’s. This being said, rain and heat waves are not unheard of during this time of year! Don’t rely on the weather forecast when your packing, its somewhat normal for us to fall asleep to a rain forecast and wake up to full sun and 78 degree weather. Springtime in SoCal can be a rollercoaster ride, so it’s best pack a little bit of everything. You’re safe to leave your snow boots at home, but you might find yourself regretting not having rain boots, a beanie, and a couple of hoodies you can layer under a warm jacket! This field seems to get especially cold in the evening/early morning so if you see me (Amy) wearing head to toe snow gear when you arrive, mind your business.
If you plan on visiting the beaches while you’re here (which I HIGHLY recommend you do), understand that our coastline is consistently cooler during the day than where the trial field is. The beach is typically around 5-10 degrees colder, more cloud cover is common, and that off shore breeze can be surprisingly chilly if all you brought is shorts and a tank top. Additionally, our average ocean temperature is 60 degrees in April- if you’re dying to go for a dip in the Pacific, pick a sunny day and try Fiesta Island. It’s dog friendly and the bay is more shallow so the water tends to be a little warmer. You can also rent a wetsuit (I recommend Surf Ride), the initial plunge will still be… invigorating… but it doesn’t take long for the water in the wetsuit to heat up to your body temperature.
Tourism
Our favorite beach to take the dogs to is Del Mar Dog Beach– it’s beautiful with expansive ocean views, sandstone cliffs, and tons of great nearby food options that have dog friendly patios! Honorable mention to Children’s Pool in La Jolla; the beach is NOT dog friendly, but you have a better view of the landscape without climbing down to the beach anyways! La Jolla is a very dog friendly town with lots of shopping and restaurants, but If you choose to not bring your dogs on this particular outing, the Children’s Pools’ beach is often open for visitors to walk amongst the seals that live there (please, for the love of all that is holy, do not try to feed or pet the seals). Our only dog friendly beach other than Del Mar and Fiesta Island is in Ocean Beach which is a super fun town with great food and nightlife, however, in our experience, the dog beach is very crowded with a surplus of inconsiderate dog owners.
Some non- beach attractions that are absolutely worth seeing are Seaport Village, the Gaslamp Quarter, and the San Diego Zoo. We also have the Safari Park which is closer to the trial field, much more conservation/ education based, and offers a more spacious layout and some experiences that are unique from most Zoo’s. If you have never been to the San Diego Zoo and you don’t have time for both, I would personally say the Zoo is the way to go; but its worth doing some research to see which you’re more drawn to!
One of my favorite things about San Diego is that our beach towns all have a unique vibe from one another! Each one is beautiful and very dog friendly while offering a different experience in terms of architecture, beaches, and human interaction. My favorite coastal cities to wander around in North County are Oceanside (slightly seedy in the best possible way- bonus points for having the coolest wooden pier to walk on), Encinitas (quintessential surf town with an subtle artistic flair- you’re an especially cool cat if you check out the Surfing Madonna and Cardiff Kook while you’re there), and Solana Beach (a bit more upscale with a really lovely walking trail). If you want to venture away from the coast and off the beaten path, Julian is in our local mountains just south east of the trial field and offers beautiful hikes, the cutest little downtown that will make you feel like you’re in an old western movie, and world famous apple pie!
If you want to, in fact, stay on the beaten path and breath in the salty air- take the 78 west until it ends in Oceanside, head down southbound Coast Highway (NOT the 5 freeway), take that all the way to Del Mar where you’ll take another left on Via De La Valle, stay heading east on that road until you get to the 3-way stop sign on Paseo Delicias, turn right and that will put you on Del Dios Highway which will take you through rolling hills all the way back to Escondido. When Del Dios ends keep straight and pull into the In N Out just before the 15 freeway to get yourself some Animal Fries and put your hotel in your maps to end the day! This is the kind of Scenic route only a local could share (Thank me later!). You’ll get a little taste of everything we love about San Diego; expansive ocean views, adorable beach towns, a hidden lake, and, if you time the drive right, endless rolling hills that are golden your whole drive back to Escondido! It’s probably a 2 hour drive in total but totally worth it if you have time to kill and there are no shortage of cool places to stop and grab a bite to eat or take in the views.