Hooch is now 14 weeks old! I can’t believe 7 weeks have passed since we brought this little nugget home!
He has grown and changed so much in those 7 weeks!
Here is a side-by-side picture of Hooch the first day we met him and today, at 14 weeks!
This week Hooch mastered “Down!!” Check out the video below:
On August 24th, Hooch turned 3 months old! He is making great progress with “sit,” “down,” and “come!” He has even ventured into the baby pool, and has gotten over his fear of the hose! (Hoping by 4 months he jumps in the lake all by himself!)
Not the greatest picture, but you can see the water droplets on him from going in the baby pool:
Hooch playing in the baby pool and the hose:
We stayed at the Saugerties/Woodstock KOA, located in Saugerties, NY for Cello’s dock diving event at the Dutchess County Fair.
The hosts could not have been nicer at this KOA! They met us at the gate (even though we arrived after hours) and led us to our campsite.
We stayed on site #32:
This campground also had a lot of amenities:
We would definitely stay here again!
Cello participated in the Dutchess County Fair dock diving competition hosted by DockDogs WorldWide. Although she did not perform well, Cello had a blast diving into the pool, Hooch enjoyed MUCH attention from visitors, and Brian and I had a nice time spending the day with fellow dock diving competitors!
While at this event, Cello met another dock diving GSP named Cody! Cody’s parents found him listed on Craig’s list!! They saved this handsome GSP, and have seen him through cancer. Cody is a GREAT pup. A couple of weeks after this event, we have received the sad news that Cody has cancer again. He will be going through chemotherapy treatments – please keep this baby in your thoughts and prayers.
Cody is an awesome diver!!
Dave, Cody, Brian, and Cello:
This fair was HUGE with lots of cool competitions involving horses and blacksmiths.
A parade of Clydesdale horses and a carousel came by every day!
Cello’s results from this weekend:
Saturday:
17′ 7 19’4″ DID NOT PLACE
19’2″ 19′ 4″ DID NOT PLACE
19′ 0″ 18′ 9″ DID NOT PLACE
Sunday:
18′ 10″ 19′ 4″ DID NOT PLACE
18′ 9″ 19′ 1″ DID NOT PLACE
Cello in action:
Cello in Slo-Mo:
Overall, it was a fun weekend at a HUGE and interesting fair!
Hooch turned 13 weeks old on August 23rd!
Hooch was the featured pup on puppy.photos Instagram account!
After helping us complete a home visit for potential adopters for the GSP Rescue of NJ, Cello and Hooch enjoyed some vanilla ice cream at a local favorite spot…
The Sand Stand!
Cello enjoys her vanilla ice cream reward for helping us with the home visit:
Hooch tries his first taste ever of ice cream (vanilla!) and loves it:
Brian and Cello enjoyed sitting on the bench outside The Sand Stand:
Rita visited the Sand Stand for the first time as well in May 2016!
Cello was chosen as the “Editor’s Pick” on Pack Dog’s website! She was also featured on their Twitter , Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram accounts!!
Check out her Pack posts here!
Here is the email I received letting me know she was the Editor’s Pick!
Cello has earned her Elite Title at the Club level!
This means that when Cello is competing in a Club sponsored event, she must jump a distance of 23’0 to 24’11” in order to earn a medal.
Congratulations, Cello! We are so proud of you!
Hooch turned 12 weeks on August 16th! He is making lots of progress in all areas, and growing bigger by the second!
Cello participated in Keystone DockDogs End of Summer Splash dock diving event held at Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pa.
Cabela’s is an amazing store on its own – but add dock diving, and it’s THE coolest!
We even got to camp right at Cabela’s with some of our other fellow Keystone members.
Best of all, Cello earned her Elite title at the “club” level, AND won first place overall in the Masters Division finals!!
Here are the weekend’s results:
Saturday:
21′ 11″ 22’4″ First Place Medal
21′ 8″ 22′ 2″ Second Place Medal
20′ 1 21′ 0″ did not place
Sunday:
18′ 11″ 21′ 00″ did not place
22′ 10 21′ 11″ First Place Medal
Finals:
22′ 8″ 23′ 4″ First Place Masters Division
Brian volunteered to do some announcing at this event!
During this event, Keystone DockDogs was challenged to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! Check out the video below! (Brian is in the yellow shirt all the way to the right):
What a great weekend!
Yesterday Brian, Cello, Hooch, and I volunteered for the GSP Rescue of NJ at Doggie Appreciation Day, held on the grounds of L’Oreal in Cranbury, NJ. This was a free, dog-friendly event.
Just some of the great activities going on were:
This event was an opportunity to talk to people about German Shorthaired Pointers and rescue/adoption. It’s important as a rescue to “get the word out” of animal-related events happening in the area, and spread the word about the work rescues do. Brochures and other materials were available to help publicize our organization, rescued GSPs were present, and adoptable GSPs were displayed on a information board.
Hooch won over the heart of fellow rescue friend, Jen:
And Rescued GSP Eve welcomed Hooch to the event:
Overall, it was a great day spent education people about the breed and rescue!
It’s been a little while since I’ve tried a new recipe. With the addition of Hooch to our family, I haven’t had much free time to experiment. This recipe has been on my “must-try” list for quite some time. I was glad I found the time to try it – – Cello LOVES these treats!
Ingredients:
Cheese & Peanut Butter Filling:
Instructions:
Filling Instructions:
Storing – This dog biscuit recipe will keep fresh in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Freeze them for up to 6 months.
View original recipe from Dog Treat Kitchen HERE.
Today Hooch turns 11 weeks old! I can’t believe how much he has changed since the day we met him!
This week Hooch has perfected his “sit,” and has begun to understand “down.” He has had less potty accidents in the house, and has grown SO much!! He was watching his sister, Cello, this week jumping off the dock, and decided to jump in himself!! Of course I missed recording the jump – but I was able to catch his not-so-graceful swim back to shore on video! (video below!)
Out on the dock at dusk…Hooch watching Cello swim:
Hooch swimming back to land after he dove in off the dock:
Both Cello and Hooch were featured in the GSP Rescue of NJ’s August newsletter!
I had to copy/paste the letter together in screenshots, so it’s a little “off”, but still readable 😉
After our awful few nights at the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Andover, MA (read about our experience HERE), we decided to check out of that hotel, and check in to the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Somerville, MA. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!
This was more like it! The hotel was new, clean, and the staff were SO nice! We were so glad we switched hotels for our last night in MA!
We were on the 5th floor, and Cello loved being able to lay on the bed and look out at the street below:
We would definitely stay here again!
Hooch turned 10 weeks old on August 2, 2014. This week he traveled to a new state (Massachusetts) to watch this sister, Cello compete in a dock diving contest. Hooch also visited his first dog friendly restaurant and bar during his stay in Massachusetts.
After we had grabbed a bite to eat at Charlie’s Kitchen, we headed over to Tommy Doyle’s Irish Pub, located in Cambridge, MA in Kendall Square. Read more about Tommy Doyle’s HERE.
Tommy Doyle’s had a nice outdoor seating area, where we enjoyed a glass of wine with Cello and Hooch. Although we didn’t eat here, they had a pretty good looking menu!
Tommy Doyle’s is definitely a great place to get your Irish on if you are in the Cambridge/Kendall Square area!
Each day after Cello was finished for the day at her Regional Event, we ventured over to Cambridge, MA (Harvard Square), and got a bite to eat and some cocktails at Charlie’s Kitchen. We sat in the Beer Garden, and just LOVED it! Read more about Charlie’s Kitchen HERE!
Before going to any dog-friendly establishment that I have found online, I always call ahead to verify that the place is in fact still dog friendly. When I had called Charlie’s to ask if it was true that dogs were allowed, the woman who answered the phone said “If you come, please don’t come withOUT your dog!!” We were thrilled, and we were not disappointed with our visit!
When we entered Charlies, most every employee stopped what they were doing to come over to greet Cello and Hooch as if they were celebrities! We were welcomed at both the bar and the outdoor seating areas. A Pabst Blue Ribbon water bowl was immediately brought out for Cello and Hooch.
Charlie’s had some great choices on their menu – check it out HERE! On our first visit, we could not resist to try the Lobster Roll! It was awesome! Brian chose to get french fries as his side choice, and I got fried green beans as mine (DELICIOUS!!) Our wine was served in cute little pilsner glasses.
Brian and Cello checking out the menu:
On our second visit, we chose to split two of their signature burgers. We ordered one Double Crab Cheese Burger and one Lobster Burger, and again, were not disappointed! Both burgers were AWESOME. Brian tried the sweet potato fries as his side, and I, again, got the fried green beans.
The Lobster Roll and Fried Green Beans:
Charlie’s Kitchen has a super-cool atmosphere, great food, tasty drinks, and is by far one of THE most dog friendly restaurant/bars we have been to!
…oh – and has my most favorite sign ever:
Hooch’s first restaurant experience!!
We decided to try Outback Steakhouse for dinner while we were in MA. Brian and I have not been there in years!
We just HAD to order a Bloomin’ Onion for our appetizer. In addition to enjoying some wine at the outdoor seating area, Brian ordered a steak – and I enjoyed an Ahi Tuna appetizer. The staff were very friendly, and welcomed Cello and Hooch with a water bowl, and lots of attention!
We stayed at the LaQuinta Inn and Suites in Andover, MA for Cello’s North Eastern Regionals Competition (Read more about this event HERE).
(This was Hooch’s first hotel stay!)
We had stayed at a LaQuinta in Harrisburg, Pa for one of Cello’s dock diving events, and had a wonderful experience. The hotel was clean, and the staff could not be more friendly. Read more about it HERE.
This experience was QUITE different. There were 2 Laquinta’s to choose from for Cello’s Regional Competition. We chose the Andover location, even though it was 20 minutes away, because with the DockDogs discount, we saved $400 at this location. The LaQuinta in Andover was a bit older than the one we stayed at in Harrisburg, PA, and had a very “dirty” feel to it. When we went into our room, it smelled awful. When we told the hotel front desk staff, and instead of changing our room, they gave us the rug deodorizer they use to spray on the rug, and told us to spray the rug ourselves! (SERIOUSLY!?!) We should have immediately checked out at that point!! Our hotel keys did not work consistently, which made it difficult trying to get back into the room with two dogs, and I heard others complaining about this as well. We decided to stick it out in this hotel – but were regretful that we didn’t change hotels after the sight of our room!
I was completely creeped-out in this smelly room! To make matters worse, I had just recently received an email from a friend about a creepy hotel situation just minutes from our home (later found to be false news!)
The following story is from Empire News:
———————————————————————–
Body Found Under Motel Bed, Police Say It Has Been There At Least 5 Years
MOUNT LAUREL, New Jersey – 
Stunning news this morning out of New Jersey, as reports of police discovering the body of a young woman under a motel bed have been confirmed. The owners of the motel asked that their name and location be omitted from news reports to protect their business.
The body, which has yet to be identified, was found by a person staying in the room.
“I dropped the television remote, and when I went to check under the bed I found her. It was like something out of a scary movie,” said Aaron Silver, the man staying in the room.
According to initial reports by the medical examiner on-scene, it appears as though the body lay undisturbed in the room for about 5 years. There was a normal amount of rot and decay on the body to suggest that it had not been moved or touched over the course of that time.
The motel has not made a comment about the issue but have told police that they are constantly cleaning their rooms and have no idea how this could have slipped beneath the cracks.
“I clean that room every day. I noticed a smell several times, and told my manager,” said Anita Rodriguez, a housekeeper at the motel. “He told me to just use extra Febreeze in the room and it would go away eventually. I always hated cleaning that room.”
“They do a heavy clean of the rooms to sanitize for guests, but when it comes to under the beds, they just run the vacuum around the edges. Who really looks under the bed, anyway? No reason to waste anyone’s time,” said Charles Dyson, a representative of the motel chain.
“It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen,” said police chief Joe Goldsmith. “I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my time on the force, but to think about all the people who’ve stayed in this room, with a dead body beneath them, and they didn’t know about it? It gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
Police have seized room and occupant records for the last several years, and are trying to trace the person or persons who may have stayed in the room around the time of death.
“Funny thing is, the records also show literally almost 1,000 complaints from people who stayed in the room over the years. Everything from a bad smell to an ‘eerie feeling.’ Several people even asked to switch rooms in the middle of the night,” said Goldsmith. “The motel really should have checked out that room a little more closely.”
(see the original link HERE)…again – found to be false.
———————————————————————–
Even though the above story was false news, the bad smell we were experiencing creeped me out.
…So… I still insisted that Brian look under the bed! 🙂
(Cello “helped,” of course!) 😉
PHEW! No dead body here! In fact, the bottom of the bed was solid, so there was no “under-the-bed!” (I was still creeped-out by the way!)
After all of the above, to top it all off, we had REALLY noisy neighbors (not from DockDogs). SO…we finally had it with this hotel, and actually checked out of this La Quinta a day early. We booked a room at the Somerville location for our last night in Massachusetts after other DockDogs members had given us great feedback on the hotel. (BEST move ever!!) We would NOT stay at the Andover La Quinta again!!
Hooch and Cello didn’t seem to mind too much:
This past weekend, Cello competed in the DockDogs North Eastern Regionals, hosted by DockDogs WorldWide. This National DockDogs event was held in Somerville, MA, at the new Assembly Row, a new waterfront shopping area. Check it out HERE! The dock was set up with a pretty back-drop of the Mystic River.
We entered Cello in this competition because if a dog places 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their division (Cello currently holds both Club and National level titles in the Masters Division), they will earn an invitation to the DockDogs World Championships in Dubuque, Iowa in November.
We had a great time hanging out with some great people and friends we have met throughout Cello’s dock diving adventures, and were lucky enough to get a spot to set up right next to them! This was Hooch’s first dock diving event!
In Slo-Mo:
Although this was an exciting event, Cello did not perform well. She did not seem very excited to get on the dock, as she normally does, and she didn’t have her usual” lightning speed take-off” either. She did not place in either of her two jumps, nor did she make the finals. However, we are still very proud of her, and were excited to be a part of a National Regional event!
Cello did have a few great mid-air catches during this event:
Here are Cello’s results from The North Eastern Regionals:
Friday:
19’4″ 18’4″ Did not place
Saturday:
20’2″ 20’3″ Did not place
Brian tried his best to adjust his throws, and get Cello to leave the dock where she was supposed to. Even though there was improvement in her distance, it was not enough to place in the final round.
Please don’t be disappointed, Daddy:
Hooch did his best “cute puppy” act while hanging out under the Team Cello tent:
Dock diving friends we spent the weekend with all made it to finals – and all placed in the final round, earning their invite to the World Championship! Great job, guys!
Cello is registered in 4 more events this season, and still has a chance to be invited to finals if her overall average “makes the grade” toward the end of the season… (Fingers crossed!!)
