Cello and Hooch’s first outdoor dock diving event of 2015 was held in Elkton, MD, at an event called Family Fun Day.
Our spot in “Dog Town:”
Cello:
Cello did not jump her best this weekend, but still put on a good show for the crowd!
Despite the fact that she was leaving early from the dock, which really affected her scores, Cello still won several medals this weekend!!
Big Air:
19′ 11″
18′ 11″
18′ 2″
18′ 2″
19′ 4″
18′ 11″
18′ 11″
19′ 6″
Extreme Vertical:
5′ 0″ Second Place (Cadet Division)
Speed Retrieve:
7.523 seconds – (a new Personal Best!!!!) 4th Place (Turbo Division)
Iron Dog:
2691.44 points First Place Iron Dog (Warrior Division)
Hooch:
Hooch had been holding a sit/stay, and jumping in our lake at home with no hesitation for about the past month. However, this did not transfer to the DockDogs dock and pool! Hooch still will not sit/stay for me up on the dock, and still hesitated at the edge of the dock, ending with a “pop” when we least expected it. He was quite the crowd-pleaser with his “Hoochie Hop!”
Big Air:
8′ 2″ First Place (Novice Division)
7′ 6″
8′ 3″
9′ 0″ First Place (Novice Division)
9′ 2″ Second Place (Novice Division)
8′ 0″
8’10” Second Place (Novice Division)
8′ 8″
Overall, we had a great weekend with many good friends and lots of cool pups!
Woodlands Camping Resort is a semi-private camping resort with mostly seasonal sites. They have 5 sites available for transient campers, like us, and also have two cabins available for renting.
Woodlands is totally surrounded by Elk Neck State Forest, and is is only a short drive away from many other Chesapeake Bay area attractions.
We stayed on site 120:
Our site was right at the Veterans Memorial, which they were working on the weekend we stayed at the campground.
Around the campground…
2018 Update
We stayed at this campground again – but this time with our Class A camper – and this time on site 47. Site 47 is my new favorite campsite!
Brian and Whiskey
Site 47 was so spacious, and perfect for walking the dogs!
What a large living space for a campsite!
Brian and Whiskey taking a walk through the campground.
Cello’s best friend is Nemo, a 4 year old male Boykin Spaniel. Cello and Nemo have been buds since the first week they both came home with their humans! “Finding Nemo” was one of the best things that happened to Cello – as Nemo is the only dog Cello truly ever fully “accepted.” If you have ever seen these two together, you can really see just how alike they are – and just how much they truly enjoy each other. They have played, swam, had sleep-overs, camped, and of course dock-dived together!
Cello and Nemo lounging on the couch together:
Cello and Nemo “holding hands” while sleeping during their first sleep-over:
Nemo’s mom, Cindy, wrote a beautiful article on Nemo, which was published in the Boykin Spaniel Society Magazine, and included a mention of Cello.
The two pictures that were chosen for the magazine happen to be two pictures I took of Nemo and Cello at Nemo’s house.
The article is a wonderful read!
Although Nemo lives in our town, his mom, Cindy, has recently started a job in Michigan. Nemo and his parents travel back and forth from Michigan to NJ, and we are often away at dock diving events, so Cello and Nemo don’t get to see each other as often as they used to.
We wish we could gather more often, so we do try to get together whenever both families are home in NJ and have a free weekend!
Our little (or NOT so little!) Hooch turned 11 months old on April 24!
He weighs 57 pounds now!
Hooch has been absolutely loving the water this Spring! He has been diving off of our dock at home!
Hooch has also been doing very well at his dock diving competitions!
In fact, on his 11 month birthday, Hooch competed in the Family Fun Day dock diving event, and earned 2 First Place medals, and 2 Second Place medals! Way to go, Hooch!
We ended up at Nolde Forest State Park– a gorgeous sate park with more than 665 acres of beautiful woodlands.
What a beautiful place to hike! This area was acquired by Jacob Nolde in the early 1900s. As the story goes, a single white pine grew in a meadow. Inspired by this tree, Jacob Nolde hired an Austrian forester to create a coniferous forest. As the trees grew, they formed a this magnificent forest!
There was a pretty stream running through most of our hike.
Cello and Hooch were excited to be on this adventure!
Throughout the hike, there were many unique stone bridges and lined walkways.
This was Hooch’s first Pennsylvania hike – and first hike in the warmer weather. He was getting tired quickly, and began to stop in the shady areas for a breather!
At one point, in usual Hooch fashion, he decided he was “DONE!”
Belly rubs, anyone?
At the end of the hike, we were rewarded with the beauty of an early 1920’s mansion. In 1926, Hans Nolde, a son of Jacob, began work on the Tudor-style mansion that sits on the property. Today, visitors can tour the grounds as well as the inside of this mansion.
The garden area of the mansion was incredible!
Pennsylvania purchased the property in the late 1960s , and in 1970, Nolde Forest was established as the first environmental education center operated by the Bureau of State Parks. Now operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Bureau of State Parks, the park provides a wide variety of programs for students, teachers, and adult groups. Teaching stations offer places for students to work, and benches for those who wish to sit and enjoy nature.
As some of you may have noticed, we now have a TurboPUP badge on the home page of our blog.
Limoncello and Hooch are VERY proud to announce that they have been chosen to be ambassadors for TurboPUP (as seen on Shark Tank!!)
Click HERE to see Shark Tank episode – start at the 21:30 mark.
TurboPUP was founded by Kristina Guerrero (who’s nicknamed “Turbo”). In 2011, Kristina was on a back-country ski trip, and found her self without sufficient food for herself, and her rescued pup, Dunkan. Kristina created a complete meal bar for dogs, packed with nutritious calories from 100% American sourced, grain free, all natural, human grade ingredients. Some ingredients are organic as well! Check out TurboPUP’s products and place your order by clicking HERE or click HERE to see a list of retailers that already carry TurboPUP!
Not only are these meal bars packed with quality ingredients and calories for your pup, but 5% of the profits are donated to causes in support of dogs and Veterans!
Cello and Hooch are now a part of the TurboPup team, representing TurboPUP , and promoting the company’s products during all of their dock diving, camping, and hiking adventures! They will soon be on TurboPUPs website, and will be featured periodically on TurboPUP’s Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
…and click HERE to see Cello and Hooch featured in the Sports section of Barking From the Bayou’s Monday news post!
If you like to go on adventures with your four-legged family members like we do, TurboPUP is an easy, compact, and healthy way to fuel your on-the-go pup!
The water views around the campground are gorgeous!
This was Hooch’s first-ever Easter! It was exciting to make his basket for the first time!
Cello’s Easter basket:
Easter morning – the Easter Bunny has arrived to the 5th Wheel with toys and treats!
Cello and Hooch had a great time opening their Easter baskets with the help of their Pop!
After Cello and Hooch opened their Easter baskets, they had an Easter egg hunt in the 5th Wheel! …see if you can find all the “hidden” eggs!
Yay! Hooch found his first bacon-filled Easter egg!
After each egg is found, the pup who found the egg gets the bacon inside of the egg – Hooch thought this was LOTS of fun, and waited patiently for his bacon reward!
Hooch enjoyed all his Easter treats and toys – and, of course, stole Cello’s bunny toy!
Overall, we had a great trip, and Hooch enjoyed his first-ever Easter!