The majority of my Monday was spent working at the gym and I kicked off my time there by teaching the morning barbell strength class. The class went well and I took everyone through a total-body strength workout that used both the barbell and dumbbells to target all of the major muscle groups.
I must say it feels so good to be back into my teaching groove. I’ve missed it a lot!
But, as promised, I wanted to take some time to quickly recap the rest of our weekend! We really did have such a great time with Ben. He was such a fabulous guest – totally laid back, fun and up for anything! Plus, Ryan loved having his favorite workout buddy back in town!
To quickly recap our Sunday together, we began with a delicious breakfast (hello, frittata! <— recipe coming soon!) and a quick workout followed by lunch and a day at the Rural Hill Sheep Dog Trials!
The Sheep Dog Trials first caught my eye when I was flipping through the local newspaper last month. It made the Charlotte-area “must see” list for the month of November and since Ryan and I are obviously big-time dog lovers, it sounded like something that would be right up our alley.
Thankfully Ben was more than game for a nice day outside, so the three of us spent the afternoon at Rural Hill (the same place where we recently visited the Amazing Maize Maze)!
The event is obviously very dog friendly and half the fun of attending was meeting so many other dogs! We ran into two vizslas (which Sadie could not have cared less about meeting – such a stinker) and I loved chatting with other dog owners who are clearly just as crazy about their dogs as we are about Sadie.
We took some time to watch the ridiculously intelligent border collies compete. They were incredible and so focused on listening for their handlers’ voice and whistle commands.
I kind of felt like I was back in the movie Babe (one of my all-time favorites… yes, for real) and I may or may not have tried to speak to the sheep in their super-secret sheep password.
Baa-ram-ewe, baa-ram-ewe. To your breed, your fleece, your clan be true. Sheep be true. Baa-ram-ewe.
Nothing.
The alpacas on hand were also less than entertained by my sheep-speak.
We made sure to check out the agility events as well but my favorite event, without a doubt, was the event organized by Carolina Dock Dogs!
Ryan and I got a little too excited when we saw their platform set up because we’ve watched something similar on TV many times.
A dog’s owner tosses a toy into a pool of water and the dog must jump off to dock and into the water to retrieve it. The dog that wins the event is the dog that jumps the farthest!
It was an adorable event to watch because just about half of the dogs in the novice group would sprint up to the edge of the dock and then just crouch down and look at their toy, bark at it, or whimper and not jump in. Others would plop in right at the edge and make everyone laugh!
Eventually the more experienced dogs were ready to compete and they had no trouble sprinting right off the dock for their toy!
Ryan and I are both convinced Sadie would absolutely love to participate in something like this and I took a few minutes to speak with someone at the Carolina Dock Dogs tent who encouraged me to check out a facility in Monroe, North Carolina to see if it’s something Sadie would really enjoy. I’m excited to give it a go soon!
Once our day at Rural Hill was over, we took Sadie on a brief hike and decided to test out her “dock dogs” capabilities by playing fetch in Lake Norman!
She had no fear and dove right off a large rock and into the lake after a large stick! I think we may have a future champion dock dog among us. Ha!
We spent the rest of our Sunday eating barbeque pulled pork at Mac’s Speed Shop before we relaxed on the couch and watched Django Unchained which I had never seen before. It was quite an intense movie that definitely held my attention for nearly three hours.
I hope you had a good weekend, too!!
See ya in the morning!
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Awesome that you are back to teaching! Looks like such a fun Sunday. You can tell Sadie loved it!
Dog races are so fun. We have dachshunds but they LOVE to race, it’s their favorite. They feel so “big” at weinerdog races. Looks like Sadie had a riot to. Love alpacas, read they cost $25,000 a piece? always wondered if that were true!
django unchained is hilarious and supah intense! saw it with my boyfriend of course. good stuff 😉
Dock dog competitions are so cool to watch and a great way idea for dogs. I’m sure Sadie will love it and can’t wait to hear more about it! Glad to hear you are back instructing at the gym!
ZOMG ALPACAS
haha!!
What a fun event!! Sadie would rock it! 🙂
This looks like it would be ridiculously fun!!! We love going to cheesy events like this, and being an animal lover, I would have been all over this!
I love watching that kind of stuff! My Abbey is so fast and loves running around… I’ve always been convinced she’d be awesome at agility courses, but her attention span is shattered when anything else is around… another dog, a person, a squirrel… anything!
Looks so fun! My dog JJ would’ve had a blast meeting all the other pups and dog-loving people! He is a little diva though and hates water, so he probably would just be spectator. Haha! Best of luck to Sadie if she gets serious about it 😉
What a fun way to spend a Sunday!!! Frittata looks yum too btw, did you make it?
I’m so jealous your gym has a strength barbell class, I would love to take that.
Dianjo unchained sounds intense! Haha! I’m not usually into intense movies like that, but if it holds me for 3 hours too -that would be impressive!
That sign is adorable, and alpacas make me laugh – HARD.
Barbell strength class sounds like SO.MUCH.FUN. Just what I’d need to get me through dreaded strength training! 🙂
That last picture of Sadie!
I hung out with some alpacas earlier this year and they were SO cute!!! I loved them!
Aww love that quote! “Everyone thinks they have the best dog and none of them are wrong.”
Looks like a fun way to spend a Sunday!
I love Babe too! I’ve never been to a dog event like this before but now I really really want to. Also holy frittata, that looks good.
xoxo
Audrey
I saw this today and thought of you and Sadie since this is an equally needy vizsla
http://happyplace.someecards.com/dogs/this-dog-wants-an-outofreach-tater-tot-more-than-youve-ever-wanted-anything/
I’ve seen these Dock Dogs in action when I visited a friend in Oregon. It was SO FUN watching all the dogs in action.
PS… I NEED that cute sign. IT’s prefect and 100% true. 🙂
I think I would love the strength class you taught today – sounds fun!
Looks like such a fun event!! I can’t wait for the day we get a bigger place and can get a dog also.
First, lucky gal to be around 2 gorgeous men all weekend! You lucky ladies!
Second, adore Sadie and all her active pics. She makes hubby and I smile.
looks like you had a great weekend – love the picture of Sadie!!
I love the sign you took a picture of! I am totally going to make one. http://www.eatallovertheworld.weebly.com
I love watching all the dog competitions! My dog could definitely be a dock diver,too!
I love all dog events, too! There is a conformation/obedience/agility show in Concord, NC this weekend. I show in conformation, but love the shows when there are other dog sports going on!
Looks like so much fun! Sadie would rock it! Ps I think your next giveaway should include a date with Ben 😉
LOL!!! Comment of the year!! 🙂
I knew someone was going to make a comment about Ben!
What a fun way to enjoy a weekend!! xo C
Thank sounds like so much fun! Our dog would never do that. He gets so upset if his paws get wet. So high maintenance!
That event sounds awesome! I am now looking for events like that in Raleigh-Durham!
My dog, Cora (she’s a border collie), does agility! It’s so much fun and you can tell she absolutely loves it! I think I have to work harder at it than she does since I have to learn the course and all she has to do is listen to my commands! There was a Vizsla (who did very well!) in my class and we (the owner) became very close friends. Agility is such a fun hobby, if you get the chance, I recommend trying it out for sure!
i saw my first dock dogs competition this summer and it was incredible!
What a fun event!! I would love to see if there is something similar here in Michigan!
I feel like our pup, Zoey, would be the perfect dock diver (if she didn’t have a fear of water, that is). She constantly launches herself off the armrest of our couch and flies to the opposite end when chasing her ball- almost a 16ft stretch!
You will have to keep us posted if you end up taking Sadie to training! How fun 🙂
LOLing at the baa-ram-ewe reference!! Babe is one of my favorite movies too! I also think my dog would be pretty great at the duck dog competition. Maybe I will see if they have something like that around DC!