If at First You Do Succeed, Don’t Try Again

Lesson learned: If at first you do succeed, don’t try again. (Can you guess the results of today’s race?) 😉

After last year’s Doggie Derby victory, we headed out to compete in today’s event with full faith in our little girl.

People and their dogs came out in droves!

Doggie Derby Crowd

We met up with some friends and cheered on adorable dogs of all different breeds.

Ryan & Sadie, Pat & Kaluha

Sadie competed in the 6th heat of the middleweight dogs.

Using our winning strategy from last year, Ryan held onto Sadie at the start line while I called to her from the finish line.

Our strategy backfired a bit because this year the guy at the starting line took a while to blow the horn to start the race. Sadie was freaking out and jumping back at Ryan to let her go when the horn finally went off. She was so concentrated on trying to make Ryan release her so she could run to me, that she wasn’t looking forward when the race started. Needless to say, our little Sadie got her little butt kicked in round one!

Don’t worry though, Sadie was still as happy as ever after her defeat. 😀

We hung out at the Doggie Derby for a bit longer before taking Sadie to the dog park to hang out with the other “non-winning” dogs. 

On Our Way to the Park

Walkin' the Trails

Still as Happy as Ever

It is h-o-t outside today!

Lunch

We were quite sweaty by the time we left and headed home to fill our bellies.

Pasta sounded like the perfect lunch!

Barilla Plus Pasta

Ryan and I both really liked the Barilla Plus thin spaghetti. (One serving has a whopping 10 grams of protein!)

We topped our pasta with steamed broccoli, cauliflower, marinara and Parmesan cheese.

Veggies + Pasta + Marinara + Parmesan

Saturday Afternoon Lunch

After lunch we busted out the lawn chairs and layed out in the sun while reading our respective books for 90 minutes or so. I was gettin’ HOT and had to come in to update the ol’ blog!

Tonight

I’m getting excited for tonight! We have plans to see Straight No Chaser, a fantastic a cappella group, in concert at the Hard Rock Live at  8 p.m. Should be a blast!

What was the first concert you went to?

Unwrap the Love

Today was is of the every-other-Fridays that Ryan has off from work, so I was lucky enough to enjoy his company for a mid-day lunch date!

We went to our favorite lunchtime hot spot, Jimmy John’s, for our usual fare.

Before I could bite into my unwich, I had to “unwrap the love.”

Unwrap the Love

Let me just say there was a lot of love crammed into that unwich!

Lovin' on the Unwich

I stuck with my unwich and Ryan stayed with his staple, the bootlegger club.

Bootlegger Club

Happy Boy

Since it’s Friday, we had to celebrate what’s quickly becoming a tradition: Frozen Yogurt Friday!

FroYo

Our frozen yogurt from Mochi was free today, thanks to our fully-filled punch card! I think Ryan and I may have set a record as to how quickly someone can fill up a punch card!

Today we split a large half cookies ‘n’ cream, half snickerdoodle frozen yogurt, topped with rainbow sprinkles, because they make life better. 😉

I love the sweet stuff!

This Weekend

This weekend will be quite eventful! Though Ryan and I are really excited about our plans to see Straight No Chaser (an awesome a cappella group!) in concert tomorrow night, the main event of the weekend is the 3^rd Annual Baldwin Park Doggie Derby!

Sadie is the reigning champ of the Doggie Derby, having beat nearly 100 dogs last year!

With Our Little Champ

Ryan and I learned about the Doggie Derby the day before the big event when we were at the dog park with Sadie. A man approached us and commented on how fast Sadie was as she ran back and forth, playing fetch. He said we should enter her in the Doggie Derby, a charity event where dogs race against each other in a 25-yard dash.

Ready to Run

We signed her up on the morning of the race with low expectations. To get your dog to run toward the finish line, you can throw a ball, squeeze a toy… basically employ any means necessary to get your dog to cross the finish line.

Vizslas are known as “Velcro dogs” and are very attached to their owners. Ryan and I knew using one of us as “bait” at the finish line would be our best strategy. Ryan held Sadie at the start line while I called to her from the finish. When the horn went off, I took off in the other direction and Sadie sprinted her little heart out to catch up to me. The tactic worked like a charm!

Go, Go, Go!

Sadie won her first heat, then the next one, then the next one and so on until she was crowned middleweight champ! We were so excited for our little girl! For the overall victory, Sadie had to beat out the heavyweight champ and the lightweight champ.

She somehow managed to come out on top and we were awarded with a trophy and a goodie basket of dog treats! Sadie was even mentioned in the Orlando newspaper!

Proud Family

Tomorrow Sadie will race to uphold her Doggie Derby champion title.

Have any of your pets ever competed in an event?

We’re hoping Sadie goes all the way tomorrow, or gets eliminated right away because the Doggie Derby is one heck of a long, hot event!

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