Quick update...Hoppy's first jump???

Spud and I are having a great time dock diving up here in Louisville. Spud's doing fantastic. I'm doing okay. Then there's Hoppy.

My mom got Hoppy up on the dock for his first jump. Now, keep in mind that the two things a dog needs to be a dock diver are:

1. strong drive to retrieve toys
2. love of water

Let's see....

1. Hoppy has never ever retrieved anything outside. Not a ball, not a stick, not a bumper, nothing. So he has absolutely no drive to retrieve.

2. He will only go into the water up to his chest. So he has absolutely no fondness for water.

So far, not so good for Hoppy being a dock diver. But, my mom insisted on letting him have fun by being a part of the team and like Spud and me. So she paid the DockDogs wave fee and entered him in a wave. (Actually, it was more like a DockDogs donation, because she knew he would never jump!)

She got him up on the dock. He was running up and down the dock like he thought it was the back yard or something. Didn't he know he was supposed to sit and wait for her to throw the wubba and then jump in the water to retrieve it? What's wrong with this boy?

Now, I sat in my crate watching his shenanigans. Up and down the dock....running around playing. I barked and barked at him. "Hoppy, sit down. Hoppy, listen to mom. Hoppy, act like a dock dog!" But he wouldn't listen to me.

My mom got down at the end of the dock and tried to get him interested in the wubba and water. For a split second, he looked like he actually might jump.


But then he would run back down the dock. Playtime for Hoppy. My mom was cracking up laughing at him, as was everyone else. I was embarrassed.

Then, after looking again at the wubba, he was so happy and appreciative of my mom letting him up there on the dock, he actually started.......

......KISSING HER! Right there on the dock! OMG!

I have to run now. Time to get back over to the venue for our next wave. I'm going to get some Groucho Marx glasses/nose so no one recognizes me as I walk in with him.

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

We're off to a dock diving event, or maybe ice diving?

Boy, oh boy, oh boy!!! We're all packed and leaving this afternoon for a dock diving event in Louisville, Kentucky. I think it's called the Louisville Boat, RV, and Sport Show. It's been over two months since our last event. I'm so excited. I saw my mom last night packing our dock diving box and equipment case. Spud and I got together and talked about it, and we both knew immediately what was happening.

Then my dad showed me what the weather is like in Kentucky right now.



I think this stuff is what they call "ice" or "snow," but I'm not sure because I've never seen snow before. I keep hearing humans talk about it, and it's always on the TV. You see, we live in Watkinsville, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta), and it doesn't snow here. Well, it's hasn't snowed here since I've been born.

I think it's white. Oh yeah, it must be cold, because everytime they show it on TV, people always have on coats and gloves and hats. They also have some kind of flappy piece of cloth wrapped around their necks. (Personally, I think they look rather silly.)

Here is the most snow I've ever seen. This was our big accumulation last winter.

Yes, everyone please take out your magnifying glass and look for those little white spots on the ground. That, my dear friends, is snow. Look at poor Spud. He looks frozen like a yard ornament.

I'm worried about what I'm going to do in this stuff. Can you run in it? Can you poop on it? Will my feet freeze? What if I sink all the way down under it and am never seen again until May!

It's a good thing the dock diving event is indoors. Otherwise, we would be jumping into a solid sheet of ice, which, I'm almost postive, would hurt.

I'm just going to keep repeating my mantra: "Sunny and 70 degrees. Sunny and 70 degrees. Sunny and 70 degrees." I can feel the sun on my furry back and the sand between my furry toes already. Please don't disrupt my fantasy.

See you on the dock (if I don't freeze first),
Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Houston, the Eagle has landed.....at Lake Oconee.

Okay, the title might be a bit overdramatic. Our practice Sunday was not quite as historic and memorable as man's landing on the moon, but it was important to Team 3 Dawg Flite.

You see, our dock diving club has not had a practice since last August. Back then, we had a terrific practice facility. We were having fun, exciting practices. Everyone was doing so well. Then, all of a sudden, we couldn't go back there any longer.

Now, my mom and dad never told us exactly why we couldn't go back. But I do remember hearing them talk about the owner of that facility a lot back then. I know they were not happy at all because when they talked about him, they used their "bad puppy" voices.

But enough about that. I'm digressing. On to the good stuff....dock diving! Not to toot my own horn here, but I did pretty darn good Sunday. Here's a series of photos my dad took of one of my jumps. As you can see, when I get up there on that dock, I'm all business.


It's hard to describe the feelings I have as I'm doing a dock dive. My mom is down at the end of the dock shaking the duck or flappy or bumper....getting me all keyed up. My whole body starts quivering just waiting for those magic words, "GET IT, GIRL!" Sometimes it seems like an eternity up there on that dock, sitting, fidgeting, wanting that toy so very badly.

I keep thinking, "Come on, mom. Say it. Say it. Release me. Please." And when that moment happens...when the euphoric sound of those three words, "GET IT, GIRL!" reach my readied ears, it's like the floodgates have been opened...the charge has been sounded...the heavens have parted and the archangel has....well, okay, maybe I'm getting carried away.

But is it a terrific feeling taking off after that toy, flying off the dock and splashing down in the water with that toy securely in my mouth.

Here is my favorite shot from Sunday's practice. Ya know, it just doesn't get any better than this.

This photo shows it all. I never take my eyes off that duck as I reach for it the entire time. But, look at my feet. Notice how I have all my toes spread out preparing for my landing.

Hey, maybe the title of this post wasn't all that far off after all.

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

I've been.........WHAT???

Tagged? I've been tagged? Is this a new dock diving term? Is that good or bad? Is it going to hurt? Am I going to be embarrassed? Is it lethal? Will it make me rich? Will it make me poor? But the most important question of all:

Will it interfere with my dock diving?

My mom told me that Chester's mom "tagged" me. So here is my "tagged" photo?


This is a photo of my mom and dad out on their boat. They have a pontoon boat, and this photo was taken up on Lake Burton in North Georgia. I like this photo. My mom likes this photo. I remember when I was a little puppy, she used to have a larger version of this photo sitting on her computer desk.

I just looked over there and it's gone. I asked my mom what happened to that photo. She quickly answered (with her rolling, sarcastic eyes), "Well, Sally, what do you see where that photos used to be?"

The answer was simple...a photo of me dock diving....stretching out as far as I can, getting big air, reaching for that bumper.

My mom continued. "Sally, that photo of your dad and me on the boat fell victim to an addiction I have developed."

My mom has an addiction? What could it be? She hardly ever drinks. (maybe 4 or 5 drinks a year) She doesn't have enough money to be a drug addict, nor does she have enough money to be a gambling addict. And let's face it, does she look to you like a sex addict? No, I don't think so!

So what could this addiction be....an addiction bad enough to have consumed her wonderful photo?

Again, she continued. "Sally, your dad and I are both.....dock diving addicts!"

So that's it. Well, that's certainly not news. Our entire family has a dock diving addiction.

"Yes, my chocolate dawg, if you'll look closely all over the house, you'll notice dock diving photos have replaced vacation photos, family photos, historic photos, decorative photos, photos used to cover burns and blemishes on the coffee table. Almost every photo in our house is now one of you and/or Spud jumping, running, swimming, retrieving. That, my dear chocolate dock diver, is our addiction. Dock diving has obviously consumed our lives."

Whew! Well, in my opinion, it's a great addiction. Here's a list of "Signs of a Dock Diving Addict" that I got from a post on a dock diving forum that my mom goes to a lot.

• You have more pictures of your jumping dog than of your kids.
• You purchase SUVs, pick-ups, mini-vans with traveling to dock diving events in mind.
• You miss family occasions to go to dock diving events.
• You have a dedicated Dog Towel Collection
• You find yourself repeating the words "get it, get it, get it" over and over.
• You lose your keys or wallet only to find them in the bottom of the dog's equipment bag.
• Your credit card statement has more dock diving items on it than anything else.
• Your GPS favorites are all dock diving events.
• 90% of all your shirts in your closet have logos or prints related to dock diving.
• Your DVR is set to record all the dock diving shows.
• Your dog perks up to watch and listen to the dock diving TV shows.
• The first thing people ask when seeing you is, "How the dock diving going?"
• You purchase and install special sets of shelves just to organize their equipment and toys.
• You rearrange rooms to hold dock diving equipment, medals, ribbons, etc.
• You refer to Michael Phelps as swimming in "waves" rather than heats.
• No matter where you are, every lake and dock you see makes you think, "My dogs sure would love jumping there."
  

Yep, we are 100% dock diving addicts. Good-bye sweet, loving photo of mom and dad in their boat. Hello Big Air jumps and Speed Retrieve runs!

One last request for my readers. If any of your out there in Blog Reading Land know of a 12-step program for dock diving addicts, keep it to yourself. This is one addiction for which I do *NOT* want a cure!

See you on the dock,
Sally, the CAPTAIN of Team 3 Dawg Flite
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Dock diving at our new practice dock!

Hip-Hip-Hooray! Our dock diving club, Dixie Dock Dogs has a new practice dock. Yippee! Yee-Haw! Hallelujah! Woo-Hooooo! (Are there any more expressions I can use? My mom calls them onomatopoeia, whatever that is.)

And here it is. Isn't it just the coolest dock in the whole world!

My mom and dad and Spud and I are so excited! Hoppy isn't excited. He's still working on the definition of the word "retrieve."

The dock is located down at Lake Oconee, which happens to be the same lake where we keep our pontoon boat and go during the summer. The dock is at the lakehouse of two very nice people named Bob and Greta.

The dock is 50 feet long. You non-dock diving people have no idea how important this is. You see, a regulation competition dock is 40 feet long. So, we have a regulation dock to practice on!!

It's on a cove just off Lake Oconee...very peaceful and nice, with a great graduated shoreline for us dogs to exit out of the lake.


We haven't had an official club practice for five months. You see, we used to have a nice practice dock, but then something happened, and we couldn't use the dock any longer. So the Great Dock Search began.

My mom and looked and looked and looked and looked for another dock for us. That poor woman became obsessed. She called every human being in the Northern Hemisphere. She went and looked at every body of water in North America....including puddles in people's driveway.

I swear, one day she pulled the car over and asked some guy standing there checking his mail if we could build a dock in the mud puddle beside his driveway. He said no, so she asked if we could build a dock in his bathtub. Pitiful.

The problem was, every lake (or pond) either had no dock, or if it had a dock, the lake (or pond) had no water. Mom kept cursing something called a "drought" here in Georgia. Boy, she even made up some curse words when talking about that "drought."

Well, the search is over. I don't have to ride and ride and ride around with her any longer looking at every H2O molecule in Georgia. We have our practice dock.

NOW, LET THE GAMES....er, uh.....PRACTICES BEGIN!

See you the dock....the NEW DOCK!
Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

And the new name is.....(drum roll, please)

....Team 3 Dawg Flite. Yep, that's our new name now that Hoppy is an official member of our team. He doesn't dock dive yet. Heck, he doesn't even retrieve or swim yet, but our mom and dad say he will. They are working on it.

Okay, back to the new team name. Our mom and dad are pretty excited about it and even have us a brand new logo. Notice the three colors of the dogs: chocolate for me, dark yellow for Hoppy and light yellow for Spud. Now, how cool is that!!!

So, now the problem becomes, how do I go about changing over this blog? I've changed the title and all the stuff actually on the blog. But the website address is still the same (teamfireandice.blogspot.com). My mom is going to have to help me change that.

Then we have to change all the places we've signed up for to promote my blog! Accckkkk! That is going to be a pain, because I'm not sure I kept a track of them all.

Oh well, in the words of my mom's immortal hero, Scarlett O'Hara, "I'm not going to think about this today. I'll just think about it tomorrow."

See you on the dock,
Sally, no longer the fire, but the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite!
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Is it true? Are we going dock diving again?

Now, I'm not an eavesdropper. I respect people's privacy. But, come on now, when I hear the phrase "dock diving," my ears perk up. Heck, my whole body perks up. The adrenalin starts flowing...visions start going through my mind, visions of docks, ducks, and bumpers.

That's what happened last night. I heard my mom and dad talking about a dock diving event in some place called Louisville, Kentucky. It was something called the 2009 52nd Louisville Boat, RV, and Sport Show. I really and truly think we are going!

So I went right out in the garage and got all my throw objects and took inventory.

Yep, everything's there, big duck, Flappy, bumper, little duck, and Wubba. I'm ready when you are, Mom and Dad.

But there's one more thing. Has anyone but me wondered about our team name? Our team name is Team Fire and Ice. I'm the Fire and Spud is the Ice. Well, with Hoppy joining our team, we need a new name.

I suggested Team Fire and Ice Cubes. I'd be the Fire and the guys could be the Ice Cubes. Well, that didn't go over very well.

I think my mom and dad have decided on a name. They've been looking at these pictures they call "logos" and pointing and getting all excited.

I'm just ready for this dock diving trip to Louisville. I better to gather up the Ice Cubes so we can get ready.

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Fire in Team Fire and Ice (at least for the present)
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video