Home from Missouri and loaded with loot!

Well, not exactly loot, but I did get several ribbons. Here’s how I did:

Big Air: 2nd in Senior Division

Extreme Vertical: Just a participant ribbon. I suck at EV.

Speed Retrieve: 6th place

Iron Dog: 4th place. This is something I’ve never entered before. It’s only for dogs who do all three disciplines (Big Air, EV, Speed Retrieve). There’s a formula for how many points you get for your place in each event. Then they add everything all up, and that’s your Iron Dog score. I think I’d kind of cool!

But guess who else got a ribbon. HOPPY!!

No, he didn’t jump. He was his usual dock-sniffing, mama-kissing, crowd-pleasing self. He had everyone totally entertained. Even the announcer was laughing at him, and the judges were complete cracked up.

So, what did he get his ribbon for? The host club for this event (Gateway DockDogs) gave participation ribbons to the dogs who never went off the dock.

Here’s a photo of us up on the dock…me with my three ribbons, and Hoppy with his one little ribbon. We were so proud of him!

I do think, however, that he was a little jealous of me and my ribbons. Look at him giving my ribbons the once over. I’m sure he was thinking, “How does she do that!”

Well, brother, first you have to start jumping!

As it turned out, he was such a hit with the crowd, this kid came over to our tent and wanted to play with him. So my mom let the kid take Hoppy out and they played for a while.

Then, the kid brought over the Chase vest and asked if he could take Hoppy through the crowd collecting for the charity “Chase Away Canine Cancer.”

Look at the great Chase dog!

That’s Hoppy with the kid who adopted him for the day.

The good news is that he had been such a hit up on the dock, everyone willingly donated to the cause and put money in the vest pockets. The kid said that everyone who donated received a kiss from Hoppy!

What a HAM!

But he did collect quite a bit of money, which is a good thing. Chase Away Canine Cancer is such a worthy cause.

We don’t have any photos of me dock diving. My dad, the photographer, didn’t go with us this time. I will get some from other people in a while. If they are any good, I’ll post them later.

But for now, I’ve got to get to bed and get my rest. Guess what Spud and I are doing tomorrow. Going for another dock diving TV news story!!

Can’t wait. I’m beginning to like this celebrity thing.

See you on the dock,

Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite

Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs

Technorati Tags: dogs,dock diving,dock jumping,dock dogs,dog cancer,cancer,speed retrieve,extreme vertical,iron dog

Happy Trails to You…Missouri, here we come!

I knew it. I knew it! When I saw the equipment case come out, I knew it was pack-up-to-go-to another-event time!

And this time, we are going to the Lincoln County Fair in Troy, Missouri. My mom said that this is an event hosted by the Gateway DockDog Club. What’s so cool about this club is that we’ve only been to events in the Southeast. But this time, we are venturing out west…crossing the Mighty Mississippi River!

Maybe she’ll stop and let me jump in the Mississippi River. Ya think so?

My dad and Spud are staying here. My dad has to save his days at work for our event next month in Milledgeville. And he doesn’t want to stay home alone, so he’s keeping Spud with him.

It didn’t take long yesterday evening for my mom to pack the car.

There’s our stuff. From L-R: rolly cart, gray travel box (and carton of water), equipment case top, equipment case bottom, EZ Up tent with chair, banners, and water sitting on top of it. Everything is sitting on our two crates.

Oops, she hasn’t packed her own bag yet. There’s no room for my mom’s clothes. That’s okay. We don’t have any clothes so why should she!

Usually, we take my dad’s truck. But since this time it’s just my mom and Hoppy and me, we are taking her SUV.

Okay. My mom said, “Come on Sally and Hoppy, Time to go.”

Of course, being the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite, I jumped up in the driver’s seat. Ready for take-off!

Then I had to check everything out. Make sure we were all cleared for take-off.

I told Hoppy to get in. He jumped up into his place back there by the equipment.

Then I noticed something.

Poor Spud. There he was sitting waiting for me to tell him to get in the car.

I said to him, “Spud, you went on the last dock diving trip with Dad up to Ohio. It’s our turn now. You stay here.”

But it didn’t help. He kept saying, “Hey, what about me?”

Then my mom came out and saw me in the driver’s seat!

“Sally!” “Get your little chocolate #^*% our of my seat and back there where you belong!”

You know, it’s funny. When she’s happy with me and talking all nice and sweet, I’m her “little chocolate dawg,” or I’ve got those “little chocolate paws,” or it’s “move your little chocolate bootie,” or it’s my “little chocolate nose.”

But when I’ve done something wrong…when I’m into something I shouldn’t be into…it’s always my “chocolate #^*%.” Go figure.

So it was back there with Hoppy where I am supposed to ride. Dang!

At least I can still be the navigator and supervise her as she drives.

Keep your fingers and paws crossed for me in Missouri that I jump big. I only need two more Master jumps to get my Master Title, so I could get it this weekend.

Well, we’re off. Can’t wait to see the Mississippi River. I am ready to JUMP!

See you on the dock,

Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite

Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs

Technorati Tags: dogs,labrador retriever,dock diving,dock jumping,dock dogs. mississippi river,travel

Here it is!!

Remember in my last post how I told you about my mom and Spud and I going down to a marina and meeting with a television reporter?

Well, the story was on the 6:00 news tonight. I thought it was really, REALLY cool! She got lots of good shots of me. Me with my bumper, me jumping, me swimming.

She got some good shots of Spud, too. I especially like the close-up shot of him wagging his tail.

Here’s the link the the video clip of the news story. Hope you enjoy it.

Local Dogs Dive Into New Sport

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And now, a personal note to my friend, Mason. Team 3 Dawg Flite is so proud of you taking to dock diving and going to your first event.

Don’t worry about not running down the dock right now. Just concentrate on jumping off the dock and getting comfortable with that.

Once you’re comfortable with just jumping off the dock, your mom can start you back a little bit…maybe 3 or 4 feet. Then a little farther and a little farther. Soon, you will be starting from the back of the dock.

Buckeye DockDogs has a lot of people who will help you and give you lots of good advice.

Jump big, Mason!!

See you on the dock,

Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite

Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs

Technorati Tags: dogs,labrador retriever,dock diving,dock dogs,dock jumping,tv news

Missouri, here we come!

Happy 4th of July, fans!

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

We’re going to another dock diving event. Well, at least some of us are. My mom is taking me and Hoppy to Troy, Missouri for the Lincoln County Fair. It’s an event hosted by the Gateway DockDogs club.

Why just Hoppy and me? Why not Spud? Unfortunately, her SUV, when loaded down and packed with all our dock diving and travel gear, can only hold two dogs. So the decision came down to which two dogs.

Of course, one of the dogs was an automatic choice: me! But should the second dog be Hoppy or Spud? My mom wanted to take Spud, especially since he’s been jumping so good lately. But my dad didn’t want her taking Spud away from him. (Personally, I think he’s a little too attached to Spud!)

See how good Spud’s been jumping. That boy is on fire!

But, back to Hoppy……he’s such a big baby and so dependent on his pack. Being here for five days without either Spud or me…….well, let’s just say by the time we got back, he would be weaving baskets in the doggie sanitarium.

Y’all want to see something cool? Here is the logo for our big dock diving event we are having down in Milledgeville.

We are soooooooo excited about this event. Registration is going very well so far. My mom has been doing all the publicity for this event. Boy, has she been busy sending out press releases, contacting magazines and radio stations and emails.

And guess what we did a couple of days ago. My mom and Spud and I went down to a marina in Milledgeville (on Lake Sinclair) where there are plenty of docks. And, of course, we got to dock dive. But there was something very different about it this time.

There was a lady with a video camera (a professional one like my mom uses), and she was shooting footage of Spud and me. She shot all of our jumps. Plus, she got some real close-up shots of us….right in our faces and close-ups of our paws and tails wagging.

I was thinking, “Who IS this person?” Then, after Spud and I did several jumps with this Steven Spielberg wannabe filming our every move, she took my mom over on another dock and started talking to her and filming her talking.

What in the world is so film-worthy about my mom talking? She does it ALL THE TIME. Trust me, it’s no big thing.

When we got home, I heard my mom talking to my dad about a TV news story. Then, it all made sense. That lady was a TV news reporter.

We are going to be on the news! I’m sure it was part of the publicity work my mom has been doing for our event.

Here is the link to our official information page about our event:

The Fishing Creek Outfitters Throwdown

And here’s the link to register if you want to come jump with us. It would be so cool if some of y’all could come down to our event!

Throwdown registration

Oh yeah, one more thing. Remember in my last post, I said we were going to our Fun Jump? And they were going to crown a Mr. and Ms. Dixie Dock Dog and I hoped I would get Ms. Dixie Dock Dog. Well, I didn’t win. I think I came in second. (Personally, I think someone stuffed the ballot box!)

Here are the winners. Congratulations to Ruby and Wedge!

Well, I’ve got to run now. We are going out on our boat today. That’s always fun….lots of swimming and water retrieving. And I love riding on the boat. I’ll try to get my mom or dad to take some photos.

See you on the dock,

Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite

Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs

Technorati Tags: dogs,labrador retriever,dock diving,dock jumping,dock dogs,news,news story,tv reporter