Nothing like a day at the lake!

Before I write even a word of this post, let me make the obligatory excuses as to why I haven’t posted in so long. It’s my mom! This is her busy wedding season (she’s a wedding and event videographer) and she has been at that computer non-stop. I keep asking her, “Mom, please…puleeze…let me use the computer for just a little while.”

The answer is always something like, “Just a minute, Sally. Go play with your brothers.”

Yeah, right!

Well, this morning I’ve found a few minutes to make another post. I really want to let y’all know how much fun we had this past weekend when we went out on the boat down at Lake Oconee.

The day didn’t exactly start off like such a winner. When we got to the marina, we found the reverse gear on our boat didn’t work. We couldn’t event back out of the boat slip!

So while we waited for the mechanic to come fix it, my mom had a great idea. You know what is all around a marina? That’s right. DOCKS!

So we practiced our dock diving for about 30 minutes while waiting. We actually got a small crowd there watching us. It was pretty cool.

But then the mechanic came, fixed our boat, and we were off for a day on the lake. Here are some photos from all the fun we had when we stopped back in this little cove.

Then there was poor Hoppy. My mom tried and tried to get him out in the water swimming with Spud and me, but he would have none of that. He did, however, have fun watching us.

And for a little while, he actually got in the water….at least a little way.

But then he was right back over to the boat trying to climb in. Poor Hoppy. My mom is determined to get him out into that water one day.

We had a great time. I keep saying this, and I’ll say it forever:

There’s nothing as great as retrieving in the water!

YEE-HAW!!

I like this photo. Hoppy and Spud crashed in the boat on the way back to the marina. They were worn out!

Gotta run. Here comes my mom, and I know she’s going to make me…….. <Uh oh. I can hear her already, “Sally, are you on that computer? You better be off of it by the time I get in there.” Oops, bye.>

See you on the dock,

Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite

Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs

Technorati Tags: dogs,Labrador retrievers,dock diving,dock jumping,lake,boats,water retrieving,retrievers

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

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

A party for dogs

Have you ever been to a party for dogs? Especially dock diving dogs? Well, it has to involve water and swimming and retrieving. And that's just what our party had yesterday.

Our dock diving club, Dixie Dock Dogs, had what my mom and dad called a "social" over at Ft. Yargo. That's a state park in Winder, Georgia. Oh my goodness! It was perfect for us dock divers. There was a big lake and lots of bumpers and balls and plenty of grass and trees and lots of adults throwing stuff for us to retrieve all day long!

They did stop once for a little while to eat, but then it was right back to swimming, retrieving, and running! We dogs had a BLAST!! I think the humans did, too.

There were about 19 humans at the dog party and 13 dogs. Most of them were Labrador Retrievers like Spud and me. But we also had a couple of Golden Retriever mixes and even one Basset Hound. He was crazy. His name was Emmett and he kept running around barking at us. He walked down into the water, but he doesn't retrieve or swim. But he sure barks and sniffs!

By the time it was all over, Spud and I were really, really tired. My mom called us "worn out."

My dad took lots of photographs, and my mom made a cool video from them. Here it is. You can see for yourself what a party for dogs looks like.

Click To Play

Thanks for looking at the video and reading about our party. Maybe next time, you can come to our dogs' party!

See you on the dock,
Sally
The FIRE of Team Fire and Ice
Dixie Dock Dogs

Our Boat, and Our Lake

One day last year my mom and dad put me in the truck, and we went for a ride. I was about 6 or 7 months old and loved to go anywhere with my mom and dad. We rode for a long time, and when we got out of the truck, I smelled something strange, but good. I had never smelled that before, but it definitely smelled like something I wanted to investigate. It was water.....a big, big body of water.

Mom and Dad kept calling it a "lake" and saying things about the "boat," whatever that was. Then we all walked out onto this big wooden thing that stuck out over that "lake." I heard them calling it a "dock." There were a log of big funny looking things all around this dock. We actually walked onto one of them, and I kept hearing the word "boat" over and over.

Soon, that "boat" made a loud....very loud...sound. Much louder than our truck. And then we were moving...out over that big "lake!"

Man, was that cool!! I could walk up to the front of that "boat" and stick my head right into the wind. It blew all over my fur and even made my ears flap in the breeze.

But the best part of the trip was when we stopped. Mom and Dad let me get off the boat and swim in that lake. It was beyond exhilerating....beyond awesome....it was like a piece of lab heaven right here on earth. I never wanted to leave.


We went back to the lake many times last year. I swam and retrieved, and even went swimming with my mom. Here's a video of of one of our trips to the lake last year. You can see how much fun we had together.

Click To Play

We haven't been to the lake as much this year, mainly because of our dock diving schedule. As much as I love dock diving, I've really missed the lake. And poor Spud has only been once!!

Oh well, I'm sure we'll get in a couple more trips before the season is up. One thing is for sure: I love the lake, and I love our boat!!!!!

See you on the dock,
Sally
The Fire in Team Fire and Ice