Waiting for dock diving and keeping us busy.

I can't wait for dock diving season to begin again. I heard my mom and dad talking about our first event being in February in Charleston, S.C. Of course, we will train on land and hopefully in the water before then (after it warms up a bit).

But until dock diving begins again, I'm doing my best to keep my readers up-to-date on the other fun stuff in the lives of Team Fire and Ice.

One of the best things that happens to us is when we get to go to our doggie daycare. It's a place called Pawtropolis, and it is awesome!!!!

Sometimes Spud and I go for the entire day, and sometimes we only go for a few hours. We don't go every day, but usually 2 or maybe 3 days a week. Occasionally, when both our mom and dad have late night shoots, we will spend the night over there. That's really cool!

At Pawtropolis, they have all the dogs divided up into what they call play groups. That's so each dog will be in with dogs of its same size and similar temperament. In other words, it wouldn't be good to have a big dog like me with such boundless energy and drive to play with a smaller couch potato dog. I would drive that poor dog crazy!

(All of these photos were taken by the Pawtropolis staff for their own blog.)

So what do we do at day care? We tug.

(That yellow lab in the above photo really looks like Spud. But it's not.)


We play with balls and rings and all sorts of fun toys.

They have a great outdoor area for us to run and play real hard. And the best part? It has a pool! That's right. We can play in the pool with our toys!

(In the above photo, notice Spud watching me.)

Spud also loves Pawtropolis. He doesn't play as hard and fast as I do, but he loves it when they bring out the tennis balls to retrieve. He also enjoys just chilling out and having all the staff members love on him! Here are some photos of Spud having fun at daycare.



And here's a photo of Spud and me with our favorite toys...Spud with his tennis ball and me with my jolly ball.


Yep, Spud and I really enjoy our days when we get to go to Pawtropolis. The staff is so good to us, and our mom and dad say they feel very confident that we are happy and safe over there. I guess that's important to them. All that's important to me is getting to play and play and play!

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Fire in Team Fire and Ice
Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Road Trip. No dock diving, but a F-U-N time!

My dad is a professional sports photographer and had to go to Biloxi, MS, to shoot some kind of bowl game (a Jr. College Bowl, or something like that). My mom wanted to go with him. (She had ulterior motives that I'll get to later.) Now, of course, they aren't about to go off and leave us, so we all packed up for the 7-hour trip to Biloxi.

Spud slept back in the back of the truck for most of the trip.

I knew we weren't going dock diving because there were no crates, or pop-up canopy of equipment case. But they had their bags and the ice chest. I knew we were going for my dad to shoot a game because I had heard my mom and dad talking about it, and he had his big camera bag.

Finally, we arrived at a hotel and checked in, just like on our dock diving trips. But when my mom put Spud and me on our leashes and took us out for a walk, she did something different. She took two towels and a couple of wubbas. (She said she always brings something to throw in the water, just in case.) We walked down the hall and out back behind the hotel and guess what we saw! A POND!! And boy, did we have fun swimming and retrieving in that pond.

And then, after Spud and I thought it couldn't possibly get any better, my mom took us one block behind the hotel to a big open field and we retrieved with the Chuck-It until we were almost dry.

I had no idea my dad's photo shoot trips were so much fun. But it was only beginning.

The next day, my mom dropped my dad off at the stadium so he could shoot the game. Then we (Spud, my mom and I) took off in the truck and rode for about 20 minutes. I was looking out the window the entire time wondering, "Where in the world are we going?"

My question was soon answered.
We were going to Labrador Retriever Heaven!

It was what my mom called a "beach." I don't care what you called it. In my opinion, it was the greatest place on the entire earth!

About a mile of sand to run on. We ran and ran and ran.

Water to swim in, water as far as we could see.

Birds to chase. Mom called them sea gulls, but she couldn't get any photos because it all happened so fast.

Dead stuff to sniff (crabs, fish, birds). Lots and lots of good smells for our noses.

Good wet sand for me to bury my tennis ball and then dig it up....over and over and over again.

After a while, my mom laughed at my dirty face and especially the thick coating of sand on my tongue!

It just doesn't get any better than this!

When we got back to the hotel, my mom said we were still very dirty, sandy and wet....and smelly! So, to clean us off, guess what she made us do. That's right...go swimming out in the pond again! Oh, if we could just be that dirty and need cleaning off every day.

By the time we finally got back to the room, Spud and I crashed. We were worn out. Even when we left the next day, not only did Spud sleep all the way home, but so did I. Here we are both zonked out in the back of the truck.

If all of my dad's photo shoot trips are this much fun, Spud and I will accompany him every time.

Oh yeah, let's not forget my mom's ulterior motives for going with him. It was something called a "casino." I think she went and spent a lot of money on something called "slot machines." If she thinks that's fun, she should try digging in the wet sand!

See you on the dock,
Sally
The Fire in Team Fire and Ice
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Spud analyzes dock diving

Hi everyonne. I is sallys litle bruthr spud. I is not bery litle any more. My mama and daddy says i am a grown up boy now, but sally still treets me like a litle boy. but i does not care becus i like her to play wif me. sally and me have lots and lots of fun togethr.

what i want to writ about tooday is how i have begun to jump bettr than sally. now i am jumping over 20 feet almost all the time. sally still jumps 18, 19 and maybe 20 feet.

at first i felt bad because i thougt it was making sally sad or mad. and i luv her too much to hurt her feeligns.

but then sally talkd too me. she said she was proud of her litle bruthr. she reely wants me to become a big jumper in dock dogs. Isn't sally a gud big sister!

I don't no how i am such a big jumper. I just is. I sit in my crate until it is my turn. i just watch everybody or i even sleep sumtims.

Then my dad takes me out when it is my turn on the dock. we just wait in line to jump.

Then when the anouncer guy sez, "Bill Akin and Spud," my dad and me go up on the dock and he tells me to "Sit, Spud. Stay." And I do that.


I want that flappy or duck or wubba very very bad. but i just sit there like my dad sez to.

then my dad walks to the end of the dock and sez, "Git it boy!" and i take off runing reel fast.


Then he throws the toy out over the water and i jumps as far as i can for that toy. Sumtims it feel like i is flying!


My mom and dad sez i jump farther than sally becuz i is bigger and stronger. maybe so. but it makes me bery bery happy that sally is proud of me.

i is bery proud of her too speshully her speed retrieve. but most of all i is happy and thankful that she tout me how to dock dive.

(by the way, today is my dads birthday. Happy Birthday, DADDY!)

Spud (filling for Sally)
The Ice in Team Fire and Ice
Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Ribbons, Ribbons Everywhere! (dock diving)

Look at all those colors! My mom and dad got a friend of theirs, Mark Parsons, to take our photograph with all of our ribbons from the Easton, Maryland event. Here are two of the photographs he took...one of just Spud and me (with our ribbons), and one of all four of us.


I like our ribbons. I like winning them. But what I like most is that it makes my mom and dad so very happy. Spud and I really, really like making them happy because they are so good to us. They take us dock diving, they give us treats, they take us to play chuck-it, they give us belly rubs and scratch behind our ears, they give us good food to eat, they take us for rides, they take us to Pawtropolis (our day care) so we can play with our friends, they buy us nylabones and toys, they let me sleep up in the bed between them every night, they talk really nice to us and always call us nicknames.

So that's why Spud and I like winning ribbons to make them happy and proud. We like the ribbons, but we like the hugs and smiles more.

We love you, Mom and Dad!

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Fire in Team Fire and Ice
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video

Dock Diving Personal Best......cool photos

As promised, here is the series of photos my dad took of my personal best jump of 20'1" at the Waterfowl Festival up in Easton, Maryland last weekend. The series starts with me running down the dock and follows through all the way to splash down! Then, of course, there are two celebration photos....one of my crazy mom and one of me!

And there you have it! TA-DA!

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Fire in Team Fire and Ice
Proud Member of Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs Video

New events and B - I - G jumps!

It's been a long time since I've posted. My mom has been so busy with her work, that I haven't had a chance to use her computer. She has three of them, and most days, she has all three going doing something with her video work.

But today I told her, "Mom, I need the computer for just a little while to let my readers catch up on our dock diving. And I won't take no for an answer." So, here I am!

And yes, my dad did take Spud to a dock diving event over in Huntsville....without me! I'm still mad about that. My mom took me to Pawtropolis (our doggie day care) for the day while she shot a wedding, but he still owes me......big time! Here is Spud jumping over in Huntsville.

I don't remember what he jumped, but he did pretty good. I would tell you what I jumped, but, remember....I DIDN'T GET TO GO!

However, we all went to a dock diving event up in Easton, Maryland, this past weekend. It was something my mom and dad called a Waterfowl Festival. Both Spud and I did great!

I had a personal best jump of 20' 1" which is a Master division jump. I came in 15th overall (out of 120 dogs).


My dad, who's a professional sports photographer, got a really cool series of this jump. I'll make a special post about it later.

Spud did even better than me! He was awesome...jumping like the big dogs. He had a personal best jump of 23' 1" which is actually an Elite division jump! Way to go Spuddy! He came in 5th place overall with a jump of 22' 11" which was only one inch short of being in the Final Four. I don't know where he got all that energy!


We both got ribbons, and I'll make a separate post when my mom and dad get around to getting a photo with all our ribbons. We tried to take one after the event...after the award ceremony...but it was too dark.

You might notice our new jumping vests. Aren't they great! My dad got them for Spud and me...a bright blue one for Spud and a bright green one for me. They are made out of spandex material and are called competition vests. My mom's friend, Kathy, sewed on some patches to make us look really, really cool!


Something else new we've gotten recently is a new throw toy. My mom and dad call it a Flappy, and Spud and I absolutely LOVE it! Especially Spud, he'll jump a mile for that thing. I like it, too. It's like a bumper, but with flaps hanging off both ends of it.


Somethings else new about this jump was that it was our first time jumping in the cold....the freezing, windy, cold!! Brrrrrrrrrrrr! Saturday was a nice day, but Sunday's temps just got too low. Of course, it didn't bother Spud and me very much because we have these naturally warm fur coats. But my mom was a basket case! Look at her. I don't know if she's ready for dock diving or luge competitions!


She even got up on the dock to jump me while wearing that "Nanook of the North" arctic gear!!


Everyone thought she was crazy. She was the only one wearing a funny-looking hat like that! But, that's okay. She can wear a Green Bay Packers football helmet for all I care, as long as she keeps getting on that dock with me.

Now, not only do Spud and I have those great fur coats to keep us warm, but this time, we had something special. My mom and dad got us our own doggie coats. Spud got a blue one, and I got a purple one. And again, my mom's friend, Kathy, sewed cool Dixie Dock Dog patches on the coats.


Don't we look just so cool in our coats!! But it seems Spud and I are not the only dawgs that our mom and dad were interested in. They are big University of Georgia Bulldog fans, and our tent and crating area showed that enthusiasm

Go DAWGS!

(BTW, the DAWGS beat Auburn that day!)

It really was a very fun event. I got to meet a lot of new doggie friends, and my mom and dad met a lot of new people also. Most of them were in the Delmarva Dock Dogs club, but other people from other clubs and surrounding areas came to the event also.

It's going to be a long time until we go to another event. This is the off season for dock diving. But Spud and I talked last night, and we are ready for the dock....anytime, any place. We love it!

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Fire in Team Fire and Ice
Dixie Dock Dogs
Dixie Dock Dogs video