dock diving

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Perseverance

Posted by kenleighacres on March 21, 2011
Posted in: family. Tagged: , . 12 Comments

The dictionarey definition of perseverance is – continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.  I saw perseverance this weekend with my son and his dog. 

We started the weekend by going to a local Dock Diving event.  In the past, I have posted pictures of Rose diving into ponds, but diving into clear water was something she wasn’t prepared to do.  We were warned that the clear water can really throw some dogs, but I was shocked at how much it affected her. 

She really wanted her toy, but the fear of the clear water was greater.

To help her overcome the fear, we had her go down the ramp and retrieve her toy.  We had help from a lot of people, but one lady inparticular.  She had waders on and was in the water with the dogs.   This really helped Rose and boosted her confidence.  Pretty soon she was jumping off the ramp into the water.  She loved jumping off the ramp, but wasn’t sure about jumping off the dock. 

The environment was also a little overwhelming for all of us – loud music, lots of barking dogs, and an announcer.  She wasn’t ready to jump off the dock Friday night and I was concerned with how Rose was handling the noise, so we decided to scratch her from Saturday’s activities.  We were told that we could show up early on Saturday to practice in the pools before all the noise started.  This sounded like a good option.  She was more comfortable and was jumping off the dock with enthusiasm.  We all left happy!  My son wanted to go back Sunday morning to practice again, so we showed up early and Rose was showing more confidence.  Her boy was so happy, he wanted to do it over and over and over 🙂  Rose was happy to oblige.  We had to be careful when walking by the docks because she would start dragging us up the stairs.

We were going to leave after practice, but she was doing really well and my son wanted to stay.  So, we stuck around and are glad we did! 

In her second jump, she jumped 8 feet 7 inches from a standstill at the edge of the dock!  This length qualified them for the Novice Finals. 

She jumped 9 feet 8 inches in the finals and my son got a lot of high 5’s as he was leaving the dock with her.  She isn’t consistently jumping off the dock and everyone was rooting for them.  He was so proud of his dog and we were very proud of him.  He didn’t get frustrated or upset with her.  He patiently worked with and encouraged her.

They earned 2nd place in the Novice division for their perseverance.

They were both pretty tired by this time 😉

One last summer hurrah – part 1

Posted by kenleighacres on September 5, 2010
Posted in: Dogs, family. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

First of all – where did the summer go???  I can’t believe school starts on Wednesday.  I am going to miss the flexibility we have had this summer. 

I thought we were done with fairs for the year, but I heard that the World Champion Dock Diving was going to be at the Oregon State Fair – only an hour away!  I looked at the fair’s website and also discovered that there was a BMX track, animated dinosaurs, reptiles, a petting zoo, and our 4-H friends from the Lane county fair were there showing their sheep.  So many fun things to fit in a day!  We arrived mid-day on Friday and were greeted by a variety of  sights and sounds.

We headed to the dock diving first – mainly because it was easy to find!  We showed up at the perfect time, we only had to wait 5 minutes for them to start.  The first event we watched was Speed Retreive.  In this event, the handler does not throw the bumper.  The bumper is waiting for the dog in the water.

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I really enjoyed watching this team.  The handler was showing his dog where the bumper was waiting for him and the dog was so animated 🙂

This dog  was very vocal!

In speed retreive, the dog is timed from when it is released to when it pulls the bumper down.

Watching the youth was a highlight and educational.

It was warmer than it has been in awhile and we were both getting hot, so we headed towards the indoor dinosaur exhibit. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect and was prepared to be disappointed, especially since we had to pay extra – but I was surprised…it was awesome!

The exhibit was educational and enjoyable.

Almost all of them moved and there was a lot of dinosaur noise to listen to.  It was a little loud for my son, so he kept his ears plugged but he was happy that we went.  He really likes all of the pictures.  I wish I had taken my smaller lens, but I made the big lens work.

This little guy was my favorite!

He wouldn’t let me take his picture with a meat eater, but a meat eater in an egg was ok 🙂

Stay tuned for part II…