Dog Days of Scugog, Port Perry - Jul 17-19, 2009

Dog Days of Scugog is one of my favourite DD events of the season - it is close to home and is part of an "everything dogs" weekend. This was our 5th event of this season and oh, what an event!!

Lenny placed 1st in Semi-Pro Finals with a new personal best jump (and longest jump of the weekend) of 23'4"!!!

Here is a clip of Lenny's winning jump, courtesy of Kathrene Peterson - thank you Kathrene!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBtVakOQHMI Please click on this link

Lenny's jumps for the weekend were:

Semi-Pro Finals: 21'6", 23'4"

Waves: 19'11", 20'10", 19'5", 18', 19'1", 20', 20'7", 20'8", 20'2", 20'3", 20'3", 21'3"

Speed Retrieve - 7.375secs, 7.610secs - didn't make it into SR Finals

EV - caught 5'6" placing 1st in Cadet

Lenny reaching for the bumper

One of Melissa Vig's dogs getting Big Air!

The Wildman, Cosmos, flying high - beautiful form

Hard working DD staff

Setting up the EV rig for practice

Bracebridge Summerfest - Jul 11-12, 2009

Our third event of the DD season, Bracebridge Summerfest was an exciting event and a Worlds Qualifier set in the heart of the Muskokas. This was a small event which made it very relaxed and alot of fun. There were mostly Ontario teams there, but there were also 3 teams from the U.S. competing for a chance to go to the World Championships in Stillwater, MN Jul 23-26/09.

Me & my kid having fun!

Major Tom's got his eye on that duck in the Speed Retrieve competition!

Lenny did very well at this event, placing 2nd in the Semi-Pro Finals. It was a very exciting competition as Lenny's first jump in the Finals was just 1 inch shorter, at 21' 1", than the leading team of Tom Dropik & Rocky at 21' 2". On our second jump, Lenny came back with a very respectable 21' 5", but Tom & Rocky won it with a 22' 5" jump. They sure gave us a run for the money!! We had a great time!! The weather was actually pretty decent as well - we had sunny skies on Sat & Sun while there were wicked storms, including hail, at home. We picked a good weekend to leave town!


Lenny's distances for the weekend were:

Semi-Pro Finals 21' 1" and 21' 5"
Waves 21' 8", 21' 8", 21' 1", 19' 11", 20' 11", 21' 3", 21' 9", 21' 9"

Speed Retrieve qualifying round 9.28 secs, 8.138 secs. Finals 8.005 secs, 7.621 secs placed 6th in Finals




EV grabbed 5' 8" . . . . . woohooooo!!!









Last 4 images courtesy of Jim Zelasko

1000 Islands DockDogs FIRST Event - Riverfest in beautiful Brockville, ON - Jul 1-5, 2009

Welcome to Ontario's 2nd DockDogs Affilliate Club - 1000 Islands DockDogs - covering Eastern Ontario, and . . . . . . our very first event . . . . . Riverfest, Brockville, ON !!!!

Huge thanks have to go out to Karen Larocque who made the dream to have a 2nd DD club in Eastern ON a reality. Huge thanks also to her husband, Mark, who has been involved every step of the way and been a very, very big support to Karen. All of the board members have worked very, very hard to make 1000 Islands DD a thriving new club and our first event a resounding success!!! Woohooooooooooo!!! Brockville, Kingston, and Ottawa loved us!!!! And, they want us back next year . . . .so mark you calendars . . . . . Riverfest 2010 . . . Jul 1-4 !!

Board Members - BR: Heather, Kelly, Karen, Judy; FR: Cathie, Chic, Stephanie

Also pictured: Larry (DD Nat'l Rep), Rachel (Stephanie's Mom), Riley (Kelly's son)

I think Blockhouse Island in downtown Brockville has been one of the MOST beautiful & picturesque venues for a DD event ever!! The St Lawrence river on one side and a stunning yacht club harbour on the other . . . what better place for a DD event than to be surrounded by water!!

You can see the St. Lawrence River in the background

We had a huge crowd on Canada Day - the first day of our event! The clear water in the pool came right out of the St. Lawrence!

Huge freighter going by on the St. Lawrence River

I'm sure I speak for the other board members when I say that we were fairly nervous about our first event being 5 days, but it went better than expected and we all had sooooo much fun!!! From the huge crowds on Wed, Canada Day, and Sun, the Finals, to the rain in the days in between and even a micro-burst, which was as close to a tornado as we would want to be, everything ran very smoothly. Participants had lots of practice time; they were able to have one-on-one instruction with Heather McLeod, our DD certified Sportmutt trainer, and there were lots & lots of personal bests achieved over the course of the event.

Roo went off the dock for the fist time on the first day of our event. We tried to coax her off after her toy, but then decided she might better jump off after Lenny. So, we brought Lenny up on the dock, threw the toy for him, then for Roo, and on the third try . . . .off she leapt!! She was positively hooked after that - you couldn't keep her away from the dock - she LOVES dock diving!! She achieved a personal best jump of 9' 4" and placed 2nd in the Novice Finals as well as earning her Novice Title.

Roo leaping off the dock in her first-ever competition

Chic achieved a new personal best jump of 13' 10" and placed 6th in the Junior Finals.

Air - borne Chic!!


This was our third event of the season and Lenny had a very good week. He placed first in Masters Finals with a 22' jump. His BA jumps for the week were:
18' 7", 22' 6", 20' 6", 19' 3", 20' 8", 20' 4", 19' 9", 22' 10", 21' 1", 21' 8", 20' 8", 22' 1", 21' 4", 22' 1"

Speed Retrieve: 7.75secs and 7.14secs in heat 2 and in the Finals, 6.89 secs and 7.62 secs for a 2nd place finish

Extreme Vertical: Lenny grabbed 5' 2" for a 3rd place finish

Here are some pics from the week:

Blockhouse Island, Brockville, ON

Set-up day - the day before the event begins

Registration, Information, Raffle tent - courtesy of Riverfest management

Our Ribbons

Of course, we had to have cake to celebrate our 1st event!!

Riley & Garrett squeeging the dock in the pouring rain - this was shortly before the micro-burst

After the micro-burst . . . . . that was our announcer/judging tent

Some of the banners from the dock nearly landed in the St. Lawrence River!

Some of the competitors:

Mark & Bond . . . . . yea, Bond jumped!!!

Karen Sandford's little dog, Rigby . . . . Rigby played it safe and always wore his life jacket



One of Melissa Vig's dogs flying high

Gary Goyette's dog, Maiah, looks like she can walk on water

Maiah flying after her toy



Paul & Rudder

Stephanie & Phoebe, the flying beagle



This shot is during tear down - with a beautiful full moon reflecting off the St. Lawrence River

Following is a music video put together for 1000 Islands DockDogs by Dale C. Elliott of Brock News set to an original song written & performed especially for 1000 Islands DockDogs by the local group Trance Pose - Dan Schaafsma & Mike Willie. We cannot thank these people enough for all they have done for us - thank you guys!!! This video shows all 3 disciplines of DockDogs - Big Air, Extreme Vertical, and Speed Retrieve.

Note: Lenny can be seen at these time intervals in the video: 35 seconds, 1min 35 secs, and 1 min 57 secs; Chic can be seen at 1 min 12 secs

Please click on the link below . . . . . . enjoy!!

http://www.brocknews.ca/rockthedockvideo.html

Riverfest was a blast . . . . we can't wait for next year!!!

DockDogs - London International Food Festival - Jun 26-27, 2009

Our second event of the DockDogs season was the London International Food Festival. Lenny & I headed to London Fri night to be ready for our first jump on Sat morning. The DockDogs competition was held in beautiful Victoria Park. This is a huge park in downtown London, with many, many large mature trees . . . very, very nice location. There was shade over the pool for a portion of the day . . . it was just lovely. There was a good turnout of spectators, in spite of the weather . . . . yes, it rained on & off for most of the weekend. The sun did, however, come out on Sun for Finals.

Lenny finished the weekend taking 3rd place in Pro Finals with a 20' 5" jump. His BA results for the weekend were:
19' 5", 18' 5", 19' 3", 20' 5", 19' 3", 17' 8", 20' 2", 22', 20' 9", and 20'

Speed Retrieve: 7.215 secs and 7.105 secs for 3rd place

Extreme Vertical: successfully grabbed 5' 8" for 2nd place Cadet. I am thrilled with Lenny's EV effort as we have really been struggling with this discipline. I know he has a 6' + grab in him - we just have to find it!!

Lenny grabbing 5' 8" in EV !

Big Air leap!

Lenny launching off the dock in BA!

3rd Place Pro Finals !

Lenny's ribbons from the weekend in London

(1st, 2nd & 4th photos by Deb Hitchins Photography)

Clay's Bark in the Park 2009 - DockDogs

Our first event of the 2009 DockDogs season!! Clay's Bark in the Park in North Lawrence, OH was a blast! There were over 600 teams entered for the weekend, two pools and lots of sunshine & fun!! Lenny & I didn't make it into the Finals on Sun, but we sure had a great time.
There were some HUGE jumps over the weekend, with the winning jump in BA coming in at a whopping 27' 7" from Dart & Pam Karr . . .Dart makes it look so darn easy!! There were 4 jumps over the weekend of 27' + . . . . . . a team needed over a 24' jump to make it into Finals!!
Jordan & Sean McCarthy swept Speed Retrieve again with an amazing 4.968 seconds!! This team also had a BA qualifying jump of 26'11"! Ares & Jeff Wells won EV with an incredible 7' 2" grab!

It was quite a trip down . . . it seemed to take forever to get out of Buffalo! First, we went to the wrong restaurant to meet Karen & Mark. Finally made it to the right one, had lunch, then I just had to take some pics of this hotel that we saw on the way to the second restaurant . . .it was amazing.

Welcome to Ohio!

We drove in & out of rain, sometimes very heavy, most of the way down

Finally made it to Clay's Park!

A very beautiful, huge camping park

Getting ready for EV

Ready . . . . . Get it, get it, get it!!!

Karen, Bond, & Mark

had this caricature done at the park

Our new club . . . . Canada's 2nd Affiliate DockDogs club

Lenny trying on some bathing suits

Mark & Bond waiting in line for practice in the pool

Roo's first time on the dock!!! She didn't go off this time but she will!

This was the set-up for Clay's Park . . . . lots & lots of room!

The kids checking out their crates with new crate covers made by Auntie Vickie

Jett going for the DFT in Speed Retrieve

This little guy LOVED getting his toy & his little tail would wag the whole time he was in the water . . . .just like a little rudder!

This golf cart was the best thing for the weekend

Chic & Roo relaxing between waves

This is EV!!

What's a park without a campfire with good friends & bevvies?

On the way down to Ohio, we found this dog park just across the border into Buffalo. We stopped on the way down and on the way back home. We met these guys in the park during our stop on the way home. These staffies were adorable (no Breed Specific Legislation there) and this Great Dane was soooooo handsome!

Also on our way home, we stopped in Niagra-on-the-Lake for supper and found this neat little restaurant that had the most charming patio out back - it was lovely! This place had great food too! I wanted to take this bird sculpture home!

Clay's Bark in the Park was a really great time. I would definitely plan to go back next year!

Putting the Water in at the Cottage - May 16/09

Cathie & the kids on the beach

Chic

Miss Roo . . .she's a water baby!!

Thank God for tall people & chest waders!!!

The water going in for the season

After the Bath

Had to give Lenny a bath last night b/c he spent a bit of time in a swampy, mucky part of the woods on our walk . . . .he was filthy . . . .caked on mud almost everywhere!! After I bathed him, I went downstairs on the computer for awhile & when I was ready to go up to bed, I went to put him out for his last whiz before bed . . . .and there he was on the couch (his couch in the recroom) . . . . looking as comfortable as could be!!! Not really sure just how he got under the afghan, but it wasn't bothering him in the least!

Lenny Has Another Cousin!

Meet Lenny's other cousin, who lives with us . .. .she is a border collie named Roo! She is a cutie-pututie!!!

Roo's 6 month birthday was on Sunday, May 3!! She had a great birthday day - she went to visit sheep in the morning, then we went to the woods to run & swim in the pond & creeks, and then . .. we went to swim at the therapy pool . . . .we had very, very tired puppies in the van on the way home but, oh what a fun day was had by all!!!

Tara, Coco, and Roo - first-timers at the pool have to wear their life jackets!!

Roo & Coco (we were looking after Coco for the weekend)

Roo & Coco having fun at the therapy pool!

Lenny getting a workout on the underwater treadmill!

Tired, happy puppies!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LENNY!!

Hi everyone! Lenny here. I turned 3 years old today! I had a great day!! Mostly I slept on my mom's bed all day waiting for her to get home from work so we could do some fun stuff. She finally got home & we went to the woods . . . . . I love it in the woods . . . I run & run & run & try to catch those pesky squirrels, but they always seem to get up the trees faster than me.

When we got home, I had to stay behind the babygate at the back door cause Mom said I was all dirty . . .. I don't know what she expects . . . jeeze . . . .you can't run through the woods through all the puddles & stuff and not get dirty!! I know what that means . . . .I'm probably headed for the shower before too long . . . . I'm really good now . . . .I just walk right in the bathroom & walk right into the shower-tub . . . . . Mom doesn't even have to say anything anymore. I'm not really impressed with having to get so many baths, but boy, do I ever feel great afterwards!!!

Well, I had my bath and then guess what? Mom had some birthday treats for me. I asked her to include some of the pics in here. . .see them, see them??!! I had a yummy chocolate cupcake and a cupcake with sprinkles all over it and a bone cookie with sprinkles on half . . . .WOW!! They sure were yummy!!!

Mmmmmm . . . . . . good!!!

2008 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - STILLWATER, MN - Update

Finally, my pics of Lenny & me from the DockDogs World Championships 2008

Stillwater, MN Jul 24-27

First item of business - get the portrait picture taken

Then . . . . . Get it, get it, get it!!!!

Big Air - Wave #1

Big Air - Wave #2

Getting set for EV!

Jaws!

Big Air - Wave #3

2008 DD World Championships Group Photo

Travelling companions

Relaxing after the event

I'm proud of my kid!