Cottage Life Show

What can I say?!! The Dock Dog event at the Cottage Life Show this year (Mar 28-30) was amazing!! What a blast! It was soooo much fun!! And this in spite of the "No Barking" rule which was laid down on Saturday . . . . yeah, right . . .this is a dog event . . .dogs bark!!!

Lenny did AWESOME!!!

Here are some pics of Lenny from his first ever EV Competition on Saturday. EV (Extreme Vertical) is the high jump portion of the event. A bumper is suspended by magnet on a rigging over the pool – it is 8ft out from the end of the dock & the height can range from 5ft to over 7ft. Check out the Alien Dog!!

LENNY PLACED 2ND IN HIS FIRST EVER EV COMPETITION!!!! He was competing against 3 or 4 other dogs and then it ended up being just between Lenny & Rebel, a U.S. dog. Because the other dogs had done this before & started at around 5ft 10in, Lenny had to successfully get the bumper, up to the same height & then the height went up from there as long as each dog continued to successfully get the bumper.
Lenny started at the mandatory 5 feet and jumped to 6 feet 2 inches!!! Rebel won the event with a jump of 6 feet 4 inches. Rebel also was allowed to jump again for a Personal Best score & successfully jumped 6ft 8in !!

Lenny put in an incredible effort . . . .he jumped 13 times in a row (including 4 jumps in practice right before the competition) and this was after jumping in 2 Big Air waves (the long distance jumps) earlier in the day (2 jumps in each wave, plus practice jumps). From the 5ft height, the height of the bumper increased 2in at a time.

And . . . . . . . . . . . . we may have qualified to go to the World Championships in Minnesota in July!!! (don’t know when we’ll find out for sure) Can you believe it??!!!! I am thrilled to pieces!

Here is Lenny in action - these are most of his jumps from EV on Saturday. He finally missed at 6ft 2in because he just plain ran out of steam . . . . what a HUGE effort he made . . . . that's my boy!!!

In the last 2 clips, notice the fella at the right side of the pool holding up the pup to take in all the action!

Lenny also finished 6th in the Big Air Semi-Pro Finals on Sunday and his best jump of the weekend was 19ft 5in!! He had 3 jumps of 19ft plus over the weekend. Each team gets 2 jumps/wave . . . .this is Lenny's 2nd jump of the Semi-Pro Finals. Listen for his distance . . . . I was thrilled after the effort he had put in the day before! His first jump in the Semi-Pro Finals was 17ft 7in!

In case you didn't hear the distance for his second jump, it was 19ft 2in!!! I am so proud of him!! What a guy!!! He never ceases to amaze me!!!

The competitors at Dock Dog events are such a nice group of people – very helpful, supportive, and friendly. One fella from the U.S., Bill Helfer, really helped me a lot with Lenny in EV & was really impressed with Lenny’s efforts. He thinks Lenny can jump another 6in with some training & practice. Joanne, with Rebel, was also very helpful & they were both so kind and encouraging.

So, we are next off to an event in Michigan May 24-25th . . . .the Michigan Dog Bowl; it is a qualifier for Worlds & will be a great experience for us & a chance to get in some practice.

Cathie put Chic in the wave on Sun. at the Cottage Life Show. Chic is getting a little braver about jumping. She had some good practices & jumped 3ft 9in and 1ft 6in in her waves on Sunday. Cathie was quite pleased with her b/c she actually pushed off for her 3ft + jump instead of going ker-plunk into the pool. She's an official Dock Dog!!

Dock Diving at Cottage Life Show, Mississauga, ON

Wooohoooooooooo!!!!!!!! Only 2 more sleeps until the first Dock Dogs event of the season. Lenny, Chic, Cathie & I will be at the show Fri, Sat & Sun. We're helping out on Fri. Lenny won't be in any waves until Sat & Sun. And, he's going to try EV (Extreme Vertical - high jump for dogs) for the first time on Sat. . . .I'm so excited . . . . I think he'll do great . . . . he's not called Leapin' Lenny for nothning!!!!! Not sure yet if Chick is going to try any waves. Stay tuned for results & pics/clips.

Thurs Dock Diving Class

Since Fri was a holiday, we were able to go to Heather's DockDiving class on Thurs nite up near Guelph. Mom even went with us! It was so much fun!! Lenny was flying!! And . . . . . Chic is an Official Dock Dog . . . . that's right . .. . .she actually jumped (pushed off instead of going ker-plunk) into the pool!!! (I couldn't get a clip of her jumps b/c I was helping Cath get her to jump!) And not once, but 3 or 4 times!!! This was the first time she was really excited about the pool as well. I guess she remembered from the last time we were there.

Lenny had a blast. He was jumping high!!! Too bad there was a ceiling on the barn! I'm definitely going to enter him in EV at the Cottage Life Show next weekend. EV is after the waves on Sat. I'm very curious to see how high he can jump & also what effect this will have on his dock diving . . . . . his form & distance.

This time you get to see him without being on the Titanic!

I think Mom enjoyed herself - it was neat for her to come & see what her "grand-puppies" are up to when we take them out!

Dock Diving 101

Wooohooooooo!!! Dock Diving 101 workshop on Sun, Mar 9th at Argyle Farms near Guelph was a blast! The dogs had such a good time. Lenny, Chic, and their friend Lucky, took part in the workshop put on by Heather McLeod who is the trainer for DockDogs.

This place is a horse farm that has a therapeutic pool for the horses in a separate barn. The pool is kind of "V" shaped with a ramp on one side & a gang-plank which can be lowered so that the horse can swim back & forth on the other side & the person can walk all the way around with them.



So, most of the dogs started on the ramp getting used to getting in the water after their toy. The workshop was from 4pm - 9pm, split into 2 groups. We were in the second group (from 7-9) & there were 7 in our group; I think there were 6 in the first group. We were quite surprised at how warm & comfortable it was in the pool barn - it was freezing cold outside! After the sun went down, it did cool off inside, though, and the dogs were a bit chilly waiting between turns. We dried them off as best we could & then covered them with a towel or blanket - they were fine & couldn't wait to jump again.

From left to right: Cathie & Chic, Lenny, Anna & Lucky

Chic getting her feet wet!

Another pup ready to take the plunge!

Lenny had a great time! We started off with his Wubba for a couple of jumps, then Heather attached it to a pole which she held out over the pool about 8'-10' in front of him. This is to get him to leap up as well as out for the toy. Then she switched from the Wubba to a bumper. I think he missed it the first time he jumped for it, but after that he made darn sure he got that toy! This was an awesome start for him because there is an event at the DockDogs competitions called EV - Extreme Vertical . . . .this is high jump for the dogs whereas dock diving is long jump for dogs. He isn't called Leapin' Lenny for nothing!! He caught on fast & loved it!!

Check out the clip. This is actually 4 clips together; for the last one, you might feel like you are on the Titanic . . . .the photographer turned the camera (which one can't do as with still photos) . . . . makes for an interesting angle!! I'm so excited I finally got a clip to load on here!

We get to go to Dock diving class this Thurs (since Fri is a holiday, so it doesn't matter if it's a late night) . . . .wooooohooooooooooooo!!! Thurs class is held at the same place as the workshop - should be a blast!

Of course, this is training. In competition, the dogs jump off a 40' dock into a 40' above ground pool . . . . . .lots of room on the dock to build up some speed!!

Big Snow Day!!

Wow! It's been snowing, off & on, for 2 days now . . . .we have a LOT of snow!! Check out the drifts on the roof at the back of the house & on the carport! It's supposed to be cleared up on Sun . . . yipeee . .. . off to Guelph for Dock Diving 101!!

And, of course the kids LOVE playing in the snow!!

This is our view of the backyard from the walkout in the family room - I had to shovel a path for the dogs around the backyard!

This is not a car or trailer in the backyard . . . . it is the bathtub from the upstairs bathroom which will be going in the new downstairs bathroom!

Another Gorgeous Ontario Winter Day!

It was yet another perfect Ontario winter day today . . . .bright sunshine for most of the day and the temp comfortably hovering around Oc. The plumber & electrician arrived between 8am & 9am this morning to work on the bathroom in the basement (well, bathroom to be) so Cath & I headed out with the dogs around 9:30am. Went up to Long Sault again. Chic was not herself when we got there, so Cath & she slept in the van while Lenny & I did the trail. He had a blast- the snow off the trail was up to his chest so he had to take great leaps to get through the snow. I should have taken the camera today . . . . blogs are so much better with pics . . .I'll get the hang of this yet!! We were out for a little over an hour; by the time we got back the parking lot as packed - cars were even parked on the side of the road heading out of the parking lot!
A nap was on the schedule this afternoon in spite of the drilling & sawing noises coming from the basement . . . it's amazing what one can sleep through!!