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!!