FRANKENMUTH DOG BOWL - Frankemuth, MI - May 23-25

Frankenmuth, MI is the most beautiful little town - I know now why it is such a tourist destination! I am very disappointed we didn't have more time to explore all the neat shops & amazing things this town has to offer - who knew??. Next year, I'll definitely build in a couple of extra days for touring after the event!

What an amazing DD weekend! We had so much fun! Lenny did great! I entered him in one wave on Sat as well as EV, and one wave on Sun. All of his jumps were 20' plus except one. He achieved his National Masters title this weekend!! In EV he made it to 6' against some very stiff comptetition. Thanks to Bill Helfer for all his help & advice in EV, and also thanks to Heather for her help, as always. Cathie & Chic had a great weekend as well with Chic also getting a new personal best of 7' !!!

A new team to the DD scene, a Belgian Malinois named Dart & his handler Pam Karr, wowed the crowds with an absolutely amazing performance. This dog, in his first ever EV competition, jumped from 5' to 7'2" to win the event & earn an invitation to the World Championships in July in Minnesota. We roughly calculated that this dog jumped at least 20 times to achieve the win and that was in addition to the Big Air waves he had already jumped in earlier in the day! Dart is outstanding at Big Air as well. On Sunday he landed not one, but two 26' plus jumps: 26'9" and 26'8" !! And he did this after the AMAZING effort the day before!! What a dog!!!

Here are some more pics . . . . . there are lots & these are only some of the many I had to choose from! Many thanks to all the people who had their cameras & shared their pics!

Chic taking a big leap!!

EV - watch it!

(Notice Lenny's beautiful Cdn collar courtesy Lin Gardinor - Funny Farm Boutique

http://www.funnyfarmboutique.ca/)

5'10"

Yessssssssssss!!!!! 6 FT!!

Oh No! Missed 6'2" !!

Big Air Semi-Pro Finals on Sunday - we placed 3rd!!

Speed Retrieve is the newest element of Dock Dogs competitions. It consists of a DFT (Dead Fowl Trainer) attahced to a rig at the far end of the pool and a timing system. The team starts 20ft back from the edge of the dock, then they send the dog to go after the DFT. The dog is timed on how quickly it can get to the DFT & pull it off the rig.

Bill & Jazzie competing in SR - this team made it in 6.75 seconds in the Finals.

If the water in the pool looks a little murky that's b/c it was . . . .they got it from the river on the other side of the venue . . .needless to say, the dogs were just a touch aromatic by the end of the weekend!

Heather & Cheyenne competing in SR

Lynda & Woody competing in Big Air

We had tons of fun in Frankenmuth & came home with lots of memories!