After Piper received a National Championship invite in dock diving, she still needed to complete nine more jumps to qualify to accept her bid. Luckily, Gold Country Pet Resort added a few more splashes to their schedule so we were able to finish her season in Ione. Here’s how her final splashes of the 2017-2018 season went:

• Jumped 14′ and 14’3″ on 9/8, so she earned her first title (Dock Junior). Yay!
• Jumped 15′, 16′, 14’8″, and 15’6″ on 10/6, which means she jumped a new personal best.
• Jumped 15′, 15’6″, and 11’9″ on 10/7, so she earned her second title (Dock Senior). She also earned second place in the Gold Country Pet Resort end-of-year championship tournament in the Senior Division.

Overall season results: Two titles, a National Championship invite, and a 2nd place tournament finish. The bad news? Her improved distances affected her season average, which moved her up out of the junior division for Nationals and into the senior division (the very, very bottom of the senior division).

Because of this change, we decided not to fly her to Florida for Nationals. If they were in driving distance, sure, we’d go just to have the experience. However, the complexity of flying a dog cross-country was already daunting. Flying a dog cross-country to come in last place in her division? No thanks.

Now, we’re focused on next season’s goals. Here they are:

• Earn an Air Retrieve title.
• Earn a Master Division Distance Jump title.
• Participate in a Splash Dogs and/or Jackpot Jumpers event.

Can’t wait to see what next season holds for Piper!

Say what?

Yup, you read that right.  Pips got invited to the 2018 North American Diving Dogs/AKC National Championships presented by Eukanuba.

How, you might ask, does a dog who’s brand new to dock diving get a national championship invite?  Basically, it’s kismet.  Not Kismet the dog who also does dock diving.  Kismet, fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it.  Or….well, maybe it’s just dumb luck.  You be the judge:

It all started when we took Piper to her second dock diving trial on Labor Day weekend at Gold Country Pet Resort in Ione, CA in the hopes of earning her first title.  She was working on a junior division title, which means she only needed to log two more qualifying jumps with a distance between 10′ and 14’11”.  Seemed easy, since her first three jumps the month before came in at 11’6″, 11’6″, and 11’9″.

Well, I don’t know if she ate her Wheaties that morning or what, but her first jump on September 1st was 15’4″.  Second jump?  15’2″.  Third and final jump?  14′ even.  That means she ended the day with four jumps towards a junior title and two jumps toward a senior title.  Since you need five qualifying jumps to earn a title, we left empty handed.  Booooo!  I tried to be proud of her for jumping her personal best, but I wanted to log that first title sooooooooo bad.

The next day, after I got home, I started thinking about something I heard at one of the handler meetings, something about the trial being a national championship qualifier where the two dogs with the highest average scores in each division get an invite.  But how did it work with a dog like Piper who split divisions?  Apparently, it’s all about averages.

Was Piper’s average of her three jumps that weekend high enough to earn her a qualifying spot in the junior division for nationals?  You bet your sweet ass it was!!!!! Ben and I ran the math and we *think* she earned the first spot, but maybe it was the second.  It’s not like either of us has an MBA in finance or accounting or something numbers-related.  Hehe!  Anyway, that’s how Piper secured her national championship invite at her second ever dock diving trial, before even earning a title.

Such a friggin’ little rockstar.

PS:  We went back to Ione the next weekend and logged two more jumps in the junior division (14’3″ and 14’0″).  That means Piper officially earned her first title: Dock Junior (DJ).  Wooooohooooo!

 

 

 

On Sunday, we took Piper to the Central California Labrador Retriever Club’s second-annual Dock Dive/Barn Hunt Fun Day. Piper likes jumping in the pool at her Pop and Grandma’s, so we thought she might enjoy this dog event.  Boy did she ever!

The event was held at the Doggone Dirty Dog Sports facility in Hollister, CA, which is AMAZING!  Dock diving pool?  Check.

Giant doggie exercise area?  Check.

Permanent potty space?  Check.

Lots of parking, shade, and seating? Check.

Fun backdrops to take pictures in front of?  Bonus!

It’s a fantastic facility and Rhonna Dias is a great host.

The low-key atmosphere made for a perfect opportunity to try out a new activity.  Many CCLRC members brought puppies, so Piper wasn’t the only one working on her manners.  In fact, this is the first event we’ve been to with primarily Labradors.  I often make the mistake of comparing her obedience skills to older dogs of different breeds, and that’s a losing proposition.  It was nice to see that she’s working on the exact same things (pulling on the lead, whining, jumping) that other Labs the same age are working on.

Most importantly, though, Piper loved dock diving!  We started her on the exit ramp to try and get her used to entering the pool, and after just two throws there she was ready to try the big platform.  She didn’t jump immediately on the first platform toss, so we retrieved the tri-bumper with a pool skimmer and tried again.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, was all it took!  Pips jumped on every jump after that, and each one was a little farther and with a little bit less hesitation at launch.  Between her first round and second round, she was even whining to get back into the pool!  To demonstrate her growth between jumps, here’s a video from her first round, followed by one from the second round:

All-in-all, this was a super fun day with a friendly group of humans and some absolutely gorgeous Labradors.  Special thanks to Katy Bazurto w/CCLRC for coordinating such a great event, and to Rhonna Dias for hosting guiding us through the activity.