Stryker's First Award!

--I apologize for the iPhone pictures.  Trying to take my camera was just not in the plans with a crazy dog on a leash and water flying everywhere.--

I had my first proud dog moment this past weekend.  Now don't get me wrong, Strkyer makes me proud every day by being a good boy (well, most of the days).  But this weekend was different.  Have y'all ever heard of Dock Dogs? If not, you should look it up.

Dock Dogs is "The World's Premier Canine Aquatic Competition".  Dock Dogs is a dock jumping and dock diving sport for dogs.  It is a fast growing and very popular sport in the United States and Canada which has been featured on ESPN and The Outdoor Channel.  Dock Dogs is open to dogs of all sizes, breeds, and the only age requirement is dogs must be 6 months old.   You can participate in the Big Air, Extreme Vertical, and Speed Retrieve. 

So can you guess what we did on Saturday morning??!!

Yep, me and my dad took Stryker to the Care-A-Lot Canine Extravagenza where they had a Dock Dog competition! There were literally hundreds of dogs there but not all were competing.  There were dogs already warming up when we got there.  It was a little hectic with Stryker since he is not used to being in that environment with other dogs.  He is good around dogs, but not on a leash.  So I stayed with Stryker over by the cars away from the water and dogs.  Dad went over to the registration tent and signed him up! 

Ok let me take you back to last summer.  My parent's have a pool in the backyard and their dogs are NEVER allowed in the pool because they may tear up the liner.  When I got Stryker, the first thing my dad did was introduce him to the pool as a puppy.  So do you think that as he got older and his paws got more of a threat to that liner that he wasn't allowed to get in anymore?! NOPE! The granddoggy is so spoiled! If this is any indication to how they are going to be with an acutal grandchild, I'm all in! So dad practiced Dock Dogs with him off the diving board all last summer and the dog can't stay out of the pool now.  Every time we let them outback to play, its a guarantee that I will be taking him home wet. 

How cute is this little pup?!

Since my dad loves to do this stuff, he was Stryker's "handler" during the competition.  He got about 5 practice jumps in and he was doing SO GREAT! He was in Heat 3 against nine other dogs.  The first and second heat were awesome.  The breeds of dogs competing were all across the board.  One dog jumped over 23 feet! Heat three came up and Stryker was the last one in his heat! Since this was his first time competing in one of their compeititons, his first jump would be his Personal Best!

The first time he jumped he got 14 ft 10 in and the second jump was 11 ft 7 in!

 

It was getting a little overwhelming with all the dogs so we decided to head home and come back later to get his participation ribbon.  I spent the rest of the day gardening  so dad went back a little later to grab the ribbon.  When he came back to my house, he pulled out a FIRST PLACE MEDAL!!!! WHAT!? MY DOG HAD THE LONGEST JUMP IN HIS HEAT!

I think he has a future as a Dock Dog Competitor and I couldn't be more proud of my little pup!