Long-Awaited Update

I am so sorry to my readers (if there are any, lol) for not keeping this blog up to date lately. A LOT of crazy things have happened since the last time I wrote, and as a result I lost the motivation (and time) to keep up. But, things have settled down somewhat now and I'm feeling the itch to blog again.

I don't want to leave anything out, but at the same time I don't want to write several posts for each individual event, so I think it's best if I just give one big brief summary of everything that's happened since last winter.

Racing: The two big announcements are that Pi finished his GRC in March, and Rietsu earned her first GRC points by going High Score at her first ever race meet! We can't wait to see how she does as she gets older and more experienced.

Photos by Nolan Cromwell

Lure Coursing: Unfortunately we don't get around to doing much lure coursing, but we did have two trial weekends back in March and May with the RACE AOK9 program. In March, Rietsu ran for her certification and passed with flying colors, allowing her to enter the trials in May. The first day of the May trials, we had three MAs and one Saluki running in a stake. The scores were very close in the prelim runs, but I don't like doing run-offs with my dogs so I forfeited. That left the final results for the day being Rietsu in 1st, Bukra in 2nd, Pi in 3rd, and Gil in 4th. Gil was a little lame after the first day so I scratched him from Sunday's trial. Sunday we had four MAs and one Saluki in the same stake. Again, the runs were very competitive and close. Final placements for the day were Bukra in 1st, Pi in 2nd, Rietsu in 3rd, Gator in 4th, and Patti was NBQ.

 Photos by Ruthye Cole

Conformation: At the end of March, Rietsu competed in a UKC show down in Fresno. With no other sighthound competition we weren't expecting much, but she thrilled us all with an awesome Best in Show win under Judge Gary Andersen! That gives her one competition win towards her UKC Conformation Championship.

 Photo by Jairi Rai

Dock Diving: Pi has competed in a few dock diving events this year, but hasn't really done anything noteworthy, lol. Still, he enjoys it and when temperatures get really high it's one of the few dog sports we can partake in.

Well, I think that's mostly it (except for one other thing which I will make a separate post for). I promise to make a concerted effort to keep the blog up to date, especially as we head into the fall and winter months when sighthound sports really get going.

2014 Splash Dogs National Championship

I decided I better get caught up on this blog before I start posting about Nationals, so here it goes!

 Photo by Celeste Schmidt

In September, Pi and I got invited to participate in the 2014 Splash Dogs National Championship. In order to qualify, the dog has to have five qualifying jumps within the same jump division for that calendar year; they then get invited to compete in that division at Nationals.

Pi's average jump this season landed him in Juniors division, which tends to be the most competitive division in Splash Dogs. Since we didn't get to go last year I really made it a point to go this year, because it was being held so close by (Reno, Nevada). I was a little bit concerned about the weather being too cool for Pi's liking, but temperatures in September tend to stay within the "summer" range, so I figured it was still worth going.

 Pi and his silly jumping faces!

Photo by Kristin Beitzel

The National Championship is structured to take place over two days. The first day, each dog gets to attempt two semi-final division jumps. The second day, only those dogs who placed within the top half of their division get to return for finals where their highest scoring jump then gets used to determine final placements. Generally speaking, the days are scheduled from lowest division to highest division, with the lower divisions jumping earlier in the day. So, that gave us plenty of time to make the drive over the border on the morning of the first day (we weren't scheduled to jump until about 11:00am). I loaded up the car into a special Baby Pi limousine and off we went!

The weather report for Saturday morning predicted a high of about 75 degrees, which is a little on the cool side for Pi's tastes, but not too cool for him to enjoy the day. When we arrived it was sunny and warm, and I was feeling good. As soon as we pulled in I made a quick trip to the registration table to check in, then I got Pi out to let him potty and stretch his legs. We got there with about an hour to spare so there was plenty of time to warm up. Most dock diving competitors like to do warm up jumps before their real jumps, but I have found with Pi that it's best not to give him too much time on the dock before his official turn is up, unless it's at least 90 degrees outside. So I walked him around and let him watch the other dogs jump, which always gets him really excited.

 Pi giving me a workout

Photo by Celeste Schmidt

There were about 24 dogs in our division at roll call, and Pi drew an early jump time in the line-up. His first jump he hesitated before leaving the dock (I had hoped we were past that, lol), but his second jump was a solid 16 feet, which put him outside of the junior division and gave him a great chance of making it into the finals competition. Sure enough, he wasn't the only dog who jumped out of the division that day, but he ended up with the highest semi-final junior division jump and a spot in finals the next day!

The weather forecast for Sunday was not looking good (high temperature in the high 60's and possible rain), but I decided to take a chance and stay on. So after a restless night in a motel we headed back the next morning. As I had feared, it was pretty cold on Sunday morning, and Pi hesitated before every jump, but he gave it his best sighthound effort and ended up placing 10th overall in the junior division finals. At the awards ceremony I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that Pi was the #1 Junior Division Dog for the 2014 season! They gave us a beautiful little plaque to commemorate the achievement as well as a lovely rosette for his 10th place finish. While it was definitely not his best performance ever, we still had a great time meeting with friends and getting to spend one-on-one time together. And with that was the end of our dock diving season. See you all next summer!

Pi's BIG Jump

Photo by Jairi Rai

Apologies for the delay in reporting on this, but I recently finished taking the California Bar Exam, so between preparing for it and recovering from it I haven't had much time to post to the blog.

Anyway, there's not much to say in this post other than that Pi had a really awesome time at the CA State Fair Splash Dogs event. We were only able to attend the last day, but that was okay with me because the last day is the day for the finals competition, and if Pi could qualify I definitely wanted to jump for that.

Photo by Jairi Rai

He started out the day doing some pretty mediocre jumps, which was partly my fault because I didn't throw the toy far enough. With the way he's been jumping between the junior and senior divisions I was worried he wouldn't qualify for finals, but he just managed to get in for the senior finals (yay!).

Photo by Jairi Rai

When our time came to do the last two finals jumps, I don't know what came over him, but Pi broke all his personal best records with a whopping 19 foot jump!!  Just to put that into perspective, his personal best up until that time had been 16 feet. He improved by 3 feet, putting him into the Semi-Pro division. As the day had gone on, he was hesitating less and less, and by the time finals rolled around he didn't hesitate at all, at least not that I could tell. I hope that this event was not just a fluke and that he will continue to jump without hesitation. If he keeps it up he should be jumping at the highest level possible soon enough.

Pi's Splash Dogs National Championship Invite

We hope to be there, weather permitting! Stay tuned for updates.

Tamarack Junction Summer Solstice

Pi in his new fishy swimsuit made by Super Fly Suits

On Saturday, June 21st, we packed up all the dogs and headed out to Reno for the Tamarack Junction Splash Dogs event. We weren't sure how long we would be gone, so we decided to bring everyone, plus this event gave us a rare opportunity to do free practices in a smaller pool. I was hoping Patti might be interested in jumping once she saw her brother do it, but I didn't really get the response from her that I expected, lol. Oh well, we will keep on trying.

I had ordered Pi a brand new swimsuit made by Super Fly Suits, but had yet to try it on him since one of our own local jumps had been cancelled due to the drought. I was really looking forward to having him debut his new look.

I only entered Pi in two splashes, and while he didn't make any spectacular jumps he did have a good time (which is always the priority). In the first splash he placed 7th in the senior division with a jump of 15'5". Placing high in the junior division is pretty easy for him, but if he goes a few extra inches he lands at the bottom of the senior division.

Pi just about to launch off the dock before he hesitates

I have been trying continuously to get him to stop hesitating at the edge of the dock before jumping, because it seriously impacts his distance. In fact, it's not uncommon for him to slip and fall into the pool in the process of coming to a halt when he hesitates before jumping (which he did at this event).

You can see that Pi's feet are barely touching the edge of the dock. 

This was right before he fell into the pool after he hesitated on the jump

I'm not really sure what to do at this point other than practice, practice, practice. What I'm hoping is that Splash Dogs will revise their rules to allow for two handlers on the dock at one time, so one of us can hold Pi at the back end of the dock and one of us can throw the toy.

In the second splash, Pi jumped a little shorter (as usual) and placed 2nd in juniors. All in all it was a great day, and we're looking forward to more summer dock diving events as the weather begins to seriously heat up!

Pi doing his best fish-out-of-water impression

Pet-a-Palooza Dock Diving

I'm really late to post about this, but better late than never, right?

Exiting the pool

Photo by Ruthye Cole

So, on April 26th we attended a large pet fair called Pet-a-Palooza, which is intended to be both a celebration of our pets and an opportunity to raise awareness of shelter dogs and adoption efforts. The event is sponsored by several local radio stations and features all kinds of events and performances, including dock diving.

Photo by Ruthye Cole

The days leading up to the event, we had been drenched by several rain storms and I was worried it might be too chilly for Pi to want to swim, let alone put in a good jump or two. I ended up being half right and half wrong. The day was overcast, so there was not a whole lot of sun, and the high temperature ended up being in the mid 70's. He was enthusiastic as always, and achieved a new personal best, but his endurance towards the end of the day really went down and I'm sure the weather had something to do with it.

There were three splashes, and I got a little ambitious and entered all three. Pi still has a tendency to hesitate right before he jumps, but even so he manages to jump pretty far. His first jump measured 14 feet 2 inches, just 2 inches further than the next longest jump in his division, which earned him a 1st place in Splash 1.

After the first splash I toweled him off and went to explore the rest of the fair. There were tons of vendor booths handing out free samples of dog food so I quickly visited as many of those as I could, and also grabbed some lunch. After I was done cramming a tri-tip sandwich down my face we headed back to the dock just in time for roll call for the second splash. I never know what possesses Pi to pull off new personal bests, but he really went the extra mile and jumped 15 feet 6 inches! The funny thing about personal bests is that while they are exciting they also frequently bump your dog into a different jump division, which often means you get a lower placement overall. By jumping 15 feet, Pi moved up to the Senior Division and placed 7th overall for that splash.

Photo by Lisa Smith

For the third and final splash, I could tell that Pi was getting cold and tired, but he still put in two good jumps, and placed 1st in his division with a 14 foot jump. I didn't even consider staying for finals given how tired we all were, although I really wanted to. There will always be other competition days, and with summer looming upon us there will be plenty of opportunities for better jumping conditions. Until then, I was happy to go home with two 1st placements and a new personal best; which is pretty sweet actually :-)

New Dock Diving Title

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

I really despise hot weather; even temperatures in the mid to low 80's annoys me. In the past I really had nothing to look forward to in the summertime in terms of dog events, because it's really too hot to do anything, even go to a dog show (unless it's indoors). All of that changed once Pi got started in dock diving competitions last year; and while it's not my personal favorite activity, he really enjoys it and it gives us something to do during the summer months.

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

The weather here has been hovering in the mid to high 80's in recent weeks, so I decided that it wouldn't be a bad time to take Pi out for a dive or two before the summer, just to make sure he still remembered how to play the game.

One happy puppy

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

So, on April 12th we made the long drive down to the Doggone Dirty Dock Diving Facility in Hollister. There were four splashes that day, but I only entered two of them; first, because I didn't feel like waking up at the crack of dawn so that we could arrive by 9:00am, and second because I was sure it wouldn't be terribly warm that early in the morning and I didn't want to run the risk of Pi losing enthusiasm for being chilly.

Photo by Kaylee Jeske 

So we arrived around 11:00am, giving me enough time to get my stuff set up and get a practice dive or two in before the splash started at noon. While waiting in line for our turn to practice, Pi was quite excited and animated just watching the other dogs jump, so it looked like he still remembered the game and, hopefully, was still willing to play. He did two practice jumps with no hesitation other than a slight faltering at the edge of the dock, which he has a tendency to do anyway.

Pi is not known for being patient

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

He was called first in the noon splash, and made two very good jumps. The first jump measured 14 feet 5 inches, which ended up being his longest jump of the day and earned him a first place in the Junior Division (out of 4 total in the same division). His second jump in that splash was significantly shorter at 11 feet 6 inches. I probably need to work on getting him more amp'd up the second time around in addition to working on overall technique.

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

The next splash had a slightly larger entry, which always makes things a bit more exciting. Both of Pi's jumps also ended up putting him the Junior Division; the first jump measured 12 feet 10 inches, and the second jump measured 13 feet 3 inches.

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

That longer jump earned him a second place in the Junior Division (out of 6 total), and also earned him his "JD" dock diving title. Dock diving isn't the original vocation of the Magyar Agar, but it's still fun to achieve new milestones with a breed, particularly a rare breed.

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

Photo by Kaylee Jeske

Swimming, swimming, and more swimming

Ever since Pi learned how to swim, I've been working hard to try and get the other hounds to swim as well.

I've succeeded in getting Gil to jump into the pool for food; not the best motivator for this kind of activity, but I'm hoping eventually he will start jumping in for the sheer joy of playing in the water.

Pi's sister Patti is also making progress, although not as quickly as her brother and father. She did very well her first time in the pool; there was very little panicking (although the pictures may be deceiving), and even when she was allowed to get out of the pool she remained interested in the water and stayed close to the pool's edge.

She's been showing interest in jumping for food, but still needs some encouragement. Hopefully she will follow Gil's lead, and then eventually start coming in for toys. Patti loves her toys, which is something she and Pi have in common, and will play fetch with a frisbee. These are all good signs that she will eventually learn to retrieve from the water.

Hattie the Greyhound, on the other hand, would just rather be a land shark :-)

"Save me!"

Dock Diving

As mentioned in my last post, Pi has spent most of the summer learning how to swim. He had always been curious about the water, but was never much of a swimmer. Temperatures in the California central valley can reach high triple digits in the summertime, making it nearly impossible to exercise the dogs even in the evening on some days. As such, I decided it would be a great idea to teach the dogs how to swim since a good friend of mine happens to have a swimming pool.

It only took Pi a few days to learn how to swim, and only a few days after that to get enough confidence to start jumping in the pool on his own. He now swims very proficiently and without a life jacket. Because he was such a fast learner I thought it might a good idea to see if he would be at all interested in learning how to jump off of a dock. I have a lot of friends who enjoy the sport with their dogs, and since the Magyar Agar is such a rare breed it's always nice to try and reach new milestones with them and get them out in the public eye.

So, we headed down to the Doggone Dirty Dock Diving Facility in Hollister on Sunday, July 7th to give it a try. I was a little worried when we finally got down there because it was actually foggy and the weather forecast only showed a high of 85 for the day. I had no idea whether or not Pi would be comfortable jumping off a dock, let alone into potentially cooler water than he was used to.

Turns out I needn't have worried, because he took right to it once I figured out what his "on switch" was. The dock is about two and half feet off the top of the water, which is a bit intimidating for most dogs at first. But, I found that if I threw the toy out first, and then pulled him back away from the edge, giving him a running start, he was much more confident about jumping in.

Pi jumped in two waves, with his longest distance being 9 feet 11 inches, just one inch below the junior level jumping division. That jump earned him first place out of three dogs in his division. Hopefully he will continue to improve, and of course, continue to have fun.