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

Gil's Birthday Race Party

Photo by Sam Scherf

On June 14th 2014, Gil turned 7 years old. It's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that he's 7 years old, but he's alive and well, and doesn't look a day over 4! 

I originally thought that I would take all the dogs to the beach as a way of celebrating Gil's big day, but I got recruited to help secretary a LGRA meet that day, so I figured Gil would be just as happy (if not more so) chasing the bunny for his birthday. The only thing that had me a little worried was his toe, which he had broken about a month prior to the meet. It had healed such that he was no longer lame, and he had regained some range of motion in the joint, but it was still never going to be the same as it was before. I figured I'd wrap the foot as well as I could and hope for the best, and as it turned out he managed just fine :)

Patti takes off

Photo by Sam Scherf

This was also Patti's first time back on the track since last year when she came up with two fat toes at our spring race meet. Her feet had healed quite well, the old injuries were barely noticeable, but I wrapped her feet good and tight too just to be safe.

Pi finished first in all three programs, followed by Gil and then Patti. Even at seven years old Gil still has quite a lot of speed on him. Pi never manages to be more than a half length ahead of his dad, even on a good day, and sometimes they finish almost in a deadheat. 

All in all, it was a fun day spent with friends and good competition, and I know Gil had a blast. Here's hoping to at least seven more years with him!

Photo by Sam Scherf

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 :-)

Gil's 30 Seconds of Fame

Gil's image was just voted "Best in Exploring" on the Purina Pro Plan Facebook page. Every two weeks the editors of the Pro Plan page start a photo contest with a specific theme. Viewers are allowed to submit as many photos as they want for consideration, but only four are chosen for the final vote. My photo was chosen by a very narrow margin, as far as I can tell. There were some equally nice submissions, but in the end my photo of Gil took the prize. I think it's pretty exciting! And yes, he does actually eat Pro Plan dog food :)

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

No Puppies This Spring :-(

We took Luna to the vet for an ultrasound yesterday hoping to confirm a pregnancy. She was bred to Gil on March 14th and we were hoping to have a litter on the ground towards the end of May. Unfortunately it was not to be; the vet was unable to find any puppies, and we were understandably disappointed. The vet suggested that we do a complete thyroid panel and cultures on Luna to make sure there's nothing wrong on that end. Given her age, and the fact that she's a virgin bitch, we may have to use a more invasive breeding method next time around.