Ely goes to the Dogs!

Our 2nd Event! The Ely Pet & Wildlife Expo was held June 5-7 2009. A long wait from February to June. This year we are definately going to have to fill that void and get to some more events in between.

We were so excited for our second event. It was finally "Summer" and Nallah had a few chances to get out and swim already so she had that sparkle in her eye when we asked her....."Nallah....do you want to go SWIMMING?". Even a little practice time on the docks up at the in-laws. We were ready. We even went out and bought a brand new camera for our new obsession. A Canon Rebel XS to capture those action shots!

This is how you pack for a long weekend of Dock Dogs!

We arrived in Ely mid afternoon. It was a little rainy & cloudy. About 60 out. Not too hot, not too cold. Nallah knew what we were going to do, and we both know she was excited about it. We were registered for the 1st wave on Saturday morning, but we wanted to get in a little practice when we got there. We attended the fun jump and I was SO HAPPY to see that Nallah was actually jumping off the dock! A little hesitation but she was getting the hang of it! That pool was no longer intimidating to her!!!

Our first wave was AMAZING. Nallah was excited and ready to go SWIMMING! She made us all smile by jumping 11'2" and 12'2" in her first wave. I was THRILLED. She was getting the hang of it, and made some HUGE improvement since her first event! ; )

Second wave, we switched handlers again. We wanted to see how she would do with Jim. MORE IMPROVEMENT! First jump came in at 12'6" and second jump at 12'7"!!!!!!!

So that wrapped up our second event. We were extremely proud of Nallah and she has so much fun! This event left us completely and absolutely OBSESSED with Dock Dogs. We couldn't wait for our next event. Let the addiction begin..........

Our first event........

Our first event took place in the middle of a Minnesota winter. Buuuuurrrrrr!!!

The cold didn't keep us from trying out this new and exciting sport! We waited in anticipation for February 21. The Minneapolis Convention Center was hosting the Pet Expo and we figured since it was so close to home, this would be a good chance to try it out. We packed up our gear the night before, the Tahoe was loaded down with stuff! Chairs, crate, blankets, towels. We headed out about 5 AM Saturday morning. Of course, it has snowed the night before and was still snowing on the way down. Made travel time slow way down and we were rushing to get there on time.

Here is a photo of Nallah watching me scurry around the house getting the last few things packed before we left.......I'm sure she was thinking......."Why are we up so early and WHERE are we going?! I want to go back to bed.........."

We made it to the Convention Center in the nick of time. Got our stuff hauled in and set up and it was time to JUMP! The moment we'd been waiting all winter for! I was registered as Nallah's handler in the first wave. Nerves were taking over.....I couldn't believe how nervous I was! I figured Nallah would have no problem jumping off the dock, the way she always did back home.

Much to our surprise....it didn't go as planned! We got up on the dock, I set her up in a sit/wait and called her down........she ran full speed to the end of the dock where she put on the brakes! No way was she jumping in that pool! I was a little discouraged that she didn't want to jump in, but I was told by several people this is how it is for most dogs their first time. "Give her time and she'll be jumping off that dock like she does at home". So for our first wave, no jump either time.

We switched handlers for the second wave and Jim gave it a try. He was a little more patient and relaxed about it and was trying some different approaches to get her in! : ) Jim tried getting her to stand up at the end of the dock and reach her toy out above the water.....which eventually got her to go in! YAY! Her first official jump was 2'4". Thats ok! We were so proud she actually went in!!! Now she kind of knew what she was supposed to do. Here's a few photos from our first event.

So we ended our first event with one jump. Not a monster jump by any means, but a jump! And it left us wanting more DOCK DOGS!!!!!!!