SecretBC Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 So fun! I just love his jumping form, he really maximizes all of his power & energy. Must be the camera angle, though, because he looked like he was going way further than 21'. I notice that he tends to have a very nice take-off point -- Is that natural, or is that something you can teach or improve upon? My agility brain is thinking, "stride regulators?" but I'm guessing it's more natural. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 OMG I know what you mean on the cam angle - some of them look much closer to 25'! LOL We do get a lot of comments about how fast he takes off, his pop, and his diving form (headfirst to maximize distance) - all are mostly natural with some tweaking via my throwing technique. Kes' take offs at the fun jump were actually a bit early a few times - generally he's leaving the dock with his back feet less than 6" off the edge of the dock! He's gotten closer and closer to the edge of the dock for take offs as he's gotten more confident, but other than that I've just let him do his own thing basically. Today's practice (starring *both* of the diving dogs in our house!): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Festerling Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Soooo much fun. The group around here is a bit spotty but we went twice and this was the result! And then there is the ugly flipside.... Me and a friend went to an event a few years ago where they opened the pool for spectators to try...I was certain that my boy would do this for me..... We suspected that it was because the water was clear...not geenish like in my pond! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretBC Posted August 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Great shot! And that is my concern... We had another good practice last night at a new dock -- but we've only played in natural water to date, no clear pools! Secret jumped off the end of the dock for the first time, though -- So I'm hoping since she was brave enough to try that on the first try, hopefully she'll jump into the pool without an issue. We'll find out soon enough! Monday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 We're gearing up for a big event in Cherokee, NC this weekend ourselves. Going to be interesting cramming 2 humans and 3 dogs and the gear we all need into my Subaru Impreza, but it'll be worth it! We'll send "Jump Big" vibes to you guys on Monday - Aeri will be in the same spot as Secret this weekend, having never jumped into clear water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordyn Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 We compete in both Splashdogs and Dockdogs competitions when not competing in other venues and have a great time! My labs have been jumping for awhile but my BC mix Jordyn recently attended her first event. She doesn't have a strong retrieval drive and cheated the first time by jumping onto the ramp then into the water, so I had to get creative with the place and send method while blocking the ramp. It worked well enough for her to pull out an 8'06 (her personal best) and earned her 3rd place in the Novice division finals. My 6 yr old Lab Hailey (PB 21'05) My 1 yr old Lab Ryder (PB 23'06, 6.61 speed retrieve) Jordyn's first competition Little Cheater! Getting the hang of it! The Aerodogs Sorry for the pic overload, as you can see the dogs really enjoy it! It's not as stressful as other venues, we just go and have fun. We are members of the SW FL club, but they are 3 hrs away so we don't actually get over to practice much, we mainly just attend competitions. You should definitely give it a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Nice to "meet" you Jordyn! Well the Cherokee event didn't end in any big wins, but Kestrel did get 3 jumps toward his *Masters* title, jumping 21'3", 20'10", and 20'7", and a qualifying Turbo Speed Retrieve round (7.79 sec). Aeri didn't feel comfortable jumping off of the dock, but she did retrieve nicely off the exit ramp, so we'll get there. She even got a "Dry Dock Dog in Training" ribbon! A video of Aeri's exploits (with a surprise at the end!): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretBC Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Unfortunately, Secret stayed dry yesterday. The pool, the crowds, etc. were all a bit overwhelming for her and she just never got over it. I'm happy that she kept playing/tugging with her toys all day -- that's huge for her when she's stressed! But ultimately she just didn't want her toys THAT much to actually go in the water to get them. Why bother when that nice man with the net will bring it to her? We ended up jumping with a bunch of very experienced people who all had dogs jumping 17'+. I was very surprised to be the only newbie of the group, as I thought an event at a fair would bring in more people like myself. Oh well, my dogs provided comedic relief between the real jumpers. Here's Secret's video -- At the beginning I really thought she would make it into the pool by the end of the day, but unfortunately she shut down a bit more as the day went on. Luke had an absolute blast! He thought it was super fun because he got to swim & play with balls and frisbees all day. Not surprisingly, he didn't jump at all. The exit ramp was not blocked in any way and I was completely unable to successfully body block him once he figured out that the easiest way into the pool was to go down the ramp. He looked like he was gearing up to do his usual plop into the water before he noticed that, and once he found the ramp there was just no hope. Oh well, he loves to swim! I'm glad I got all the warnings in advance about how different pools are for the dogs, especially the indoor ones. If I can find a pool for Secret to practice in, great -- If not, we'll just stick to having our fun outside in natural water. I do wonder what she would have done if I'd gotten in -- But that water had just come out of a fire hydrant the day before and it was COLD! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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