Dock Dogs

Hannah Does Dock Dogs

This past weekend was the Summer Teva Mountain Games, at Vail Mountain.  Hands down Teva Games is always my favorite weekend of the year.  The town is buzzing after the quiet off-season, the weather is gorgeous and the multitude of sporting events make for an exciting array of spectating choices.


Ever since we got Hannah (going on two year's ago) I have wanted to try Dock Dogs with her.  She pretty much flies off of any available platform into the water, and I thought it would be fun to see how she compared to the pros.  We signed up on Friday, got two practice jumps in, and were slotted for the 11:00am Wave in the Big Air competition on Sunday.  I ended up making Fritz take her up there and do it.  For one, if she was going to choke I wanted it to be him and not me.  Second, I hate attention and being in front of lots of people makes me nervous.  Third, I wanted to take some pictures and take some notes for a work assignment, which would easier as a spectator.  Fritz probably would have rather I done it, but he was a saint and put up with it none-the-less.  


After posting a video on Facebook of her practice round, the news spread and several friends planned on coming to watch.  It turned out to be a "hurry up and wait" kind of a day, with delays and lots of sitting around.  You are put into groups (amateur, semi-pro, and pro) based on how far the dog jumps, and the jump is measured by where the base of the tail enters the water.


Her first round went well, but she jumped kind of sideways and was recorded at around 15 feet (cant remember how many inches).  Her second jump was better, and recorded at 16 feet 1 inch.  We were pretty impressed with how far she ended up going, and a couple different people came up to ask if it was really our first time.  Turns out Hannah was only a few inches away from making it to the finals.  While we were guiltily relieved that we didn't have to wait around any longer, we were pretty impressed with her skills!  


There is another Dock Dogs competition scheduled for early August at the Mountain Dog Canine Carnival in Eagle, CO.  I think with a little strategy and some more practice, we just might be in the running for the finals!

Hannah's first jump in Dock Dogs.