Tuesday, July 1, 2008

June 21st......My new personal best!!!

It was a beautiful day. Mommy & Daddy got me up really early. I hesitated but when Daddy asked me if I wanted to go swimming......I jumped to all 4 with excitement. Next thing I know we're on the road through Cow Country. Mommy says their cows but they just look like extra extra large Great Danes to me. We arrived at Hudson Valley Dock Dogs. I spotted the pool and cried with excitement. Daddy couldn't park the car fast enough. Mommy took me out and I ran straight for the pool. I wanted to jump soo bad. But I had to wait for Bruno. Finally Bruno arrived! We could jump in the water. Too bad we had to wait in something called a line. There were lots of other dogs in this line. A really cute chocolate lab named Maggie wanted to play while we waited. She was nice. Then there were Kaiser! Oh was he handsome. He was a yellow lab. He was such a flirt too. He would bow in front of me so I would play with him. I think he was a little strong for his owner though. She kept telling him to sit. Thank god there were these distractions as we waited because before I knew it! It was my turn to jump!! Daddy said it was practice. WHO CARES! It's water! He tossed the bumper and wwwweeeee! I flew through the air and **SPLASH**. That was fun! Mommy took me to an obstacle course. The first thing I tried was some dark hole but on the other side there was Mommy cheering me on with my favorite treat....a piece of cheese!!! I was hesitant at first but decided the heck with it...I WANTED THAT CHEESE. I made it through! We moved onto these bars that Mommy jumped over and expected me to follow her. "Um, mom...you told me jumping (unless it's into water) is not allowed. You're starting to give me a complex here." I tried but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I like water better. Then we moved onto these tall bars. Mommy expected me to weave my body thru them! "Mom, I can't do that! I've got your hips!" She whipped out the cheese. I'll do anything for cheese. I weaved myself through the bars and mommy cheered! Will I do it again? Nope! Labs like me stick to dock jumping! It seemed like forever until I could jump again. Finally Daddy put my "Pink Lightning" water vest on. I knew it was showtime. I got to jump 6 times during the competition. My first 4 jumps were ok...nothing great. Then Daddy decided to change up the technique. I was so confused. He took me to the end of the dock. Threw my WUBBA out into the water and made me go to the back of the dock. "Wait! I need to get WUBBA." Daddy stopped me and whispered in my ear to go get WUBBA. Get it, Get it, Get it! He let me go and I ran with all my might to GO GET WUBBA! I leaped and **SPLASHED**! I managed to keep my head above water so I could see and hear Mommy. She was cheering and taking pictures of me like always. I climbed the stairs to get out and Daddy said I jumped 14 feet 10 inches! A new personal best! Mommy and Daddy were soooooooo happy. I was sooooooooo happy. I wanted to go again. Bruno jumped too!!!! It took some warming up and building some confidence for him but he jumped on his own! I'm sooo proud to be his friend. I knew he could do it. I bet as he keeps gaining confidence he'll be out jumping me! The end of the competition came. I finished in 5th place out of 40 dogs competing. The nice lady who pet me gave my Daddy and I a pink ribbon. My favorite color!!!!! Daddy put the ribbon on my collar and we lined up for pictures. I was sooooo proud. Mommy took pictures of the day but just hasn't had the opportunity to put them on the computer. She keeps saying she's going to but instead spends time playing with me. Hey, I'm not complaining!