One Mile High

August 7, 2011

Mile High Overlook

Haywood County, NC

To escape the heat down in Cherokee we (Kim, Tom, Tessa and I) crammed into Kim's air-conditioned Pilot and drove what I assume is a full mile up to this overlook. It was still unmistakenly summer up here but with a much different heat, more pleasant. We hung out for a while enjoying the stunning view and eating peaches, before returning to the valley to report for the dock diving finals.

Girls Like Ribbons!

August 7, 2011

Cherokee, NC

This weekend, Tessa competed at the Carolina Dock Dogs event in Cherokee, NC - her second event so far. I entered her in two waves, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday. She got first place Junior Division (10' - 14'11") for her wave on Saturday (14'6"), and again on Sunday (13'10"). So that's two blue first place ribbons and a spot in the Junior finals.

The drawback of these events is the long waits in-between waves, waiting to be called up, waiting for practice, results, ribbons - and this was a hot day with highs in the upper 90s. But since we had made it to the finals we stuck around. Tessa ended up regressing a bit, jumping flat and not as far as I know she can, so we didn't end up with any of the prizes or trophies, but she did get a nice 4th place ribbon (the white one).

With 6 official jumps in the Junior Division (two events combined), Tessa also earned her regional Junior Title that day (actually, she only needed 5 official jumps to earn it). We can now concentrate on the Senior Division (15' - 19'11").

The competition pool in the early morning on Sunday.

The Sound of Music

August 6, 2011

Maggie Valley, NC

Climb ev'ry mountain

Search high and low

Follow every byway

Every path you know.

On The War Path

August 6, 2011

Cherokee, NC

Road trip to Cherokee, NC for the Carolina Dock Dogs "Dock Warriors" competition. We arrived at 8 a.m. but competition didn't start until 12 a.m. so we drove around the area for a couple of hours, being all touristy. The weather was a bit gloomy on this day, gloomy and humid, so we didn't get the expected "summer in the mountains" break from the heat - at all.

Published!

August 4, 2011

[at home]

Gun Dog Magazine, September 2011.

A Pointer's View

July 16, 2011

Jersey, GA

NAVHDA Dock Dog

July 16, 2011

Jersey, GA

NAVHDA training day - field work is progressing slowly, as is to be expected if you put your dog on one bird every 4 weeks. The backing went well enough, but it looks like we need professional help to progress beyond that. A month or two in bird dog boot camp should fix things, but I don't really want to give up my dog for that long, so I will check into dropping her off with Mo next time I go to Germany, and see what he can accomplish in a month.

After the field work the dogs cooled down at the pond and Tessa got a little dock diving practice in. Rhys and Greta looked on in disbelief.