Dock jumping - the waders story
Let me start off by saying I do not usually wear waders, I do not own any waders and this is probably the third time in my life I have worn them.
When a dog is first learning to dock jump, a very normal problem is that they don't jump right away. The water is clear and the pool liner is blue, so it looks empty. And if you are jumping indoors (which is the only way we do it here in the arctic north in the winter), the lights cause weird reflections off the water and there are crowds of people watching and noise . . . you get the idea. The usual challenge is to get the dog in the water. And we had a few of those on Saturday. But then we had a problem that is pretty unusual and I have never seen go on for this long. The dog wouldn't get out of the pool.
The first time this dog jumped, he required some help getting out. He was happily swimming and playing and someone pulled an old west trick and lassoed (ok, slipped a leash loop) around his neck and convinced (pulled) him out. No harm was done to the dog and it was the only way we could reach him.
The next time he jumped, he didn't want to come out and was swimming and playing. Someone tried the lasso trick and almost ended up completely in the pool herself. At this point, I swear the dog was laughing as he swam all around the big pool. We tried treats, toys and other bribes. Many of us had discussed getting in, but that water is cold and no one likes to be that wet all day. My friend and I made the comment that we would go in, if we had waders (be careful what you say out loud kids). Being that there were fishing demos, we only had to look around the pool and there were two pair of waders found.
So, what else are two girls to do, but put on the waders and get the dog out of the pool. We had dock jumping to do.
*there are pictures to go with this story, but the Mr is still 'perfecting' the pictures from this weekend. I'll post them up soon.
When a dog is first learning to dock jump, a very normal problem is that they don't jump right away. The water is clear and the pool liner is blue, so it looks empty. And if you are jumping indoors (which is the only way we do it here in the arctic north in the winter), the lights cause weird reflections off the water and there are crowds of people watching and noise . . . you get the idea. The usual challenge is to get the dog in the water. And we had a few of those on Saturday. But then we had a problem that is pretty unusual and I have never seen go on for this long. The dog wouldn't get out of the pool.
The first time this dog jumped, he required some help getting out. He was happily swimming and playing and someone pulled an old west trick and lassoed (ok, slipped a leash loop) around his neck and convinced (pulled) him out. No harm was done to the dog and it was the only way we could reach him.
The next time he jumped, he didn't want to come out and was swimming and playing. Someone tried the lasso trick and almost ended up completely in the pool herself. At this point, I swear the dog was laughing as he swam all around the big pool. We tried treats, toys and other bribes. Many of us had discussed getting in, but that water is cold and no one likes to be that wet all day. My friend and I made the comment that we would go in, if we had waders (be careful what you say out loud kids). Being that there were fishing demos, we only had to look around the pool and there were two pair of waders found.
So, what else are two girls to do, but put on the waders and get the dog out of the pool. We had dock jumping to do.
*there are pictures to go with this story, but the Mr is still 'perfecting' the pictures from this weekend. I'll post them up soon.
K, your father-in-law (Walt) would have been so proud of you putting on the waders and going into the water. Of course, he would also have been proud of Rocky enjoying the water?
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I am just glad I had waders!
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