What a FABULOUS Weekend in Rockford!

Well, we are home! The weekend was definitely an experience that we'll never forget!

It was a weekend of excitement, as all three of us Las Vegas Dock Dogs club members (Rex, Tank and Tractor) were trying things for a first time, setting PBs, making finals.. etc. Whitney was SO generous as to bring us chairs, a crate for Tractor, let us share her tent space.. etc. (Thank you again SOOOO much!) The other Whitney, who I'm sure Tractor thinks of as the food fairy, brought us food for him for the weekend (thank YOU too!!) and helped me out with some pointers.

Now to that actual events of the weekend. First we'll start with Big Air.. he obained 3 more of his senior title legs for Big Air.. with a bunch of 17'-19' jumps.. and even managed to pull out another Master leg, with a whopping 21'2'' (his new PB for Dock Dogs)!! I was so excited, I didn't realize that if he hadn't done that, he would have titled senior for Nationals, but I figured we have all next weekend in Katy, TX to get either one more leg of Senior (15-19'11'' jump) or 3 more Master legs (20'-22'11'' jumps) - so we'll see what happens!

Next up.. our favorite.. EV! We started the EV competition on Saturday night, but after everyone completed a 6' jump, we really ran out of day light, so we had to stop it until Sunday morning. We started up at 6'2'' and he jumped all the way up to 7'! YEP, that's right he hit 7' AGAIN!! He did miss at 7'2'' but he at least TOUCHED it (which he didn't at Worlds, so I'll take it!) so I have hopes that he'll hit 7'2'' sometime in the future. The winning dog for EV won at 7'2'', and the other 3 in the final four, all hit 7', but went out after. To determine the placements after that, they take misses/catches and some other info, and because Rex (who we are VERY excited for!) didn't miss one of the attempts at 7' (Tractor missed his first attempt at 7'), he came in 2nd .. Tractor coming in a tie for 3rd with a really cool dog, Chopper. We got another cool medal to show for it. :)

After EV, was the one thing I was nervous about over the weekend. Speed Retrieve. I had seen it done at Worlds, and it just seems really intimidating, knowing exactly when to let go of the dog (to not lose any time) - or letting go too soon.. I didn't know what to expect. Well.. he went NUTS for this sport.. (Thanks Chris for teasing him at the end of the pool!) his first time 6.6something, and his second score I believe (will update when I have the exact numbers) was a 6.7something. He made the top 8... and then... drumroll please... ended up taking 1st place with a score of 6.40!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only did he win $100, but this is a HUGE accomplishment.. on his first try ever at SR, he came in 1st! I was BEYOND excited and Tractor could've cared less, seeing as he curled up in a tiny ball after we got done and took a little nap. (*eyeroll* ;) )

Tank, Tractor and Rex all made finals - Tractor making Semi-Pro with his 21'2'' jump.. ended up coming in 7th - as I think he was just done by this time.. his jumps barely clearing the 15' mark.

We had an AWESOME time.. and we leave again Friday morning for Texas. (Assuming the hurricane doesn't hit/destroy where we are going) We'll be doing 3 BA waves, EV and SR. We got lots of GREAT video footage, so as soon as Lianne works it up, I'll post links/videos on here to show off how great he did. :0)