X-treme Airdogs

We went to some more dock diving practice today. Almost from the beginning, Koira was hesitating way less at the end of the dock. Instead of coming to a total or close to total halt at the end of the dock, then jumping (which is what she was doing last time we practiced), she was jumping from a run this time, consistently. Or, well, as long as my throws weren't too stupidly off.



I also decided that Koira needed a diving vest, and threw one together last night after getting off work to see if it would work for her. I found a small amount of the swimsuit fabric in a discount bin because of a print flaw, so used that for this first trial run vest. It ended up working great, so I will use it for our practice vest and make a few more in various fabrics for competing later in the summer.



I also think the vest is good for helping keep Koira cool on hot, sunny days. Her fur is so thin that it does not help cool her at all, and since she is black, she gets really hot in direct sunlight. A light colored lycra swimsuit fabric vest helps reflect some of the sunlight off of her, and I think it will be good for getting wet as well to keep her cool. We'll have to test it out on a hot sunny day as soon as we get one.



Pallo came along, but he didn't do any dock work. We played a little fetch from the shore, but that was it. I think, since he has so many other sports to do, that Koira can have dock diving for now. She loves it so much, it is awesome to watch. I'm glad she finally found something to love doing!




Koira did start a little bit of extreme vertical (EV). This is where the bumper is held stationary above the water and the dog has to jump up and out to get it. The first step is just going to be teaching her to jump up for the bumper at all. I think we'll get there, though. I hope I can find somewhere here in town that we can practice, at least a little. With so many docks on the river, there must be one that goes off into the water somewhere without too much current.