Battle Creek, Michigan: Field of Flight Air Show & Balloon Festival
Today marked our first DockDogs event. I was nervous. We took off about an hour later than I had hoped for Battle Creek. After getting lost we were even later. But no big deal because there weren’t many people there for the first wave and we weren’t even registered until the second wave. We unpacked right next to the fence and unloaded the kennels, cooler and of course the boys. The day started out overcast and slightly chilly and ended up sunny and extremely hot, with a few scattered showers in there to make it interesting. The first wave got started before we had an opportunity to get in any practice time. It was fun to watch. There were a TON of labs at this event. I registered so that I could get my nifty little orange bracelet, which allowed me to bring Midas up for practice. He was a complete jerk on the leash of course again.
Practice Jumps, Round One. His practice jumps weren’t anything incredibly spectacular, but at least he was jumping right off. The first practice jump he skidded to a stop and then hopped off the end. Eric eyeballed the second jump and figured it was around 15′, which is farther than he jumped in his previous competition. We swapped the dogs out and I brought Mason up on the exit ramp (after asking permission since he’s under the minimum age of 6 months) and tossed the bumper for him. Once again, no hesitation, he flew right into the water after it. I tossed it out again farther, where he would actually have to swim to get it and he did just as good. What a trooper.
The Competition Jumps. After the judges meeting, we waited a few then grabbed Midas to get in line. We were the first group in the wave. He howled, growled, barked and warbled the ENTIRE time we were standing there waiting for our turn. We were 5th in line to go. I was not really nervous because I knew from the last time we competed that he wouldn’t be making it into the finals. We were basically there so that he would get used to the atmosphere and maybe in the future make it into the finals. His first jump I just set him where I happened to be standing and it worked pretty well. He got a 16′5″ jump! I was thrilled! Back in line and waiting very impatiently (on Midas’s part) and nervously (on my part). Our second time up I tried to set him where I had the last time. He set his personal best at 17′1″!!! I was sooo excited!
Medals. After the other two groups in our wave went Eric went over to ask about medaling. Midas got his very first medal! His qualifying medal for the Senior Division 
Then we found out he actually had a shot at the amateur finals. I was shocked. We waited through the 3 pm wave and then got the results: Midas made it!! He was in 6th place for the amateur finals.
Practice Jumps, Round Two. We had quite a bit of time to kill before we would be up for the amateur finals. I decided that we should take Midas up and do a couple more practice jumps, to keep him warmed up muscle-wise, and cooled down temperature-wise. We missed the measurement for his first jump and it looked like he hit around 17′ again for his second jump. We also got permission to try Mason off of the dock. He was pretty excited but the actual jump was a no-go. Poor pup, the water was farther down from the dock than he is tall. He was awfully close though. Maybe next time.
Finals. I was INCREDIBLY nervous waiting in line for our turn to jump for the finals. We were around 7th or 8th to jump. A couple teams didn’t show up so it messed the order up a tad. The first jump I lined Midas up far too close to the dock and not only gave a release word, but also called to him. That threw him off, he did a stutter-step to balance out and ended up with a 14′6″ jump. I was very upset with myself. Up for our second jump and I tried my best not to feel nervous, to line him up at the right line and to handle him exactly how I do every other time we jump. He managed a 16′6″. He did a very good job. If he would’ve been able to repeat his placing jump he would’ve made it into the final 4. Oh well, maybe next time. It could’ve been that he was too tired, too sore, or too out of shape to do this so many times. I probably shouldn’t have done 2 practice jumps, one would’ve sufficed. And it was definitely my fault for screwing up the first jump of the finals. We got a pretty medal though, showing that he got 7th place. Unfortunately while lined up on the dock he got into a tussle with the unaltered silver lab in 6th place…twice. A big guy ended up standing between us. While yanking on his choke collar, he gagged himself and vomited between my feet. Terrific. At least we made it through the day. I can’t wait for obedience classes to start.
Other Dogs. Sara (I met her at UAD) was there with her dog Oskar. He ended up placing first in the amateur finals with a jump of 19′3″ I think. There was an adult silver lab there that was terrific to see, so gorgeous - I can’t wait until Mason grows up. There was a 10 week old yellow lab pup whose owner put her into the pool to watch her swim, absolutely adorable! Also, about 1/2 the size of Mason at that age. Country, the Greyhound who holds the record at 28′10″ was there, which was kind of like seeing a celebrity. Bill who I’ve only talked with through email was there with his chocolate lab Jazzie. She placed into the finals, but I don’t know what she ended up getting. We met a couple who had a German Shepherd and a Malinois and happened to have them on a raw diet. I got many of my questions answered from them about the raw diet, it was great. The girl running the registration was great and extremely helpful. Bob seemed like a nice guy and the guys that were helping out with order and wrangling were very nice too and helpful.
Side Note. Two of the guys working the event said that I looked like Cameron Diaz. I thought that was pretty neat…if far from the truth haha.