Leapin’ Labs

This morning we got up at 6 am to pack everything up to head to a DockDogs event at Cabela’s in Dundee, Michigan. I was really looking forward to this event because Mason would finally be old enough to compete, if he would go off during the practice period. I wasn’t feeling very well, very stuffy from my allergies and my face hurt because of sinuses. I took an allergy pill and was out for most of the trip.

We got to Cabela’s to see that the event was in the parking lot with some people parking on the lawn. I hurried over to ask if it would be alright if we also parked on the grass and was told that “no, you need a special DockDogs pass”…I must have looked confused because the guy laughed and told me to pick a spot and drive up over the curb. We went along the back and Eric hopped the curb and parked. I went over and got registered, received my wrist band and signed the waiver. Headed over to the truck where we unloaded the EZ-Up only to realize that sometime this weekend we had lost not one, but both of the boys’ leashes. Thank goodness that Cabela’s was right there. I ran inside and bought two 4 ft nylon leashes. The line for the practice was pretty long so I figured that we should hustle up or we might not get our practice jump in.

On the way over Midas was overexcited as usual and was pulling on the leash. I corrected him several times like I learned at obedience class but he would only be good for a couple of seconds at a time. I got into line behind an intact male black lab and ended up in front of a golden retriever. I felt a little crowded by both, so I am sure Midas did as well. I stepped to the side and the owner of the black lab was nice enough to do the same in the opposite direction. The black lab was staring at Midas and barking. This seemed to be getting him more worked up than usual so I body-blocked him (stood in front of him so that my body blocked his view) and he refocused on the water. Before that he had been making minimal noise, now he was doing his characteristic screaming. Every time a dog got to go up the ramp he would jump up and scream, wanting desperately to get into the water himself. I kept asking him to “look” at me, again, as I learned in obedience class and this was the first event we have ever been to that he actually obeyed. He calmed enough to look at me, which in turn quieted his screaming. Granted, this didn’t last very long, but at least he was trying and he was remembering all the hard work we’d done. I was quite pleased.

At Ultimate Air Dog events when I would chastise Midas for being loud (because it is a little embarrassing), I would be told that it was fine, let him scream, it was his way of showing his enthusiasm and excitement to get into the water. They said some of the best dogs were the loudest because they could hardly contain their excitement. At this DockDogs event I looked around and people were frowning at me, or just staring at Midas. I felt a little awkward but figured he would show them what he was about when it was our turn to jump. We moved up to second in line and I watched as a golden retriever almost pulled his owner off her feet in his haste to get up the steps to the dock. Thinking Midas would be likely to do the same thing, I tightened my grip on his collar and leash.

Next thing I know, the golden behind me is jumping up behind Midas and barking and bumped Midas’s back-end on the way. Midas whipped around barking and both dogs rose to go up on their hind legs, but before Midas could move forward I had him yanked around in front of me and sitting back down. He never bared his teeth and his hair was never raised off his back. I figured we would each just have to keep a closer eye on our dogs and prevent them from feeding their excitement off of each other. No big deal, you see dogs jumping and barking at every event.

I was wrong.

One of the guys working the event walked up to me (just me) and asked if I had a muzzle for Midas. I was so shocked I just stared with my mouth open. I replied that no, I didn’t have a muzzle for Midas as he has never done anything to deserve one. He said that Midas was out of control and would need a muzzle if we wanted to compete. I didn’t have one, so I started out of line back towards the truck and the kennels. On my way, I heard a lady talking about him. I stopped and listened as she told everyone standing around her that Midas was vicious and that she was worried about him coming off the dock and attacking people. She said to them (there were people with children standing nearby) that they should just look at him, he was obviously aggressive and would attack when he was loose coming out of the pool.

I was so shocked and upset that I didn’t say anything, just rushed past her and put Midas in his kennel. At this point, he knew something was wrong and was drooping, ears, head and tail down and quiet. I yelled to Eric and started to quickly pack everything up. It was apparent I couldn’t compete, I did not own a muzzle and I refused to put one on my dog because someone else wasn’t controlling their own dog. Regardless, it was harmless posturing on both dogs’ part, nothing serious in the least. Eric didn’t understand what was going on and as I was obviously upset (crying at this point) he tried to calm me down. The kid from DockDogs came back and told me that there was no reason for me to leave, that he had found me a muzzle. I told him that my dog was CGC certified, that it was ridiculous that I was being asked to muzzle him when the dog that had jumped on him was not being required to do the same (even though it had reacted in the same way as Midas had, rising on his hind legs). He said that he hadn’t seen that and that Midas was the one out of control. I told him there was no way I was getting back in line with a lady who did not know my dog (wearing a DockDogs shirt) was telling anyone that would listen that Midas was vicious and would attack people. I looked over towards her as I am saying this and there she is, frowning, mouth moving quickly and the entire group around her glancing my way. The guy stated that he could not control her and really, I didn’t have to feel forced to leave. Eric pointed out that she was at an event, wearing their shirt and that someone should say something to her since she was spouting lies. He said he couldn’t do anything, but really I didn’t have to leave. I said one more time that I had never been treated so badly, that I would not muzzle my dog, and I would not stay one more minute where that mean, spiteful, lying woman could bad-mouth us. We packed up and headed home.

I was crushed. We drove over two hours to get to that event and I had pre-registered and prepaid…only to turn around and drive home. I could tell Midas was upset he didn’t get to go swimming, but I was upset that not only did I not get to jump Midas, I also didn’t get to test Mason out. My whole morning was wasted because of an uncontrolled dog (which should not have turned into this big of an issue, these things happen, they are dogs) and a vindictive lady. Once home I removed myself from the members list on DockDogs.com. I deleted any events I had been planning to go to through them. I was so discouraged because of this situation that I initially told Eric to cancel the plans for Imlay City next weekend (the UAD Ultimate Air Games event). After talking it over with him and with my parents I have decided to go to that event after all. We have been to more UAD events than DD events. We were at the UAD Cherry Festival event, by far the largest we’ve ever been to and no one even hinted that they thought I should go home. I have only ever been treated with respect, helpfulness and friendliness when at any UAD event. I will of course continue to work on Midas’s over-stimulation at the sight of water and will from now on be more conscious, not only of what he is doing, but of what the dogs around me are doing too. I am extremely disappointed with the way that things have turned out, but I refuse to let one bad event ruin a sport that I’ve come to love every bit as much as my dog has.