Dock Diving Dazzle!

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Yesterday I was busy getting the Agility field ready for use and Dazzle was doing really well laying under a tree in the shade watching me, just "chillin"... until he heard dogs playing at the lake. He gave me a look and I told him, "ok, go swimming" and off he shot for the lake :-) It was just the other side of the lodge and I knew there were responsible dog people there that wouldn't mind a bit of dog sitting. Well, Megan didn't just dog-sit and toss toys for him, she taught him to dock dive!! Thank-you Megan!
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It was on my list of things I wanted to teach him so I was thrilled and of course, over achiever that he is, he was doing really well. :-) Apparently he saw the other dogs doing it, so he just followed :-) The other dogs were just learning as well, so they were going after toys tossed off the side of the dock into the more shallow water. Gradually the toys were tossed from farther and farther up the dock into deeper and deeper water till the dogs were no longer able to touch bottom when they landed in the water. That's the stage where Dazzle was by the time I got to the lake. I pulled out my video cam and we did a few set-up throws to get on video, but it was clear he was VERY tired after all the swimming and fetching so we only did a few. The other dogs had already been put up for a nap, so it was just him in the video.
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She said that at one point he did get himself vertical (paddling air instead of water with his hips/tail under him), but was able to figure out how to get swimming again fairly quickly and didn't seem bothered by the experience. I was kind of glad that he did that and figured it out without trauma. When Coyote first did that, it scared him so badly I had to teach him how to swim again because then he was too afraid to swim. So Dazzle didn't seem to have that problem and the few times he has gotten vertical since then have only lasted a few seconds before he was swimming again. I think the second time he went vertical was because he was in the other end of the lake and felt the weeds on his feet and thought he could touch the bottom. I have noticed he doesn't like to get into that end of the lake, but will if there happens to be a toy in the water to fetch :-)
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Well today he was ready to kick off the "training wheels" so to speak and he went off right near the high end of the dock and on the next throw, she threw it off the end and in he went! The end of the dock is 3-4 feet higher than the surface of the water so it can be an intimidating drop, but after a few leaps with hestiation, Dazzle was then flying right in with a running start. I got a bit more video of him going off the end and also had Megan shoot the video while I worked with him. I had him do a stay at the start end of the dock while I tossed the toy and then sent him in after it. My first throw was really bad and he went off the side, but when my aim improved, so did his jumps :-) I can't edit video here, but I'll get that posted as soon as I can after I get back home.
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We also had the dogs make ice cream yesterday! Doree found an ice cream maker that is in the shape of a ball that is meant to be kicked around by kids/people (says it's great for camp outs and parties.) Of course when she saw them in the store, she was thinking, well the DOGS can play with the ball! Several of the dogs were kicking it, shoving it with their nose, jumping on it, biting it, etc. and they kept it moving long enough to make some pretty delicious soft serve ice cream! Of course they got a little taste of it for all their hard work :-) I took video of the process and will get that posted too. It was really fun!
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Tomorrow I plan to see if Dazzle will get in the kayak with me (or if he will even fit!) I had planned to do it today, but ran out of daylight and energy. I am so thankful for pain pills! I've been living on them while I'm here. The weather has been beautiful and I hear it's supposed to continue so I'm very thankful for that!
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We're having a great time and the camp is really looking good after all our hard work. Dazzle has been helping pick up fallen sticks and branches and turn them into kindling too :-)
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