FitDog Friday- Dock Diving Lab

Wednesday I wrote about a Japanese artist who illustrated one of my stories about a girl and a horse. The illustrations are unique and amazing. Now I'd like you to meet another artist with a very different style, who has created an absolutely gorgeous painting of one of my dogs. The artist, Margery Caggiano, has entitled the 24 x 36 inch oil on linen painting, "Hi Mom!"

I love her use of colors, the reflection in the water, and the misty, peaceful feel of the moment. I am honored to have Hudson's memory preserved in this beautiful painting.

The dog is our yellow lab Hudson, who is now over the rainbow bridge. Hudson used to love to swim, and at the time we frequently visited my in-laws cabin in the New York Adirondack's Brant Lake. We would throw floating toys and Hudson would jump off the dock with delight. He was a strong swimmer and enjoyed the water even when the weather turned chilly. We snapped this photo of Hudson and it ended up one day on my blog.

Artist Margery Caggiano saw the photo and requested my permission to use Hudson as a model for a painting. She changed the background to the San Domingo Creek in St. Michaels, MD. The result is stunning.

Margery Caggiano is an instructor at The Academy Art Museum in Easton MD. Her paintings are in more than 300 private and public collections. The painting will be on display during the Easton (MD) Waterfowl Festival, November 8-10.

Join the FitDog Friday blog hop, hosted by Peggy's Pet Place, Slimdoggy, and To Dog with Love. *Link up any of your posts about health and fitness for dogs. Previous posts are just fine. The more fit dogs the merrier!

Want more positive pet tips, good news, and special offers? Fetch my free newsletter, Pawsitively Pets. Kelly and Ike hope to see you there!

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Wednesday Pet Roundup-- Heatwave Edition

Hi and welcome to Wednesday pet roundup. We're having a heatwave, so Brooks and Kelly cooled off by the lake. Here they're bringing you the latest links!

* Splash! Everything you always wanted to know about dock diving on the New York Times sports.

* The most expensive dog wedding: Baby Hope and poodle Chilly were wed in New York City in a $270,00 affair. Don't woof too loud, though, the event raised $50,000 to benefit the Lucky Diamond Critical Care Ward at the Humane Society of New York.

*  One of the most thorough articles I've read about How to Help Abandoned Pets. The Los Angeles Times shares how to stop pet overpopulation, how to keep your pet out of a shelter, and how to go beyond pet ownership.

* Like Lolcats? The world's first film festival dedicated to viral cat videos debuts August 30th!

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Dock Diving

This is my dog Hudson (crossed over the bridge many years ago) doing his own version of dock diving! He loved the water.

What's fun, splashy, and a unique activity to do with your dog? Dock jumping, also known as dock diving! While this sport is not really a fitness activity for yourself too (as we are focusing on ways to get fit with your dog in K9Kamp), I guess you could always take a few laps in the pool yourself afterwards, okay?

Dock diving is a dog sport in which dogs compete in jumping for distance or height from a dock into a lake or pool of water.  The dock is usually 35 to 40 feet long. The pool is about 40 feet long and the water must be at least 4 feet deep.

Two techniques are used:

1. Place and Send-- The toy is thrown into the water while the dog is held back at the starting point. After the toy is thrown, the dog is released to make the jump. 

2. Chase-- The dog is placed on a stay at the starting point. The handler throws the toy and calls the dog, thus allowing the dog to chase the toy into the water.

Jump Distance is measured, in most organizations, from the midpoint at the end of the dock to the point at which the dog's tail hits the water. The 2011 record is held by Baxter, who jumped 29 feet 7 inches!

Check out this video of some cool dock diving dogs:

Want to learn more? Check out Dock Dogs and Splash Dogs.
Here's another great dog sport--Check out Kol's notes, where Kol shares information about treibball.

Don't forget, we've got fantastic k9kamp prizes like leashes, dog toys, dog books, leather collars, and lots lots more! Enter now to win great prizes! 

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