Today was a day FILLED with adventure!
The day began with the clouds parting, giving way to a rare sighting of the sun. It looked as though the rainy days of August were finally granting us a reprieve. We Alaskans know full well, when the month of August gives us a sunny day, we take full advantage!
My plans for today changed the moment that sun came out. I grabbed Wallace, Bryce and Jupiter, loaded them in the van and headed to Matanuska Lake for a day of fun. After all, housework can wait.
My two male Standard Poodles, Wallace and Bryce, along with my rescue Catahoula dog, Jupiter!
Wally, B, and Jupiter are known as The Bigs in the Galavanting pack. These three are the oldest, and largest of the group. Wallace and Bryce, of course, are male Standard Poodles. And my sweet Jupiter is a Catahoula I fostered and adopted when she was just about 5 weeks old. As it turned out, these three pups are typically grouped together on my hikes. They can play to their hearts’ content without the worry of damaging a dog show coat, and they’re personalities tend to go very well with each other. Each one of them knows and respects the other dogs’ boundaries.
The Bigs were ecstatic to get out to the lake today. We took the trail down to Matanuska lake and after about 20 minutes of playing and splashing just off the banks of the lake, I decided to encourage my little gang with a brand new experience.
We went dock diving!
Jupiter, my Catahoula Leopard Dog, loves the lake! She's a very fast swimmer!
All three of The Bigs enjoy the water. Wallace and Jupiter, in particular, are magnets to any open water they can find. Both love to chase objects into the water and swim. Bryce, on the other hand, prefers to only get his legs wet. He’s more of a wader than a swimmer. But none of these guys had ever tried dock diving.
Dock diving is also known as dock jumping and is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: dogs jumping (or “diving) from an elevated platform (like a dock), into a body of water. The sport of dock diving has only been around in America for about 18 years. And it wasn’t until 2014 when the sport seemed to really gain popularity and was accepted as an official dog sport with the AKC.
Wallace keeps his tennis ball close during our trail run.
I kinda figured Jupiter would take to dock diving right away. I wasn’t too sure what Wallace would do when presented with the chance to jump off a dock. But I knew Bryce would have no part of the diving, he’d much prefer to take a more observational role in this event!
I only had to toss the stick into the water, off the dock, once, before Jupiter got the hang of the game. Her initial jumps were more like “slides” from the dock and into the water. And once I introduced the tennis ball, oh boy did Jupe figure out the “diving” part of dock diving!
Wallace also made it into the water on the second toss of the stick. However, it quickly became obvious that he was not nearly as excited about dock diving as his Catahoula sister! Once Wallace made it back to the shore and regained his composure, he opted to hang back with Bryce and let Jupiter do all the work of diving for the ball.
We played in the lake for a couple of hours.
Jupiter and Bryce enjoy racing each other. Even though Catahoulas tend to be much faster than Poodles, Bryce still gives Jupe a run for her money.
And then I took my three Bigs on a quick trail run for about 45 minutes. On our way back from the trails, we saw the lake again and, sure enough, Jupiter, Wallace and Bryce made a beeline for the lake. The danced around me, trying to herd me back to the dock for some more water fun. Of course, I couldn’t refuse them.
We made our way home in the early evening, wet, tired and very happy.
I’m now watching the weather forecast so I can plan our next dock diving adventure!
Before my eyes open, I can feel his breath on my face. His nose pressed as close as he dared without touching my face. He senses I’m awake. My eyes are still closed, but he knows the rhythm of my breathing as though it were his own. I smile. Slowly, I open my eyes, squinting from the bright sun pouring in through my window. It’s barely 7 am, but the Alaska sun is high in the sky.