What a trip we've had.  I am still just so amazed at everything we've done and everywhere we've been.  Today, Oliver sat on the steps of the state Capital!  Really????   When we walked around Old  Town Sacramento today and we heard, how handsome he was, what a good boy he is, and of course kids love to pet him it made us both so proud.  We have to say, we're pretty lucky that handsome boy is our dog!

Here's some more pictures of our wild & crazy adventure...

Posing at the park in Sacramento

Old Town Sacramento, shopping

 Mom & me found a geo-cache in old-town

 Sitting on the steps of the State Capital

 Playing on the grass in front of the CA State Capital

Come a long way for a dog from the shelter!



Road Travels

Well we finally made it to Sacramento yesterday for Thanksgiving.  By the time we made it we were all ready to be out of the car...even Oliver.  While he does have his Taj Mahal crate to travel in he prefers to ride with his head sticking out the window.  He hasn't had any of that this trip and has let us both know just how he feels!

We are still on the mission to geo-cache every day and have found some very interesting places along the way.  Here are some pictures of the journey...

 Morton's Salt facility

 Of course you KNOW there was a geo-cache here!

Oliver wanted to get out and play with the Antelope!

Time???

Seriously, what time is it??!?!?!?

Today we can both say we are actually feeling the effects of the time changes we've been going through.  First losing time then gaining it back.  We've decided the gaining an hour is actually worse than the loss.  We are back on "home time" and will be from this point forward.  We are loving all the sites, but can say we are ready to be done with the car for a bit!

Tomorrow we finish the longest haul getting to Sacramento for Thanksgiving.  We are looking forward to spending time with Sue's dad.  Oliver will have other dogs to play with which we both think he'll enjoy.  He continues to be such a good boy and we wonder what he thinks???  Are we homeless?  All he knows is that treats keep coming from the front seats, he's had plenty of bones & bully sticks, and is definitely enjoying sleeping in the hotel beds...

I'll post some more pictures from today's adventures as soon as I can.  Can't say tomorrow for sure, as I hear a turkey dinner and family time calling my name...

Nebraska to Wyoming

We are having such a good time on this adventure of ours.  We have gotten to see some very interesting things on our way both to & from IA.  We are all pretty sick of being in the car, but we are once again in new territory so that make it so much better.  Oliver got some time to run free today and he definitely enjoyed that. 

Below are some of the pictures from the last few days...

At the Mississippi River

Waiting for our friends to jump

SoCal ROCKED THE DOCK!!!

Covered Bridge in Madison County

The "Duke"..oh & Sue too!

Nice paint job!

Sitting on the porch of the house

where John Wayne was born

A Pony Express Stopping Spot

Chasing his toy stretching his legs

Just in case you don't have plans

Visiting the Union Pacific Station

in Cheyenne Wyoming

Beautiful Wyoming Sunset

It's Tuesday and we find ourselves back in Nebraska.  We are having some problems with the tablet, which is keeping us from more frequent updates.  I'll do what I can as we go and hope to have some more pictures on-line tonight.

Yesterday was Sue's birthday, so we took our time on the road stopping for pictures and any other adventure that drew our attention.  We took a side road detour to go see the birthplace of John Wayne, one of Sue's favorite actors and childhood hero.  On the way, we stumbled onto a 100 year old historic bridge in Madison County.  We took some great pictures and enjoyed the time standing in such a memorible place.

We head out of Nebraska and into a new adventure in Wyoming today.  We'll post some pictures from the last couple of days later when we have some time.

Oliver is still enjoying the travel time and has now been in 8 different states!  Today he adds another state to his list of travels!  Not bad for a desert dog...

Final resutls

While the first instinct when you don't win is to feel disappointment, we cannot in anyway say today is a disappointing day.  Oliver, the dog who was neglected and abused, running the streets unclaimed after being dumped by his previous owners, made us so very proud today by finishing 10th place in the junior division!!!! 

Last night we heard some statistics about the the 2012 DockDogs year:

• There were 22,000 registered teams jumping in the various divisions across the country, Canada, the UK, and Austrialia
• Over 300 teams are attending the World Championships
• 32 teams jumped in the Junior division
• Oliver finished in the top 10!!!

What an amazing accomplishment it is for Sue & Oliver.  We did the math today and realized Oliver has been with us for just 15 months and has only been jumping with DockDogs for 8 months!  That is something that just shows what can happen when a dog is given a 2nd chance!!!

Of all he's done, and as far as he's come, the pictures below are what make us so proud of our boy...

Sharing the love of a dog with kids, showing what training and responsible ownership can do, raising money for Chase Away K9 Cancer, and the ability to settle and sleep at his mom's feet are what make Oliver such a special boy.

How lucky are we he's ours to love...

The kids attending the event LOVED petting Oliver

Oliver made it to finals

(so it's not on the dock, he doesn't care!)

There aren't enough words to truly say THANK YOU to the SCLRR group

for letting us have Oliver in our lives.

It's mid-day on the 2nd day of qualifying.  The mood in the kennel area is starting to change.  Some handlers are extremely excited as they qualify for tomorrow's finals, some are sad as their chance of finals is gone since they've been eliminated, and there are those like Sue & Oliver who are still waiting for their turn.

There was a short break mid-morning and Sue was one of the few who was lucky enough to get a practice jump in.  One of the members in the club who is also a visual marking judge put Oliver at the high 13'-low 14' mark.  The dogs he has to beat to make it into the finals were jumping around 15'5 yesterday so he's got to pull out a big one to make it.  We're not giving up yet though.  Sue's giving Oliver some natural doggie energy juice and will give him a really good pep talk before they hit the dock this afternoon. I suspect she'll use the bribery method, just in case he really does understand!  I suspect it will be 2 steaks if he jumps those extra 2 feel!!!! 

Either way, we have had such an amazing time.  This really is a great experience and we are thankful to everybody who has supported us on this journey.  It is so wonderful to see Oliver who just a year ago led such a different life.  Today he's walking the stands and concession area wearing his Chase away vest, meeting new people and of course lots of kids!

We'll keep you posted on how Oliver does this afternoon.  Until then, everybody think good thoughts and looooooonnnnnggggggg jumps!

Round 1

Today started with a handlers meeting at 8:00 this morning.  The corporate group went over rules, regulations, and of course the requirement to have fun (oh ya and pick up the dog poop!)  We certainly are having fun...the excitment in the air can be felt.  Everybody is happy, sharing travel stories, jump stories, and of course trading cards!  It is so much fun to trade the dogs "pawtograph" cards.  We have quite the collection already!

Oliver jumped mid-day today.  He was in the 2nd of 4 groups for the Junior division.  In total there are 32 dogs jumping in his division with the top 6 moving to Sunday finals.  We hoped for a big jump today, but weren't too excited as Oliver always tends to jump best the 2nd day.  As expected he jumped a starter jump for his first jump around the 11' mark.  Sue gave him a pep talk, tugged and played in between turns and his second jump was much better at 13'9".  He finished tied for 12th place.  We didn't make it into finals yet, as the top dogs in his division were jumping at the 17' mark!  The top 3 won't jump tomorrow so now it's Ollie against the now top 9!   Sue promised him steak for dinner if he jumps over 16'.  I suspect he'll get that steak dinner no matter how far he jumps!  He's a pretty special boy and deserves the steak just for trying.

Oliver posing so proud in front of his SCLRR banner

Thanks for all your support...

Tonight we're going to the DockDogs formal end of the year banquet.  They will hand out awards for various things and induct teams into the Hall of Fame.  We've heard one of our very own SoCal members may be up for an award!  We had to explain to Oliver that while he would look extrememly handsome in a tux, tonight is for humans only.  He only pouted for a minute as we promised to leave the TV on and give him a big ole' bone to chew while were gone...He was pretty happy with the decision to stay!

We made it!

After 3 long but very interesting days of driving...WE MADE IT! 

It is so very exciting to be here.  The handlers area is a buzz with people from all over the country and hundreds of dogs just waiting for their chance to jump, swim, or fly all for their favorite toys and of course the love of the game.  The indoor arena area is absolutely amazing with 3 different pools set up for each of the disciplines.  Oliver jumps in Big Air which is the category where they measure distance.  He is in the junior division and typically jumps in the 12' to 14' range.  The more senior dogs are expected to jump around 28' to 32'!

Can you see the SoCal banner behind the big pool?

That is where we will be set-up

We found out today there are 32 dogs in each division.  There will be 2 chances to move from the qualifying rounds to the finals on Sunday.  Only the top 6 dogs total will be given the opportunity to jump in the finals.  We're keeping our paws crossed and giving Oliver a lot of encouragement to jump as far as his labby legs will take him.  We don't know where we'll wind up (in the finals or watching in the bleachers), but we know that he will like always, jump with all his heart and to us that is all that matters. 

We'll keep everybody posted as we go...for now it's time to sleep. 
Handlers meeting is at 8:00 and Oliver hits the pool for his first jump around 10:30.

Getting close

Day 3...

Woke up to a chilly overcast morning in Nebraska.  I was VERY thankful this morning that I don't live in a town full of cows.  Pee-U!

After a few hours of driving, we crossed into Iowa earlier today.  It's amazing how far we've come in just a few days.

Talking about how far we were from home made us think about Oliver and how far he really has come.  Who would have ever thought that the unfixed, scared, and neglected stray walking the streets of Hesperia would be 6 states away competing for a championship DockDiving title?!?!  I bet not his former owners whoever they are.  I can picture them saying..."he's a dumb dog who can't do a thing"!  Boy wouldn't they be surprised to see him now.  It doesn't happen magically, but with work, training, consistency, and most of all lots of love any dog can be a "good dog".  As far as we're concerned Oliver is a GREAT DOG! We're very thankful to SCLRR for rescuing him and then allowing us to adopt this special dog who has a heart of gold.

Oliver still doesn't know what all the fuss is about but he does know he likes King Kong burgers for lunch!

Day 2 contd.

So here we are in Lexington Nebraska after a very long day.  We were on the road for about 11 hours total today and lost another hour to the time change.  We are offically now 2 hours ahead of California.  We had planned to get up in Grand Junction this morning and shoot directly over to Denver.  Well...we seemed to have overlooked the fact that we would be driving through the beautiful Colorado mountains.  We stopped more than once to admire the beautiful scenery and take some pictures of our handsome boy.

Why you looking that way?  The water is over here...

PLEASE can I go in?!?!?!?

Looking for the best spot to jump in

Posing in Vail

So very handsome

So sleepy...Oliver loves being in the hotel

Tomorrow we explore Nebraska on our way to our destination IOWA!