Amber's First Attempt at Dock Diving

The day had come when it was time to introduce Amber to the world of...dock diving! We'd been wanting to do this with her forever, but had no place to go around town. Recently, a local pet grooming business owner (Doggone Dirty) opened up a facility not that far from us. We signed her up ASAP.

Before arriving to our first session this weekend, Mike and I made some predictions. I predicted that Amber would jump right off the dock into the water and be a natural without a care in the world. My husband thought otherwise! He anticipated that Amber would want to check things out first and may not have the easiest time for her dock diving debut since she has not really been in a real swimming pool. It turned out that...Mike was right!!!!

So here's Amber and Mike waiting for Ronna, the dog dock owner. Amber's watching me as I walk around the pool. She knows something's up, she just can't figure out what. She's thinking "Uh, mama, where are you going?"

There's Ronna! Amber's all geared up in her life vest and ready to see what this is all about. So I have to say that Amber really had fun and her tail was wagging almost the whole time. However, you can see here that she's a little hesitant to move forward. It was a lot to take in for the first time. She expected to be able to touch the bottom of the pool, and wasn't quite sure what to think of when she couldn't!!!

So...umm...it's kind of hard to see, but this would be one of the many times she tried to cling onto the side of the pool and hang on for dear life. If it weren't for all the tail wagging I'd be nervous for her, but she was just using her brains like a good girl! We had to break her of that going-for-the-side-of-the-pool business and reassure her that, yes, she is a lab, and yes, she can swim.

Another note: all that splashing??? Uh, yeah, that's not supposed to happen. Later on, Ronna, brought out two of her dogs to demonstrate for us (and for Amber to see). They kept their paws UNDER the water. Amber? Let's just say that Ronna was drenched, my pants were completely water-logged, and Mike was so soaked the money in his wallet was wet!!! It's something we'll need to work on! :-)

This was one of Amber's final attempts to swim the length of the pool and notice---less splash! Yay! That girl is so smart. :-) She got a big tasty treat for that attempt---and she didn't try to hang on to the side!

This is us after taking Amber home to let her conk out. She was so tuckered out! Of course we had to change our clothes, but it was worth it. She's such a good dog, and we hope that she gets to enjoy more dock diving in the future. It's good exercise for her, she does love the water, playing fetch, and being outdoors. She's such a smartie, we're sure she'll catch on in no time!