2007 was an incredible year for Pico. Technically she has one more event before the year is done, a usdaa trial next weekend, but I figured I’d write her year-end post early. With luck her performance next weekend will be such that it deserves it’s own post. I can only hope!

Pico’s year started in less than spectacular fashion at the Chicago Dock Dogs event. She had her worst finish ever, 12th place! I could only laugh, because the problem was obvious, she decided she was not holding her stay and nothing I did was going to change her mind. So, distances plummeted!

We put Dock Dogs on the back burner for a bit, and made our agility debut in March, where Pico quickly got her AKC novice title. We then turned our attention to USDAA in the hopes of qualifying for DAM team in Scottsdale. What on earth was I thinking?? Still, we had a lot of fun trying. We’ll try again this year and see what happens.

In any case, Pico is a wonderful agility dog, fast and intense, but very responsive, with an athleticism that is just not seen in tervuren! The Q’s will come in time. I’d rather have that than a slow, consistent dog.

In July we went back to Dock Dogs for an event in Battle Creek, MI where she got a new personal best of 25′9″ and won the event! I was thrilled because I really wasnt sure what to expect from Pico this year. At this event Pico made it clear what I could expect, consistently huge jumps!

Worlds was next on our agenda. Pico had some great practice jumps and I went into the competition with a good amount of confidence. Pico rewarded my confidence in her with a 27 footer in semi finals, and that jump made my year! We ended up with the silver medal and an automatic invite to Worlds 2008!

We did a few more events that summer, and got a lot of 25 and 26+ and foot jumps. We won most of the events we entered and with the exception of Chicago at the beginning of the season we did not finish worse than third at any Dock  Dogs events!

Dundee Michigan was an incredible event for us, and one of the highlights of our year! Pico set one new personal best after another at this event, reeling off  27′01, 27′8, 27′10 and a bunch of 26 footers to boot!

A national championship was the next thing I wanted and Pico gave it to me. She won the Super Elite division and ended her year ranked #1 dog of 2007, #1 female of all time and #2 dog of all time! I did some calculations and Pico had 38 super elite jumps this year! I think this is some kind of record too, or at least it will be. Pico’s only three and her best jumps are ahead of her.

Pico has given me soooo much this year. She amazes me with her drive, intelligence and heart. I’m incredibly lucky to have such a talented partner.

Next year I hope for more of the same! And I’m sure my little girl is more than up to the task of giving it to me! 

One thing I know I can expect next year - a LOT of fun! Dock Dogs people are the best, and events are a blast. Great friends, great competition, and great fun.

Dock Dogs has updated the year to date rankings. I knew that Pico ended the year with the number one ranking, but my calculations were incorrect as far as her actual average. The events results have also been updated so I could see that Pico had a 27′01 and a 27′08 foot jump in the same wave. Therefore only one counted toward her average. So, we had to use one of her 26′9″ foot jumps to round out her top five. Oh well!

I was also able to look at the event results and see that Pico had 38 super elite jumps this year! And that is in eight events from July to Nationals. I’m counting jumps, not legs, in this tally. Pretty cool!

Although watching myself on tv is a horror, the televised events by the Outdoor Channel were a godsend in that I could see how I could improve my throws to get more distance from Pico. We’ll have to wait ’til summer to find out if my observations pan out though, because there is no dock diving on the horizon for us. It’s all agility for the next few months, with a DAM team tournament at a trial in MD, and an AKC trial in Williamsport PA in January.