Pico spent a few days in West Virginia, at the Dock Dogs event at the West Virginia State Fair. She had an amazing time there!

There was soooo much to like about this event. The fair was great, and we were smack in the middle of it. Pico was thrilled about the frozen custard booth a mere dokken dft’s throw from her tent, Granite was thrilled with the hundreds of people who stopped by to pet him and tell him how gorgeous he is, and I loved everything, especially the weather - cool and breezy! When you are fetching and carrying for two dogs all day long, cool weather is appreciated.

Pico’s big air jumps were good, but not so great for her. This is always my fault because of throw timing. She had most of her jumps in the 24 foot range and didnt get up to 25 feet until day 2. So, she decided to find herself a new handler, two actually. She test drove a junior handler, 15 year old Chris from the Keystone club. He did a fantastic job throwing for her and Pico hired him immediately!! They will be teaming up again shortly!

She also let Bill Helfer try his hand with her. She said he did a good job, but I think she was only being nice. What is with these lab owners and their short throws??

Because there were so few dock dogs there, there was plenty of time to try EV with Pico, though I didnt think she’d want to do it. I was wrong! Bill and the dock dogs staff AJ and Shaun taught Pico in no time. She LOVES it. There weren’t enough dogs for a competition so Pico and Scram did a demo for the hugely enthusiastic crowd at the end of the day. Pico went from 5 feet to 6′8″!!!

She followed that up by putting her new junior handler thru his paces in a final big air demo for the crowd, and then enjoyed a frozen custard as a reward for her efforts.

I’m so glad Pico likes EV. It will give us something else to do at events. We’ll be able to do it at cynosports too, and Pico can go head to head with her sister Emmy!

Who knows, maybe I will “teach” Pico snooze retrieve… err, I mean speed retrieve and compete in Iron Dog…. Ummm… Nah, I dont think so! For one thing I’d need someone to wake me up when it’s our turn to go up on the dock. That discipline is a sure cure for insommnia.