Mika Malinois, Top Gun

On Saturday Mika competed in her first official DockDogs competition, held at the Blue Springs Fall Festival in Blue Springs, MO. There, she entered in the Extreme Vertical (EV) event.

In EV, a dog lines up no more than 20 feet from the edge of the dock. When cued by the handler, the dog runs to the edge of the dock, jumps up and out over a clear water pool to fetch a soft rubber dummy that is suspended 8 feet out and anywhere from 4.5 to 8 feet high, depending on the skill level of the dog.

Mika entered the competition with the rubber dummy suspended at 5'4" and continued to successfully dive at 5'6", 5'8", 5'10", 6', 6'2", 6'4", 6'6". Mika attempted 6'8" but missed and ended in 2nd place in the Top Gun level with 6'6" as her personal best. The 1st place jumper won the event at 6'8", beating Mika by only 2 inches.

While this is Mika's first event with DockDogs, last month she competed in a Splash Dogs event where she took 1st place in her first competition ever. In that event her top jump was 6'2".

Even though she didn't take the blue ribbon yesterday, I couldn't be more proud. She raised her personal best by 4", formed a fan base from the spectators (including a crowd of police officers), and as her handler I did a much better job keeping her muscles warmed up and loose.

Following the Splash Dogs event in August, I've been concerned about her ability participate in the sport because she was very stiff and favored her right leg for weeks. Yesterday with stretching and massage incorporated into her pre and post competition routine, I am happy to report she's showing no signs of stiffness or strain.

We are looking forward to building on what we've learned this year and coming back strong for next year's dock diving season.  I just hope it doesn't all go to her head...