What a fun time I had on Saturday at the North America Diving Dogs event at WestWind Kennel to benefit Chesapeake Bay Retriever Relief and Rescue.  I met up with my friend Rinn and her pup, Reesie, and new friend Penny and her pup, Shaman, who were competing.  (FYI…Rinn is Savannah and Gabriel’s foster mom from Siamese Cat Rescue Center!)  Above is Shaman super focused on the toy as she jumps off the dock.  Below is chocolate Lab, Reesie, ears in the air and a big smile on her face.  These dogs LOVE to dock diving!

Photographers often use the term “grab shot” when they capture an image quickly or on the spur of the moment.  This photo, however, really IS a grab shot … or an “about to grab” shot as the dog is a millisecond away from snatching the bumper hanging in front of him in the Keystone Dock Dogs Extreme Vertical competition.  I had so much fun photographing this event and it was extremely challenging.  What lens do I use?  What depth of field?  How do I focus on these fast moving dogs that were in and out of my viewfinder in a second?  I have a zillion failed shots and a few winners that I just love, like this one!

If “Big Air” is the long jump in the Dock Dogs Competition, then “Extreme Vertical” is the high jump!  A bumper toy is suspended 8′ from the end of the dock over the water at varying heights beginning at 4’6″.  The dogs start at the 20′ mark on the dock and then run and jump to either grab or knock down the bumper toy.  They have 60 seconds per attempt and they jump until they have 2 misses.  These dogs are fantastic athletes!  What a great view these folks had from their boats on the lake!

The Keystone Dock Dogs competition at Codorous Blast was awesome!  There were so many high flying dogs that achieved personal best scores this weekend!  I watched the Big Air competition which is the long jump for canines.  Dog and handler start from a 40 foot dock.  The handler throws a toy into the water and the dog runs as fast as 20 mph and jumps into the water to retrieve the toy.  The current world record is 28’10”.  I don’t know if the record was broken, but I saw some dogs jumping in the 22′ – 24′ range.  The distance is measured from the end of the dock to the where the base of the dog’s tail breaks the water.  So much fun to watch and oh so challenging to photograph!!

I have never really photographed at a dog agility trial before.  Talk about all of the variables that can set up a photographer for failure – indoor setting with not enough light and dogs running at top speed in all different directions.  It’s all about anticipation in photographing this sport!  I started shooting even before the dog arrived at the jump and held down the shutter while the dogs went flying over the bar.  It was great fun to photograph and a good challenge!  Not to mention that the dogs were all fabulous!  I have way more failed shots than good ones, but I came away with some favorites, despite the need to shoot at high ISO with a fast shutter speed.  This Springer Spaniel was a superstar at agility!