Tag Archives: GSP

Bailey’s Health Scare

Posted in Bailey by

Hello blog world!  You may have noticed that I’ve been somewhat absent lately but I’m back!  We had a bit of a scare with Bailey earlier this month and I didn’t want to post about it until we knew what was going on.  Now we know that she’s going to be fine so I’ll give you the whole scoop.

On Monday, August 13 we noticed that Bailey seemed a bit under the weather.  When it was time for bed she was too stiff to walk up the stairs and then she stayed up all night crying and moaning.  We spent most of the night telling her she was fine (Bailey can be a bit of a baby sometimes) but by the time 4AM rolled around I couldn’t take it anymore and made the mistake of googling “dog crying in pain” or some similarly alarming phrase.  As you would expect, the internet presented me with all sorts of horrible conditions and diseases that Bailey could have been suffering from so at that point I called our local emergency animal hospital and we had Bailey in their office about 15 minutes later.

Sick Bailey looks a little bug-eyed after having her temperature taken and blood drawn at the animal hospital.

The vet examined Bailey’s back legs and concluded that she was exhibiting signs of bilateral tears in BOTH cruciate ligaments (like a human with partial ACL tears in both knees).  This was terrible and shocking news since, as far as we knew, Bailey hadn’t done anything especially stressful and we had no idea why she suddenly would be injured!

Desperate to find an alternate diagnosis, we asked the vet about Lyme Disease.  Lyme frequently causes joint pain in infected canines so we hoped this might explain her discomfort.  Sure enough, a quick blood test revealed that Bailey was positive for Lyme.  Woohoo!  I never thought that I would be happy to hear that Bailey had Lyme Disease, but given the alternative Lyme was starting to sound pretty good.

Snuggled up under a comforter trying to feel better.

The vet put Bailey on Doxycycline for a month and sent us home feeling cautiously optimistic that Bailey’s “ligament tears” might just be symptoms of the Lyme Disease.  Bailey spent the next week curled up in bed with limited leash walks while I spent the week worrying, hovering, and watching Bailey’s every move, trying to detect any signs of continued back leg pain.

After the week of forced rest was over Bailey was happy, sound, and eager to get back to normal life.  We had scratched her from a DockDogs competition on August 18 but since Bailey was clearly feeling better we decided to let her trying jumping at our club’s DockDogs event in Dover on August 25-26.  Check out my Dover Summer Splash post to see how things turned out!

The Fair That Never Was

Posted in Bailey, Trips by

Or, why I drove down the NJ Turnpike last night with my high beams and hazard lights on!

On Friday I eagerly reported that Bailey and I would be returning to the Monmouth County Fair for a weekend of DockDogs fun. Well, mother nature had a different plan. The fair was plagued by severe thunderstorms that resulted in a 4 hour “rain delay” opening on Saturday and the complete cancellation of all festivities on Sunday (today). It’s a good thing we got some jumps in on Wednesday when the weather was still nice!

Bailey rockin’ the dock on Wednesday evening.

As I was driving to the event on Saturday a friend called to let me know that the fair had closed at 12:45PM due to storms and at that point they didn’t know if/when the event would reopen. I was already 1 1/2 hrs. into my drive so Bailey and I hung out in the car at a rest stop for 3 hours (!) before receiving word that the fair was reopening at 5.

Bailey patiently waits out the storm at the Woodrow Wilson Rest Stop on the NJ Turnpike.

After a relaxing afternoon in the car Bailey and I headed up to the deserted, water-saturated fairgrounds. The DockDogs event staff were able to fit in the Extreme Vertical competition and two Big Air waves before the Fair closed again at 9:30 due to advancing storms. It wasn’t all bad, though… Bailey won Extreme Vertical! That’s our first EV win at a National Event and although there weren’t many competitors and her jump wasn’t actually that high for her (only 5’10”) I’m still thrilled to have brought home a blue ribbon!

(That’s the muddy bottom of Bailey’s crate in the background… all of our DockDogs gear is currently spread out on the driveway to dry!)

My trip home Saturday night was one of the worst driving experiences of my life. As soon as I got on the Turnpike I could see the cars ahead of me start to brake. This usually means one of two things — either a state trooper with a radar gun is sitting on the shoulder OR (much worse!) the highway has just been overtaken by an onslaught of torrential wind-driven rain. Sadly it was the latter so I spent 40+ miles of my trip home in the right lane with my high beams and hazard lights on. I know, I know, I was that car last night but hey, I’d rather slow down traffic than bring it to a dead halt by triggering a multi-car accident.

I somehow managed to hit all of those intense storm cells on my drive home. They were moving east and coming across the turnpike in waves.

While on the topic of slowing down traffic, have you ever wondering how the heck those drivers who fly by you at 50 mph in a downpour can actually see the road?? I was crawling along at maybe 20 mph (I quite frankly couldn’t take my eyes off the road to check) and I couldn’t even see the lines on the highway. Maybe I just have bad eyesight but I believe that my speed was much safer for the road conditions last night.

The severe pockets of rain didn’t end until I was about 15 miles into Pennsylvania and by that time I was violently shivering and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably – a combination of the scary driving and also the fact that I had apparently been blasting the A/C throughout the whole storm! (I didn’t realize this until the rain stopped.) What a drive!

Storm aftermath: this huge, well-staked, professionally installed tent at the fair was no match for mother nature. (Photo from Monmouth County Fair)

I woke up this morning to a message from the Fair saying that they will not be reopening today due to damage caused by those storms. That means I don’t have to make that drive again, thank goodness!!! I don’t know how DockDogs will handle the event placement but if they just use the existing scores this would mean that Bailey wins Big Air with her 22’6″ jump from Wednesday and she also wins the “Iron Dog” competition with her combined scores from Big Air and Extreme Vertical. (The third leg of Iron Dog, “Speed Retrieve,” was supposed to occur today.) We’ll see how things play out but for now I’m just glad that I don’t have to face the NJ Turnpike again anytime soon.

Another one of Bailey’s crowd-pleasing jumps from Wednesday. They loved it when she caught her toy!

Dockdogs Eastern Regional Championships

Posted in Bailey, Trips by

Last weekend Dockdogs teams from 15 U.S. States and Canada converged on the WISP resort in Garrett County, Maryland for the first-ever Eastern Regional Championships.  This was the biggest Dockdogs event we’ve ever attended and it featured two pools, nightly social gatherings, and the best Big Air and Extreme Vertical dogs in the country.  The goal of the event (besides having fun and hanging out with friends!) was to earn an invitation to the Dockdogs World Championships that will take place in Dubuque, Iowa in November.

You may be wondering… did Bailey the Little GSP make the cut and earn a World invite?  Did she hold her own against our friends and competitors from all over the east coast?  Did she thrive in the 90+ degree hot and humid temps?  I’m happy to say that the answer to all of those questions is YES!!  After a long weekend of more than 20 competition jumps Matt and Bailey placed fourth in the Elite division.  Watch out Dubuque… We’re going to Worlds!

Bailey’s jumps weren’t stellar — actually none of the elite competitors were jumping the types of 23+ foot jumps we’re used to seeing out of them — but her 22’6″ qualifier jump with Matt was good enough to earn her a spot in the Elite finals.  Bailey also jumped a respectable 22’3″ for me which would have qualified us for finals if she hadn’t already been in the line-up with Matt.  (Matt and I always have a friendly competition going on to see who can get the biggest jump out of Bailey… I’m still ahead for the season with Bailey’s 23’1″ jump from Hog Dog a few weeks ago!)  🙂

Here are a few photos from the event:

Remember Baxter? We last saw this high-flyin’ Malinois at the event in Virginia Beach a few months ago. Baxter again showed everyone who’s boss by winning Super Elite Big Air, Iron Dog, and Speed Retrieve.

And here’s Rocket, another top-ranked Malinois. Rocket is from Pennsylvania and he’s one of Bailey’s friends.  Also… Rocket is sponsored by Precise Pet Products, go check them out!

An odd thing happened to our friend Tim during Elite finals. Tim thought that his black lab Boo looked a little slow running down the dock so he leapt in front of him at the last moment. Needless to say, physics took over and Boo slammed into Tim, sending him straight into the pool. Tim took the fall in stride and was able get out of the pool in time to complete Boo’s “real” jump… good enough for 3rd place Elite and a World Invite!

Here’s another shot of Bailey. She’s twisting mid-air in an attempt to catch her toy. Not her longest jump but it looked pretty cool!

This is Twister from Baltimore, Maryland and yes, that stick is about to hit her on the head. (Don’t worry though, she’s a hard-headed Chessie!) Twister rocked the dock earning second place Elite with her handler Steve and first place in the Youth Handler division with Steve’s son, James.

This weekend Bailey was jumping best with the “place and send” technique, meaning that we throw her toy into the water first, then take her to the back of the dock and release her. Here’s Matt chasing her down the dock during a qualifying round on Friday.

To see more photos of the Dockdogs Eastern Regional Championships, you can visit my Flickr photo album of the event.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck to all of the teams who are going to World Championships!

June Bloom at Hog Dog

Posted in Bailey, Trips by

Last weekend we packed up the Subaru and took Bailey down to Millersville, Maryland for her third Dockdogs event of the season.  Dubbed the “June Bloom,” this event was part of the National Sanctioned Facilities Series and was hosted by Hog Dog Productions.  Although Bailey started off a little slow she picked things up for the Extreme Vertical (high jump) competition with a 6’6″ grab and then ended the weekend with her best long jump score of the year – 23’1″.  This was good enough for third place in the Big Air Pro Finals!

After a long day of competing on Saturday we enjoyed a crab feast at the event site with our Dockdogs friends.  I had never eaten “real” crab that was “in a crab” (as opposed to in a crab cake…) but after a lesson from our Maryland friends Matt and I were cracking and picking our crabs like pros.  The crabs were steamed and coated in old bay seasoning… the perfect ending to a fun day of Dockdogs!

Enjoying a Dockdogs Crab Feast on Saturday night. (Photo by Steve Sozio.)

Saturday night we stayed in a La Quinta in nearby Glen Burnie, MD and experienced our very first hotel fire evacuation!  We were sleeping soundly when suddenly a strobe light and alarm started going off in our room.  I leapt out of bed and started to gather up our most important belongings (the camera, my Phillies cap, and my iPhone?) while Matt checked to see if other hotel guests were evacuating.  Oddly enough, Bailey was completely unconcerned by the piercing noise and barely bothered to stand up before curling back up on the bed, oblivious to the mayhem around her.  After convincing her that it WAS necessary to get out of bed we shuffled outside with the rest of the La Quinta guests and groggily watched as five fire engines worth of first responders responded to the call and searched the building.  Lucky for us there wasn’t a fire (just a crazy lady who pulled the fire alarm) so after about 20 minutes we were allowed to go back inside.

On Sunday every one of Bailey’s Big Air jumps was better than the last.  She went from mid-21-footers to a 22’7″ on her final qualifying jump… just enough to squeak into the Pro Finals in the #4 spot.  In the finals she eagerly jumped another 22’7″ and then, on her very last jump, soared to a season-best 23’1″ distance which was good enough for third place overall.  Woohoo!

Bailey looks like she’s smiling as she launches off the dock in the finals.

Here are some more photos that we took at the event:

Gunner, a male GSP from Annapolis, soars through the air as his “brother,” a Wiemaraner named Butler, cheers him on.

Rusty, a handsome Lab from Tennessee, floats through the air in the finals.

Bailey took a nap Saturday afternoon before the Extreme Vertical competition started.

Marcie, a black lab from Ohio, sports a snazzy pink vest when she competes.

This is Marcie’s daughter, Penny. Penny just learned how to compete in Extreme Vertical and she ended up winning that event with a 6’10” grab!

This is our fellow Delmarva Dockdog member “Rain,” a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Rain and Bailey both grabbed 6’6″ in the Extreme Vertical competition (pictured here).

Bailey catches her red “wubba” toy in mid-air during this practice jump. Nice throw, Matt!

Overall, we had a great weekend.  We spent time with our Dockdogs friends, watched our Little GSP enjoy herself on the dock, and ate fresh Maryland crabs… what could be better than that?  🙂

Vote for Bailey in the Dockdogs Photo Contest!

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by

Guess what?  I entered this photo of Bailey and Matt in a Dockdogs photo contest on Facebook.  The contest is based purely on the number of Facebook “LIKES” a photo gets so I’m humbly requesting that you consider voting for it.  All you have to do is click on the photo below which will automatically bring you to the photo’s page on Facebook.  Then click “LIKE” in Facebook — it’s that easy!

Here’s some more information on the photo itself if you’re interested…

  • Taken by me on July 3, 2010 at the Big Butler Fair in Butler County, PA
  • The toy is not in fact attached to Bailey’s nose with a string… the rope-ended duck toy that Matt was using just happened to twist in the air that way at this particular moment.
  • This photo is the original version of the image that I use for my WordPress “gravatar” icon and it is one of my all-time favorite photos of Bailey.
  • Bailey ended up getting 3rd place overall at this event behind a Dalmatian named Lance and a Black Lab named Marcie.

Thanks for reading and please consider voting!  🙂

Our Four-Legged House Guest

Posted in Adventures at Home, Bailey by

This weekend we had a furry, four-legged guest in our house – Hershey the chocolate lab!  Hershey is my mom’s dog and we occasionally take care of her when my mom is out of town.

Hershey and Bailey spent hours outside playing tug-of-war with their favorite rope toy, cooling off in our shallow “kiddie” pool, and resting in the shade under our viburnum bush.

By the way… see that embroidered green collar that Hershey is wearing?  That’s a gift from Bailey!  Bailey actually won this collar at the Care-A-Lot Dockdogs event in April.  Since Bailey usually wears a plasticized orange collar we had the green prize collar embroidered with Hershey’s name instead.

We dropped Hershey back off at my mom’s house a few hours ago.  She and Bailey will both sleep well tonight after their busy weekend!

Does your dog have a “best” canine friend?  What do they do together all day?

Bailey turns five!

Posted in Bailey by

Last Friday was Bailey’s fifth birthday so I thought that a post about my energetic four-legged friend might be in order.

Matt and I first met Bailey when she was four weeks old.  She had nine litter mates but choosing her was easy because, unlike her brothers and sisters who were only interested in eating and sleeping, Bailey was constantly bouncing around exploring her surroundings.  Bailey still continues to be an, ahem, “independent” dog (which is a nice way of saying that she’ll completely ignore us if she’s doing something that she deems more interesting) and that bounce in her four-week-old step has translated into a spring-loaded “pop” off the dock when she jumps at Dockdogs competitions.

Bailey at 7 weeks on her first day home with us.

How can you resist that puppy face? Click here to read more!

Addicted to DOCKDOGS!

Posted in Bailey by

Back in 2009 Matt and I were watching the “Diving Dogs” in the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge on ESPN.  In this competition each dog sprinted down a 40 foot long dock and catapulted itself as far as it could go into a big pool of water.  The dog with the longest jump, a GSP named “Seven,” in that particular competition, won the event.

Bailey catches her wubba on a practice “Big Air” jump

This looked like great fun and our GSP, Bailey, had just learned how to swim and already was great at jumping over a two-rail fence in and out of my mom’s garden.  We decided to put the two skills together and try out the sport of dock diving.  We entered our first “Dockdogs” event in central PA in June 2009 and from that point on we were officially addicted to Dockdogs!

Since that first event we have traveled all over the East Coast with Bailey to compete with our Dockdogs friends and our club members from Delmarva Dockdogs.  Bailey has jumped at county fairs in New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut and Waterfowl Festivals in Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware.  The farthest we’ve traveled so far was to a Bark in the Park event in Lawrence, Ohio (about a 10 hour drive!).

Bailey shows off for a big crowd at the Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland

Bailey has earned an “Elite” Dockdogs title for Big Air (the long jump event that first got us hooked).  She’s also earned a “Top Gun” title in the sport of Extreme Vertical, which is a high jump competition where the dogs must knock down a bumper that’s extended up and over the pool.  Some of the high points of Bailey’s Dockdogs “career” so far are listed below.

Bailey competes in Big Air (left) and Extreme Vertical (right)

If you think Dockdogs sounds like a sport that you and your dog might enjoy, I highly recommend that you give it a try!  There are local clubs all over the country that have practices and events during the summer.  Check out www.dockdogs.com to learn more!

Bailey catapults herself off of the dock in an attempt to catch her duck

Bailey’s Top Performances:

  • #1 Ranked German Shorthaired Pointer in the Country for 2010 and 2011
  • 1st Place Elite/SuperElite Finals, 2012 Ocean County Decoy and Gunning Show (Tuckerton, NJ)
  • 1st Place Elite/SuperElite Finals, 2012 Delmarva Summer Splash (Dover, DE)
  • 2nd Place Top Gun Extreme Vertical, 2012 Delmarva Summer Splash (Dover, DE)
  • 1st Place Pro Finals, Monmouth County Fair (East Freehold, NJ)
  • 2012 World Championship Invitation, Elite Big Air
  • 4th Place Elite, 2012 Eastern Regional Championships (McHenry, MD)
  • 2nd Place Top Gun Extreme Vertical, 2012 Delmarva DockDaze (Bivalve, MD)
  • 1st Place Top Gun Extreme Vertical, 2011 Ocean County Decoy Show (Tuckerton, NJ)
  • 1st Place Top Gun Extreme Vertical, 2011 Chesapeake Pondfest (Adamstown, MD)
  • 1st Place Top Gun Extreme Vertical, 2011 Delmarva Summer Splash (Dover, DE)
  • 1st Place Pro Finals, 2011 Harford County Farm Fair (Bel Air, MD)
  • 1st Place Elite/SuperElite Finals, 2010 Delmarva Summer Splash (Dover, DE)
  • 2nd Place Elite Finals, 2010 Keystone Stoltzfus Summer Splash (Gap, PA)
  • 2nd Place Pro Finals, 2010 Harford County Farm Fair (Bel Air, MD)
  • 1st Place Elite Finals, 2010 Keystone That Pet Place Event (Lancaster, PA)
  • 1st Place Top Gun Extreme Vertical, 2010 Delmarva Doggone Fun Event (Dover, DE)
  • 3rd Place Pro Finals, 2010 Clay’s Bark in the Park Event (Lawrence, OH)
  • 1st Place Elite Finals, 2010 Tidewater Paws for a Cause Event (Newport News, VA)
  • 2nd Place Pro Finals, 2009 Harford County Farm Fair (Bel Air, MD)

Bailey’s Personal Bests:

  • Big Air – 25’6”
  • Extreme Vertical – 7’0”
  • Speed Retrieve – 6.550 seconds

Bailey at the Big Butler Fair in Butler County, PA

For more photos, visit TheLittleGSP on Flickr!

Did you know…?

Posted in Bailey by

Bailey sleeps in a sleeping bag in the winter!  Here’s a photo of her “camping” sleeping bag that rolls up for easy transport.  She also has a “dog den” bed that has a fleece flap that she burrows under.

It’s Bailey!

Posted in Bailey by
The Little GSP times three

Three of my favorite non-action photos of Bailey

This is our German Shorthaired Pointer, Bailey.  Bailey was born in May 2007 in Lambertville, NJ and we brought her home when she was 7 weeks old.  Bailey is full of energy and has an extra short tail “nub.”  She earned her nickname, “The Little GSP,” at the Dockdogs events that we compete in because she is very petite for a German Shorthair and she is usually much smaller than her Labrador, Chessie, and Malinois competitors on the dock.  Her favorite toys are her floppy disc frisbee, her red wubba, and her plush “migrator” ducks (she has a whole flock of them).  Bailey has very soft ears and loves to snuggle in the winter when it’s cold out.