About Thunder

THUNDER'S STORY

After my old lab Winston passed away on April 13, 2006 my house was so empty that I needed to get another dog to fill it. I decided to go to a Lab Rescue Adoption Day to see about signing up and meeting some dogs. I found Thunder - a tall, muscular black lab with soft brown eyes who pulled me around the parking lot.  I adopted him on May 6, 2006. The only information known about him was that he was a stray from Virginia. They didn't know if he was house broken or crate trained or how he was raised.  After sleeping all the way home in the back seat, he discovered a tennis ball in the yard and I found his true love.  Thunder would play ball 24 hours a day if only someone would throw it - I think we played ball for about six hours that first day. I quickly learned that if you wanted to get anything done and keep the house halfway clean, the slobbery ball is not allowed in the house. I wasn't sure about keeping his name, but as he "Thundered" thru my house and yard, it fit him perfectly.

Lab Rescue told me he loved to swim so I took him over to my cousin's house to go swimming in the Patapsco River. They have a bulkhead with steps and I was able to keep him contained in the water. I'd pretend to throw the toy, he'd start swimming, then I'd run up on the dock all the way to the end and throw it so he would get a nice loooong swim. Well, he's not stupid and quickly figured out what I was doing. He followed me on the dock and I was terrified he would run away so I threw the toy in the water knowing how attached he was to it and tried to get him to go back down the steps to get it. Being Thunder, instead of going down the steps, after much whining and pacing, all four paws went on the edge of the dock, and he went in head first. He decided that was fun and we did it several times until he was tired.

We went to visit again and this time Thunder would run down the dock, pause, then jump in after the toy - still head first. Toward the end of the second visit he figured out that it was more fun if he landed butt first - no more nose dives. By the third visit, I would let him off the leash by the house, he'd run down the grass, down the dock and fly with no hesitation - the toy wasn't even out of the bag. The neighbors loved watching him and the kids would come over and throw his toy for him for over an hour. When I took him home it was peaceful - a tired lab is a good lab!

I remembered seeing this on TV and on Tuesday, June 20th found the DockDogs website and discovered that the Codorus Summer Blast was being held that weekend with practice on Sunday. I contacted Brandy Fowler (with Buddy) to see if I could just attend practice. Instead, she convinced us to enter the event on Friday. Thunder jumped two waves on Friday - 15' 6" and 16' 8" - and a DockDogs addict was born. At his first National Event in Frederick MD, he earned his Senior National Title in one weekend. In 2006 we were able to compete in four events and had a great time and met lots of great people. By the third event, Thunder learned if the crate goes in the car, he's going "JUMPING!!" This is greeted by jumps straight up into the air he's so excited.

Over the winter we practiced sit/stays in the house and yard - he was doing great. After driving over 11 hours to compete in Chicago in January, I was convinced he was going to do a lot better than last year. Well, he hit the dock and forgot his name and the sit/stay he learned. Because he wouldn't stay, we had to go back to me throwing the toy in the water then letting him off the leash. We did improve from 16' 5" to 17' 5" but not as much as I wanted. Back to the drawing board.

We started practicing on the dock. I would put him at a sit/stay, walk a few feet, go back and give him a treat.  Some times I would walk all the way to the end of the dock and back, other times I would let him jump. All this practice paid off and Thunder BOOMED at Pawsabilities in March. His very first jump was 21' 5" - I almost fell off the dock when they announced it. He got into his very first finals and was jumping with the "Big Dogs" - Finley, Country, Bella, Rebel - Elite & Super Elite Titled dogs.

After that, it seemed like every weekend we were going to an event - North Carolina, Virgina, West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. One day, at the Labs & Abs Practice Facility, I decided he should try EV with Buddy and Nestle. He LOVED it! We started out low and close to the dock and eventually ended up with the bumper the full 8 feet out from the dock. He kept going with his eyes on the bumper - completely focused. Eventually, we were almost at 6' 4" when Buddy retrieved the measuring tape and dropped it in the pond. Practice was over but Thunder had found a new love. Once he knows he's doing EV he's completely focused on the bumper. When waiting his turn and another dog misses it, he's all ready to go grab it for them.

When not competing, he loves to hang out with me. Every night after work we go play ball for 20-30 minutes, take a 1.5 mile walk around the neighborhood, then play ball again for 20-30 minutes. He also goes swimming a lot - the baseball field where we play ball is right next to the river. Even when it's cold out he hops in to cool off and is ready to play again. After all this exercise, he's a couch 'tater at home. Once I'm ready to relax for the night he's very happy to curl up on the couch next to me and just hang out. Of course, being a lab, he "helps" me do everything - walk into the next room, clean, carry bags, put stuff away, fix things - everything!

His favorite activity is still playing ball. Carly gave him a new nickname - O. C. Doggie - for obsessive compulsive. He is completely obsessed with tennis balls and can smell them out no matter where they are hidden. From a tiny 1/2 inch piece of an old ball under a couch, to one under a china cabinet, to several out in the yard - he's found them. If he can't reach it himself, he will drive you nuts until you reach it for him.

We're looking forward to more DockDogs in 2008 and just hanging out. He loves to get together with all his friends for Puppy Play Dates - Buddy, Clay, Daisy Lou, Mercy, Nestle, Reggie. Playing ball and swimming with all those dogs wear him out and he's tired for the full day. It's great to see how he acts among all those dogs and he knows when he gets close to the lake where he is going and gets all excited.

Thanks to Thunder and his DockDogs participation I've made a lot of new friends and hope to make more. It's great having traveling companions to share the driving and the hotel.  He's even found a girlfriend - Lil's Miss Daisy Looouuu!! They went to almost every event together in 2007. They love to canoodle and get along great - Thunder lets her get away with everything!