Vega and I tried dock diving for the first time ever. He’s 11 years old. Actually he’ll be 12 next month. He has jumped off a dock into natural water, but never into a clear pool. Never mind with a big crowd in the middle of a pet store parking lot. But hey, even when you’re older – especially when you’re older – adventures should never be ignored.

So we were at the vet for his senior wellness exam. Afterward we were walking around, and I saw the dock diving competition across the street. So we walked over and on a whim I just asked if we could try it. Sure! They said. You can do some practice runs and even try a novice jump. So we signed up. Everyone was so nice and helped us figure out what to do.

There were people everywhere. Music playing on the loud speakers. An announcer providing play by plays. Dogs barking. But Vega handled everything like an old pro. But – I guess he is. When he was younger I never could have imagined him being okay with everything that was going on that day. He was – and sometimes still is – very fearful of people and loud sounds. As a rescue, he didn’t have the best start in life. But he’s gained a lot of confidence over the years. He’s still a bit of a worrier though.

Of course playing in water is his favorite thing of all. So – that’s what he focused on and he jumped right in! Yay!

The announcer mentioned he was 11 years old and that meant he was a Legend Dog. I would have to agree.

This was his first jump:

I was so proud of him. He ended up getting to jump again in the finals and we got 2nd place Big Air Novice overall.

This was his finals jump:

He got 2 big ribbons and a little prize money. But even if he didn’t get any of that – the best part was just seeing him have so much fun. Especially as an old guy. It’s only in the last year or so that he’s started to show his age a bit. But he still has a baby face.

In one of our jumps – the announcer said – look at her smile (talking about me) – you’ll never take that away from her. And I was smiling because I knew Vega was having the time of his life. So it doesn’t matter what the judge judges, if you bring home any ribbons or what other people think. Most all of that is pretty hard to control, so live it up in the moment. Make the best of it. And smile. That’s the best souvenir you can bring home.

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