At yesterday’s International Sportsman’s Expo in Phoenix, Hank, a golden retriever, seems reluctant (to say the least) to continue his snake training. Hank is already smart enough to avoid what he fears! Yes, that is a live rattlesnake.

Two years ago, my producer and I fell in love with those wonderful dock-diving dogs when we saw them at Westworld. I shot video of them last fall, again at Westworld, and when we heard the Splash Dogs would be at the International Sportsman Expo at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, we marked the event in red on our calendars.

The weather for the past few days has been lousy: it actually rained on March 11^th and it was cold and nasty for the Splash Dogs event, but those who came to the fairgrounds got a thrill. In among the exhibits for bow hunting contraptions and fly fishing gear was this portable Splash Dogs dock. As with our other times seeing the dogs, it was fun to see the varied breeds fly through the air. Greg Abner, the announcer, does a great job getting the crowd in the mood and he was in prime form. Tony Reed, president of Splash Dogs, does a great job organizing and you can see the respect the handlers have for Tony and his hard work.

For reasons that aren’t worth explaining, there actually was a competing dock diving dog event in the area, so some of the regulars didn’t make it to the Splash Dogs event and a few--such as the amazing Sisko--came late and performed as opposed to being part of the competition. Watchjing Sisko, handled by Rob Barnhill of Folsom, Calif., is like watching a well-trained athlete who gets better with each passing jump.

Today’s winner was Chief, handled by Pete Meyer of Grizzly Flatts, Calif.

There’s a Splash Dogs event in Anaheim at the end of April--not sure what’s going to stop us from attending.