This month’s wonderful Happy Tail spans over a decade with a Lab Rescue Alum - this is Reesie! She was adopted from us back on December 1, 2013, and the following is her story in the words of her proud mom:

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I adopted Reesie from Lab Rescue LRCP when she was already 3.5 years old. Lacking in proper training, Reesie was given up because “she would not listen.” We got into agility as her first dog sport, and then in 2016, when she was 6 years old, we discovered dock diving when a friend invited us to a mobile dock event. Reesie’s love for all things water just took over from there. She has accumulated 367 total splashes in all three disciplines! At 14.5 years old, rated as a Veteran dog, she continued to show how the sport is wonderful for dogs of all ages. She has always been a solid, but not flashy, jumper and could always be counted on to get in the water, no matter what! Up until 2024, she continued to play the young dog’s game of Air Retrieve and won 2nd place Veterans Junior AR at the Northeast Regional in 2023, clinching an invitation to North America Diving Dogs National Championships and also earning a top 25% Veteran Junior national invite. Labs are very popular in dock diving, so having “firsts” is a bit difficult, but her achievements are nonetheless amazing. Reesie has accumulated 23 NADD titles!

I entered Reesie in the NADD Hall of Fame twice, but the criteria seemed to favor other dogs. Regardless, she is MY Hall of Fame “chocoloco!” No matter what the weather or situation, Reesie always has a smile going off the dock. She is pure joy related to this sport. So many people have commented that she is just so happy. Now with sugar face and sugar paws, she amazes even more people with her joy. I just declared her retired at her last NADD (Colonial K9) event in September 2024, but we are still looking forward to many more swimmies! ~ Rinn