This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Eastern Regional DockDogs Championships at the WISP resort at Deep Creek Lake in McHenry, MD. 
When I saw that the weekly photo challenge was “Companionable,” I could not think of a better group of my pictures that would illustrate this theme than what I photographed at the DockDogs event. (Please do not miss the slideshow at the bottom of this post to see even more images from this outstanding event.)
Everyone and every animal truly seemed to enjoy this competition.
The championships consisted of different events where dogs were judged on their longest leap into a pool and on how fast they could retrieve an object after diving into a pool. Please see more photos below.
What struck me most (in addition to the pure athletic ability of these dogs) was the bond developed between the dogs and their human companions evident during every part of the event.
What always drew me to sports photography when I was a working photojournalist was capturing the human emotion of a game or competition, even more so than just getting the action.
I was pleased with some of these photos because I was able to combine the athleticism of the dogs as well as the excitement of their “coaches” in one frame.
If you have the opportunity to attend a DockDogs event in your area, be sure to do it. It is really a lot of fun and you will meet a lot of nice people who really love their dogs. I hope you enjoy some of the other photos below.
Post Script, Friday, July 12, 2013–After the great response I received to this post, I went thru the couple of hours of photos I shot at the Dockdogs Eastern Regional in Deep Creek Lake and found some more photos you might enjoy for the following slide show. Thanks Rob
I See Beauty All Around, by Rob Paine 
Please feel free to leave a reply. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughtful feedback, Rob