Water Work Day at Deep Lake for Spanish Water Dogs

Date/Time: Friday July 5, 10am to 3pm

Location: Nolte State Park, S2 Picnic Shelter, Directions on Google Maps

Nolte State Park features a beautiful freshwater lake called Deep Lake, which is fed by cool mountain water via Deep Creek.  The water will be cool and refreshing, with no concerns about toxic algae.  We will have a shady reserved picnic shelter, a small boat and paddle boards, and a portable shower to rinse off your dogs after swimming.  

Even if you don't want your dogs to swim, please come and network with fellow water dog owners. We will have shaded areas for dog crates, electricity for fans if needed, and activities that you can do on both land and water, such retrieve practice and nose work for bird hunting.

Cost: Entrance to the park, including parking, requires a $10 "Discover Pass" for the day.  There is no charge for the event itself.

Food/Drinks: We will provide beverages. Lunch will be pot luck picnic style, so bring what you like to eat, plus a little to share, if you have spare space in your cooler. We will have electricity, and there is a grill near the picnic shelter, if you want to cook or heat things up.

Activities

Water Retrieves

If you want your SWD to be a water retriever, you'll have the chance to work on land-to-water retrieves as well as boat to water retrieves. 

Any dog that successfully performs 30' or longer water retrieve at any time during the day will receive a ribbon and award from WWDA. The dog must retrieve a ball or bumper that is thrown at least 30' from shore (a buoy will mark the distance) and return it to shore within 3' feet of the handler (similar to AKC Fetch Novice rules, but in water).  A signup form for water retrieves will be in the picnic shelter throughout the day.  

Scent Work

We will have some pheasant and quail wings and set up an area to practice the nose work needed to turn your SWD into an upland bird or rabbit flushing dog and retriever. Art will provide tips based on his experience training his SWD as a bird dog. 

AKC Fetch Practice

It looks very likely that there will be AKC Fetch tests at the Western Washington Cluster dog shows on July 6 and 7, and we hope that a large contingent of SWDs will train for and enter the tests. You can find the rules and videos here, and if you can, please find an event or two near you over the next few months so that you can enter one of the more advanced title levels in July. 

Space permitting, if you need some last minute Fetch practice you can do so at the park near the picnic area.  A certified AKC Fetch judge will be onsite to answer questions about the rules and regulations. 

Lodging

As mentioned above, the park is only about 25 miles from the show site, so if you are planning to stay in Puyallup for the whole weekend that shouldn't be a problem.  If you're coming from the north or from the east, below are a few options where you could stay on July 4 that are close to Nolte State Park:

• Rob will be camping at Kanaskat-Palmer State Park (about 4 miles north of Deep Lake). Camping ranges from $12-50/night.  Location on Google Maps.
• Expo Center RV Park (about 5 miles south of Deep Lake). Fees are $40-50/night. Location on Google Maps. 
• Enumclaw and Buckley are the two closest towns to the park, and they have several small hotels 

RSVP & Waiver Form

Please fill out this RSVP and waiver form if you plan to come, so we can plan accordingly. 

Western Washington Dog Show Cluster

As mentioned above, there will be a series of dog shows during the weekend immediately after Water Work Day at Deep Lake.  The shows run from July 6-8 in Puyallup.  We hope many of you will stay for at least one or two days of the shows.  If you've never been to a dog show and you're wondering what to expect or how to enter, you can learn more in this article. 

If you have any questions about Water Work Day at Deep Lake, let us know in the comments section below. We hope to see you there!