{"id":794700,"date":"2019-04-10T17:52:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/one-dockdogs-trajectory-from-tragedy\/"},"modified":"2019-04-10T17:52:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:52:01","slug":"one-dockdogs-trajectory-from-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/one-dockdogs-trajectory-from-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"One DockDog\u2019s trajectory from tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Django is a 7-year-old pit bull mix who Rebecca Grove and her husband adopted when he was a year old. It took Django a bit of time to come out of his shell, but now he\u2019s soaring with the rest of the DockDogs, who will be back in the Vail for the GoPro Mountain Games June 6-9.<\/strong>
Courtesy Smoky Mountain DockDogs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you see a dog launching off a 2019 GoPro Mountain Games Blue Buffalo DockDogs dock wearing a costume, a getup appropriately called a Superfly suit, it\u2019s probably Django.<\/p>\n

Django is a 7-year-old pit bull mix who Rebecca Grove and her husband adopted when he was a year old. He doesn\u2019t wear the Superfly suit (just) because he\u2019s a superhero, but to protect him from sunburn. Specifically, it\u2019s to protect the massive burn scar that runs along the length of his back.<\/p>\n

A sad start<\/p>\n

He had wandered into someone\u2019s yard in Atlanta, Georgia, and that person had turned him into an animal shelter, where he was fostered by a family from whom the Grove family had previously adopted another dog. Nobody knows for sure how his burn injury befell him, but everyone suspected it was the result of severe abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe followed his rescue story,\u201d Grove says. \u201cWhen we first found out about him, we had no intent of adopting him. Then we realized the care he\u2019d need as he aged.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Django first arrived at the shelter, in addition to the terrible burn scar, he was emaciated and tested positive for heartworm. He had to undergo cold laser surgery to close the scar, and afterward it would require lifelong treatment and protection from the sun.<\/p>\n

Django\u2019s foster family drove him to a dog competition in Maryland to make an introduction with the Groves, who were there competing with another of their dogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our first meeting, he was very curious. He was just overwhelmed, definitely a little timid. He hadn\u2019t been able to do much in the world,\u201d Grove says.<\/p>\n

They couldn\u2019t resist but take him home.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was really sweet,\u201d Grove says. \u201cYou could tell he was going to be active. A very active dog is not for everybody, but when you\u2019re in dog sports, you look for that. We were in the process of moving to Georgia and we knew we\u2019d have a nice big yard. We saw a lot of potential in him, even if he needed a lot of confidence building.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took Django a bit of time to come out of his shell. Being surrounded by a family who loved him helped a lot as well as discovering an activity that he slowly grew to love.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took three summers for him to figure out that he liked water. The second summer, he could swim and that third year, he did take his first jump off of the dock,\u201d Grove recalls. \u201cIt took a lot to get his confidence going. For DockDogs, what it really takes is a strong toy drive. Django didn\u2019t have either one of those (confidence or a toy drive) when we first got him. He just didn\u2019t have exposure to that in his previous life. He learned by watching our other dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning by example<\/p>\n

Django\u2019s key influence and mentor was one of his adopted brothers, Duke, who the Groves picked up from the shelter at 4 months old and who dove into the pool the first time he saw his toy. His passion and drive slowly rubbed off on Django. You could say it gave him a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cDogs live in the present. Django loves competing now,\u201d Grove said. \u201cHe absolutely loves it. What dock diving has done for him is increase his focus and confidence. Dogs really love to work, whether it\u2019s working as a service dog or protecting someone. This has given him that job. He sees the pool and the dock and it makes him very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grove and Django (plus her husband with Duke) made their Vail debut at the 2018 GoPro Mountain Games. Django, though a bit of a late bloomer, is on the fast track now, learning extreme vertical and learning to compete in three-discipline Iron Dog contests. He was invited to compete in the Dock Dogs World Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, last October and finished an impressive sixth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really awesome to have that moment with him,\u201d Grove says. \u201cHe\u2019s not a spring chicken \u2014 he\u2019s 7 years old, but he\u2019s still learning. Our goal this year is to continue getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

A healing bond<\/p>\n

For Grove, more satisfying than any great performance is the deep, almost telepathic connection she shares with Django.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really that bond you share that\u2019s so rewarding,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s just the two of you. It\u2019s amazing how locked in you get into what both of you are doing, to find that muscle memory together as a team. I mean, he is a dog, but he knows my movement patterns and idiosyncrasies better than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Groves both grew up with numerous pets and are parents to seven dogs. They are passionate about rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve taken dogs that might have a hard time being adopted. It might not work for all families, but it works for us,\u201d Grove says.<\/p>\n

While Duke served as a dock diving mentor, Django, \u201chas been able to play it forward\u201d by teaching his younger adopted siblings the tricks of the trade. Although he occasionally exhibits vague lingering effects of the abuse he suffered as a young dog \u2014 stiffening his back and hanging his head \u2014 and wears sunscreen on his burn scar as well as his custom-made Superfly suit for competitions, Django, by all appearances, is living his best life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see the resiliency and the forgiving nature of dogs,\u201d Grove says. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. He\u2019s one of the most loyal dogs we\u2019ve ever owned. He\u2019s such a sweet and loyal boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for Django and his brother Duke this June at the 2019 Mountain Games.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Django is a 7-year-old pit bull mix who Rebecca Grove and her husband adopted when he was a year old. It took Django a bit of time to come out of his shell, but now he\u2019s soaring with the rest of the DockDogs, who will be back in the Vail for the GoPro Mountain Games […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 12:05:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}