Local dog making a splash at competitions and in the classroom

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A Toledo school has a special visitor every few weeks who not only has a talent for helping students but is also pretty gifted in the water. Her name is Lavender. She works for treats and belly rubs, and she jumped onto the national stage this year.

Lavender visits students at St. Pius Catholic School in Toledo about once a month with her owner, who is a teacher. While Lavender has a talent for making students and staff members happy, she also has a talent for the sport known as dock diving.

Lavender is a two-year-old Labrador Retriever. She is a fan favorite here at St. Pius.

“She loves to play. She’s sweet, kind and she loves to nap. She plays hard, likes to snuggle and then sleeps really soundly. When she visits school, it makes the kids smile. They are so excited to see her when they walk in the door. It can turn a kid’s mood around quite quickly. If they’re having a rough day they get pets, kisses and hugs and they’re good,” Amy Packer, Lavender’s owner and a teacher at St. Pius said.

Packer loves watching Lavender work her magic in the classroom. She also loves seeing her dog make a splash at dock-diving competitions. “She runs off the dock and jumps in the pool and they measure how far she jumps based on where the end of her tail hits the water.”

Packer said what’s really impressive about Lavender’s career is that she just hit the dock-diving circuit last April. Lavender took to the sport like a duck to water.

“She jumped right off the dock the first thing. I didn’t have to teach her or coax her, she just went and we haven’t stopped since April. And you can tell when she’s swimming, running and jumping, it’s what she wants to do.”

In a matter of six short months, Amy says Lavender was competing at the national championships. “I was shocked we even went to regionals and then when we got invited to nationals I was even more shocked,” Packer said.

All the awards Lavender has won aren’t lost on the students at St. Pius. They love hanging out with a dock-diving diva, and they’re proud of what she’s accomplished.

Cole Pfeiffer is a seventh grader at St. Pius and a dog lover.

“She makes us happy. She also calms the class down a lot. As she walks around people are petting her and then she goes on to the next person. It keeps everyone a bit more quiet. We basically have a famous dog in the room,” Pfeiffer said.

Jetta Bohnett is a seventh grader who loves spending time with Lavender.

“Her personality is sassy, kind and loving. She is a very cute dog, but not as cute as my dog!” Bohnett said.

Packer said things don’t slow down in the winter months. There are competitions and lessons at an indoor facility.

“We do a lot of practice and training and a lot of seminars. We’re busy all the time doing this,” Packer said.

Packer said Lavender’s meteoric rise to success on the dock-diving circuit is a good reminder for all of us.

“Just don’t give up. Do what you want to do. Live your dream and have fun. I’m having fun,” Packer said.

Lavender placed 70th at nationals out of 152 dogs in her division. She and Packer will continue training and competing, with a goal of getting back to the national championships next year.

The pair have also taken up a new sport called Fast CAT. Packer described it as a timed 100-yard dash, where dogs compete one at a time chasing a lure. Lavender has also been competitive in that sport.

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