OUTLET: Daily Press

Terry Moore and Sandy have been together for a decade now. They understand each other.

Next weekend, Sandy — an 11-year-old yellow lab mix — will participate in the Care-a-Lot Canine Sporting Extravaganza in Virginia Beach. She is a champion competitor in DockDogs, an aquatic competition in which dogs are judged on their speed in the water as well as the height and the distance of their leaps. She will have a joyful time, but even as she does, Moore will know that she would rather be out in the woods somewhere.

“She’s a better hunting dog than a DockDog,” Moore said. “That’s what she lives for — bird hunting. She does dock jumping because she knows it makes me happy. But she really loves to be running around in the field.”

Moore, 64, has been nearly inseparable with Sandy since he retired from his job as an industrial waste manager from Hampton Roads Sanitation District.