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 Dock
Dogs International provides a water tank and a dock, while dog
trainers from miles around and even out of state bring their pups to
compete in three disciplines hosted by the Dock Dogs team: Big Air,
Extreme Vertical, and Speed Retrieve. The Big Air event is a
distance event in which dogs compete to jump the farthest from the
dock into the water. The Extreme Vertical measures vertical leap,
and the Speed Retrieve measures how fast a dog can fetch in water.
Dog handlers may throw an object such as a toy or foam bumper into
the pool to encourage the dog’s leap. The pool the dogs jump into is
36 feet long and eight feet wide and is measured to 35 feet.
Friday’s Dock Dogs events included three heats or “waves” of Big
Air. The competition included six dogs from Illinois, Missouri, even
a competitor from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For each heat of each
event, the dog and handler team have 60 seconds from the time they
enter the dock to complete the jump. Only one handler may be on the
dock with the dog and giving commands. Practice times are available
before the event begins and between heats.
Event Administrator Emily Fox said that although Lincoln’s event is
a smaller event, Dock Dogs can be as large as the event in Deadwood,
South Dakota which had 60 dogs compete in each heat. According to
Fox, the world record for distance jump is 32 feet and 10 inches
achieved by a whippet. The work record for vertical jump is 9 feet
and 2 inches by a greyhound named Mayhem from Washington state.
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According to the Dock Dogs Rules and Policies manual,
the official jump distance for the Big Air discipline is “measured
from the lateral midpoint of the end of the dock to the point at
which the base of the dog’s tail breaks the water’s surface,
specifically, the point where the dog’s tail meets the body.” The
jumps are measured using “proprietary digital video stop action
technology.” In the event of technology failure, judging is done
manually by two certified judges.
Dock Dogs is celebrating its 25th year this year. What began with
one dock and one pool now has multiple events around the USA every
weekend and even events in Italy and Australia. This year’s season
runs from September 11, 2023 through September 15, 2024
Every year Dock Dog world championships are held in Dubuque, Iowa.
The finals utilize a four-tier system: amateur, contender, semi-pro,
and professional. This 2024 world championship will take place
October 21 through 27. The top three dogs in the finals of every
event qualify to compete in the world championship.
[Stephanie Hall] |
