karacg
Babygirl is 4!
Member since 5/05 17076 total posts
Name:
Kara®
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DockDogs
I saw this article in Newsday today and think I will go with Ebony....
Cool competition for hot dogs
Dock diving lets purebreds and mutts jump for joy and a bit of glory
BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer
June 1, 2006
If Labrador retrievers kept datebooks, and 7-year-old Rock had his way, every entry would look something like this:
Run. Jump. Splash. Grab. Exit. Shake. Again.
True to his breed's retriever roots, this black Lab from Freeport lives to fetch, especially from the water. While channel-surfing a couple of years ago, his owner Barbara Radtke lit on ESPN and was mesmerized by images of dogs flinging themselves like coiled springs off an elevated dock and into a waiting pool of water. Soon, she began entering Rock in this aquatic broad jump for four-leggers, traveling to Arkansas, Florida, even California so he could take a flying leap after his beloved foam mallard.
"He'll go for anything that floats," says a beaming Radtke as Rock demonstrates his "woo-woo shuffle": This impatient whine-bark coupled with scooting back as he waits for his duck to become airborne has become Rock's trademark at dock-diving competitions. "They say he has a New York attitude."
Big Air in Freeport
Radtke wanted nothing more than to have Rock in his watery element right here on Long Island, where the suburban concentration of surf-obsessed Labs makes dock diving a no-brainer. So she organized an event of her own: Tomorrow through Sunday at the Freeport Nautical Festival, the Rock Classic 2006 will introduce metro-area mutts to two water sports: the distance-based Big Air, where dogs jump off a 40-foot turf-covered dock into a 50-foot portable pool to retrieve a favorite toy tossed in by the handler; as well as the relatively new height-based Extreme Vertical, where dogs leap for a fixed bar suspended at varying heights 8 feet from the dock's edge.
In the popular Big Air competition, where pure distance determines the victors, "the throw's important - sometimes it's more important than how good the dog actually is," says Radtke, tossing the battered duck, his foam chest pitted with use, into her backyard swimming pool for the umpteenth time. Rock barrels by, a blur of black fur and orange neon collar.
Jump. Splash. Grab. Exit. Shake.
Created in 1999 to satisfy ESPN's need to fill some empty programming time, dock diving is one of the continent's fastest growing dog sports. Though there are several different organizations sanctioning these events, DockDogs, which is sponsoring Radtke's event, is the largest, holding events in both the states and Canada. The Medina, Ohio-based group has 13 affiliated clubs, with new ones coming aboard at an average of one a month. And events are growing exponentially, from four events the year of its inception to 100-plus in 2006, with more than 4,000 registered participants. Next stop: Europe.
Mutts welcome
The key to dock diving's success is that it is egalitarian - no papers or pedigrees required. Also, unlike agility, another canine sport made popular on cable channels such as Animal Planet, it requires no training.
"Anybody can do it - any dog, any size, any breed, any person," says Grant Reeves, chief operating officer of DockDogs. "There's no 'right' dog. Basically all you need is a handler, a dog that likes to swim and a toy."
That's not to say there aren't hard-core competitors who fret over their Chessie's trajectory and weep over every inch of shortfall. They travel the country vying for titles - which range from the ground-floor Novice to the apex, Elite - and even snag corporate sponsors.
Kevin Meese of Fredericktown, Pa., tried dock diving on a whim. Today, his greyhound mix, 5-year-old Country - whom Meese got for free at a coondog field trial, where he came in dead last - has his own web site, www.nothinlikecoun tryair.com, and a DogDocks Big Air world record of 28 feet, 10 inches.
"I saw [dock diving] on TV, and I said, 'Country can do that,'" recalls Meese, who spent two years teaching his water-averse dog to swim. Though he knew Country was a natural jumper, "this was a running dog that had been in a kennel all his life and never fetched anything." As incentive, Meese started off by tying little pieces of deer meat to a floating bumper.
Country, who will be competing at the Freeport event, eventually mastered fetching, but "sit" and "stay" are another story. So at DockDog events, Meese has to first toss the bumper in the water, walk Country to the end of the 40-foot dock, lift him so he can see his target, and then let him go.
While DockDogs is popular among the usual hydrocentric suspects - Labs, Goldens and Chesapeake Bay retrievers - Reeves says the last few months have seen a huge influx of border collies, "and they're coming on strong." (In an effort to woo toy breeds, the organization has added a Lap Dog class, though smaller doesn't always mean less distance, especially when you're talking about those mosquitoes trapped in dog suits also known as Jack Russells: One jumped 22 feet, 10 inches.)
"In the next three years, you are going to see breeding for speed down the dock and ability to leap," Reeves adds. As in agility, where crosses between Jack Russells and border collies make for killer competitors, Labrador/border collie hybrids are just starting to materialize in the DockDogs world. And as Extreme Vertical begins to gain ground as a sport, competitors will have to make a decision about whether their priority is a dog that jumps up - or out.
As for Rock, who will be kicking off each day's competition at his eponymous event this weekend with a couple of jumps, he's approaching the sunset years of his career. He turns 8 soon and will be eligible to compete in the veteran class.
But, unlike the humans involved in this curiously engaging and addictive sport, he could care less about what category he's in.
"The duck's going to sleep now," says Radtke pointedly, heading to the garage to hide the battered waterfowl.
And with an earnest woo-woo and a shuffle, Rock bolts after her, ever hopeful he can change her mind.
Rock Classic 2006
Long Island's first-ever dock-diving event, the Rock Classic 2006, takes place tomorrow through Sunday during the Freeport Nautical Festival on Woodcleft Avenue's Nautical Mile. Splish-splashers should head to E.B. Elliot's Restaurant & Bar at 23 Woodcleft Ave.
Teams and competitors are expected from all over North America, but local dogs can take the plunge by registering at the event, space permitting. There will also be opportunities for practice jumps.
Canine competitors must be at least 6 months old, and their handlers must be at least 7 years of age. No female dogs in heat.
For more information about this event, call 516-379-6490 or send e-mail to [email protected].
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Maybe we will go (after brunch on Sunday) and watch the other pups. 
