DockDogs Surfs into Long Beach!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Medina, OH - March 16, 2011 - DockDogs was once again hosted by the 2011 Fred Hall Fishing, Tackle and Boat Show in beautiful Long Beach, CA this past weekend. For the sixth year in a row our SoCal DockDogs came out in full force, ready to officially start their season of competition.
Starting things off slowly on Wednesday and Thursday, but we were treated with plenty of solid jumping pups. Chris Kakucchi and her Yellow Lab named Dusty took home first place in Wave #1 with a jump that would guarantee them the first seed in the Semi-Pro Finals of 21'11". Wednesday night saw SoCal DockDoggers Linda Hettich and her cancer surviving pup Tessa take home the big win with a jump of 20'8". Big Air Wave #3 on Thursday also provided some great moments as Jan Jorgensen and her Black Lab Moki made it into the water for the first time ever taking home a First Place Novice Ribbon.

Friday's competition gave us some clear signs of things to come over the weekend as vanloads of teams made their way to the DockDogs area to strut their stuff. Big Air Wave #5 saw the arrival of a team that's new to DockDogs this year, but tearing up the astroturf nonetheless. Lisa Strum and her Belgian Malinois named Vhoebe threw down a jump of 25'9" on their first time up to show everyone they were a force to be reckoned with. Coming in 2nd was Brittany Moss and her Belgian Malinois named Joker with a jump of 20'9". The California Malinois' continued their dominance into the evening with Vhoebe extending her best to 26'8" and Joker making it out to 20'8".

Saturday's Speed Retrieve competition was as exciting as ever, as we saw the famous Henry, an 9 year old rescued Chessie dominate the wave, with a great time of 6.039 seconds. Lisa and Vhoebe took another step towards showing everyone why they'll be an Iron Dog contender for a long time to come with a time of 6.272.

The Big Air waves of Saturday left nothing to be desired as the reigning 2010 World Champion team of Melissa Ness and her Chessie named Smoke as well as the 2009 Big Air World Champions Craig Haverstick and his Chessie named Henry entered into the mix. Lisa and Vhoebe would not be intimidated though, beating out both of those teams by over half a foot with another jump of 26'8" in wave #7. The next Big Air Wave saw Melissa and Smoke back in familiar territory atop the awards stand after jumping 26'4" for the win. 2009 Iron Dog World Champions Alfredo Rivera and his Belgian Malinois named Power Puma came in 2nd with a jump of 23'6". Jumping big enough to qualify for their first Pro Final, Kate Bernstein and her Yellow Lab Oliver took third with a jump of 22'3".

After moving Saturday's Extreme Vertical Final to mid-afternoon on Saturday, we saw a battle of Top Gun Veterans taking it to the wire. Alfredo and Power Puma out-jumped Melissa Ness and her mixed breed named Stryker for the win with a final height of 7'5". Stryker made it up to 7'0", followed by Vhoebe who exited the competition at 6'8". In a great turn of events, the most excited team award has to go to DockDogs veterans Nancy Bouman and her Black Lab named River found their way back into EV groove jumping up to 4'10" to take 3rd in the Cadet Division.

Sunday's bright, sunny skies brought out the crowds and our teams did everything they could to deliver the excitement always seen when DockDogs heads to Southern California. Newcomers and Veterans battled it out right from the start, as Melissa and Smoke showed everyone why they are the World Champions jumping out to our first 27 footer of the weekend. Lisa and Vhoebe followed a half foot behind with a jump of 26'6". In the final Big Air Qualifying wave, Craig and Henry proved they've still got it by throwing down a first place tying 24'3" jump to tie Melissa and Smoke.

Our Finals started off with Speed Retrieve, where we watched our top 8 teams of the weekend battle it out for the best score on that 58' retrieve. It was our hard to beat team of Craig Haverstick and Henry, who swam away with first, with a score of 5.878 seconds. Coming in second was Lisa and Vhoebe, with another competitive score of 6.369. Rounding out the top three was Alfredo and Power Puma, with a time of 6.600.

The bleachers filled as our Pro dogs lined up at the back of the dock. We knew we were in to see some huge jumps, as we had 5 dogs jump out past that 22' mark to make it to these Finals. We were definitely not disappointed as these teams came out and gave it their all! Taking first and also extending their all-time personal best jump was Lisa Strum and Vhoebe, with a leap of 27'2"! Coming in second was Smoke, with a more than respectable score of 26'7". Coming in 3rd was the veteran team of Craig and Henry with a jump of 24'9".

Next up was our Semi-Pro dogs, and this was going to be a tough competition as the bubble to get in was definitely set high. After we watched these 6 dogs battle it out, we saw SoCal DockDoggers, Linda Hettich and Tessa, jump 21'6'' and take first place. Chris and Dusty hadn't jumped since the first day of competition, but still jumped big enough to take 2nd with a jump of 21'5". Rounding out the top 3 was Pam Sheets and her Chocolate Lab Brooklyn with a jump of 21'1".

Rounding out our Finals competition for this event were our Amateur dogs. Showing they were ready to play with the big dogs, they held their own. The top 8 Amateur dogs lined up and gave it their all. Taking out the competition with a great jump of 17'8'', was Marc Marsceill and his Black Lab Diesel. Taking 2nd was Jack Voss and his Black Lab Jillie with a jump of 17'4". Rounding out the top 3 was Don Gregory and his Wirehaired Griffon with a jump of 16'10".

Our Iron Dog Competition saw 2009 World Champions Alfredo and Power Puma going down to the wire with Lisa and Vhoebe. In the end, it was Puma that would take home the win with 3040.74. Just about half a point behind, Lisa and Vhoebe showed they belong with the big boys scoring 3040.18. Craig and Henry finished right on their heels though with a score of 3032.79.

DockDogs would like to thank Royal Canin for helping make it possible for us to be here this year. We would also like to thank the staff at the Fred Hall Fishing, Tackle and Boat Show for having us and we look forward to returning to the show in a few weeks down in Del Mar, CA. The crowds were great, and we look forward to seeing all of our SoCal DockDoggers in Del Mar in a couple weeks!