Mutts Prepare to Strut

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Mutts prepare to strut

Canines to converge for annual competitions at Dog Fancier's Park

By F. ANDREW TAYLOR
VIEW STAFF WRITER

Above, a Basset hound named Anna wears her schoolgirl outfit during the 2006 Strut Your Mutt event. Right, Joseph Cenicola and his dog Aida compete in the Howl at the Moon challenge in 2008. View file photos

Above, a Basset hound named Anna wears her schoolgirl outfit during the 2006 Strut Your Mutt event. Right, Joseph Cenicola and his dog Aida compete in the Howl at the Moon challenge in 2008. View file photos

View file photoRico, owned by Robert Pablico, jumps 17 feet 11 inches in the Las Vegas Dock Dogs competition during the 2008 Strut Your Mutt event at Dog Fancier?s Park. This year?s activities are set for Saturday.

View file photoShark splashes into the landing pool used for the Las Vegas Dock Dogs competition during the 2008 Strut Your Mutt event.

Once again, the valley is going to the dogs.

Strut Your Mutt, the popular annual event returns to Dog Fancier's Park Saturday. The event draws dogs and their pet humans to hang out and compete in a number of fun categories. This year will see the return of a favorite event from the previous year, flying dogs.

Well, not exactly flying, but at first glance, it may appear so. Dock Dogs will be competing in two events, Big Air and Extreme Vertical, both of which involve dogs leaping great distances from a dock to a pool.

The pool is 4 feet deep and 40 feet long and holds about 25,000 gallons of water. Dogs launch off of a 40-foot dock.

"It's open to any breed of dog," said Lianne Hassen, the president of Las Vegas Dock Dogs. "As long as they like a toy and they like to swim, they'll do great."

The group gets together at various times throughout the year to practice in the dock/pool setup the Hassen's have in the backyard of their Whitney-area home. Hassen notes that it isn't a sport that involves heavy training.

"It's not a sport like obedience or agility training, where you want to practice, practice, practice," Hassen said. "You want your dog to be hungry for it."

She said that what aficionados call over-jumping can be a problem. It's important not to overdo training so the dog remains excited for the actual competition, she said.

The sport has been around for 10 years and just celebrated that anniversary with competitions in Ohio in early October. Hassen said that about 19 Las Vegas dogs competed along with 500 dogs from across the country. Las Vegas dogs fared well in the competition, winning first and second place in the Iron Dog Competition, in which dogs need to excel in all three Dock Dog disciplines: Big Air, Extreme Vertical and Speed Retrieve.

Puma, owned by Alfredo Rivera, took first place, and Hassen's dog Rex, under her husband, Fred Hassen's, supervision, took second.

"It was freezing there. There was ice," Hassen said. "Las Vegas desert dogs did pretty good, all things considered."

Hassen admits that on the surface, it's a little ironic having dogs that live in the desert win in a competition that involves water, but that on further reflection, Las Vegas is a great place for Dock Dogs.

"It's so hot there. There's not a lot of sports we can do with our dogs," she said. "This way they get a chance to cool off, and we can have competitions even in the heat of summer."

In addition to the Dock Dogs, Strut Your Mutt will continue the wide array of fun competitions, including Doggie Limbo, Ugliest Dog, Howl at the Moon, Puppy Love Kisses, Silly Pet Tricks and many others.

"It's a low-cost community event," said Brian Saliba, special events director for Clark County Parks and Recreation. "Admission is only $2 and it's free if you bring a donation of dry dog food."

The event also collects donations of gently used bedding, toys, heating pads and other pet-related items that it distributes along with the food to local pet shelters.

"I don't think we've ever counted the pets that show up, but the average human attendance is between 4 and 6,000," Saliba said. "All the contests fill up, so that's at least 300 dogs with a lot of others just showing up to be there."

Strut Your Mutt runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Dog Fancier's Park, 5800 E. Flamingo Road, east of Boulder Highway. Admission is $2 or free with a donation of dry dog food. Information is available at www.strutyourmuttlv.com.

The Las Vegas Dock Dogs will be competing at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. during the event. On Sunday, competitions will continue, with registration at 8 a.m. and rounds at 9 and 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m. and finals at 4 p.m. More information is available at www.lasvegasdockdogs.com.

Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.