Tom Dropik and his dog Tucker won the Bronze Medal at the 2001 ESPN Great Outdoor Games. Tom has become and continues to be a top innovator in the sport of Dock Jumping developing training techniques and devices for this new sport as well as certification and education standards. He is the founder of SportMutt, Inc., a company devoted to improving performance while promoting sportsmanship. Tom has qualified FIVE consecutive years for ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games, including the 2005 Games that debuted the new sport called The Launch, a sport that Tom and his dog Tucker invented. Tom has also qualified Tucker in the 2006 World Championships in Extreme Vertical and his youngster Rocky in Extreme Vertical and Big Air. He also qualified Rocky for the 2008 STIHL Dogs & Logs World Championships in the debut of Iron Dog where he finished 3rd, Speed Retrieve where he also finished 3rd, and Extreme Vertical. Tom & Rocky also competed in the 2009 STIHL Dogs & Logs World Championships. Tom is considered one of the Elite Handlers in the world. Tom’s love of the sport and his ability to help others improve is also why Tom is considered one of the best Dock Jumping trainers in the world.

"It's all about Fun"
Tom A. Dropik

As a member of the United State Ski Association in 1977 through 1979, I competed in 3 National Amateur Freestyle Championships in 1977, ’78, and ’79. I became a professional ski instructor in 1978 and taught the wonderful sport for 6 years. That kept me pretty busy during the winter months. As a member of Bald Eagle Water Ski Club in 1978 through 1982, I was part of an elite team that put on Water Ski shows across the 5 state area. That kept me busy during the summer months. 

I started getting involved with Labrador Retrievers in the mid 80's when my room mate brought home a beautiful 7 week old black male named Buddy. Ron, being a successful business owner, had little time to spend with Buddy, so Buddy and I became instant pals. It was shortly after that is when I realized the athletic abilities these animals have. Buddy was extremely athletic and did everything at the top level. Everything except jump off a dock. Here's what he would do; Buddy would sit at the starting position on the dock. Wound up like a top. I'd give him the release command and he'd sprint full speed down the dock. When he approached the end, he would somehow slither in to the water, never missing a beat. It was the funniest thing. He would get great reaction from the audience at the MN Game Fair. How a dog could sprint down a dock and enter the water without missing a step and without jumping was beyond everyone. Buddy will be part of me for ever.

Then came Tucker. Tucker has everything Buddy had and a little more. I found out Tucker had leaping ability when I started noticing all the apples at the base of my apple tree were gone. Now, this was a completely healthy apple tree and the base of the tree was 8' feet in the air. When Tucker was just over a year old , I decided to sit on my deck as I let him run in the back yard. That's when I noticed he was jumping up and grabbing the apples. Quite an accomplishment, I thought.

From there it was off to the MN Game Fair and everything took off from there. We competed in our fist Big Air qualifier in April of 2001 in Little Rock Arkansas. Tucker posted consistent scores in the 15 to 16 feet range with a single competitive 18. We made our first appearance in the Great Outdoor Games in 2001 where Tucker jumped an amazing 19'7" good enough to earn him the Bronze Medal. From there we've committed ourselves to an innovated training program that ultimately produced an all time best of 22' 1" at the 2002 Great Outdoor Games.  

Tucker has since appeared in numerous local newspaper articles and appeared on Minnesota Bound with Ron Shara. He's also worked with Animal Planet and ESPN. We loved the ESPN commercial that aired in July of 2002 to promote the 2002 Great Outdoor Games. Tucker had the privilege to work with NBA super star Dominique Wilkins where the theme was "Dominique Wilkins, dream coach of the Great Outdoor Games". Great commercial, especially the red tennis shoe piece. My personal favorite was entertaining the audience at the Sprint Air Wave US Freestyle show at the state of the art Freestyle Training facility in Park City Utah. Tucker was part of the half time show where he showed off his own style of what we call Big Air. Click HERE to see our complete Portfolio.