June 26, 2006

June 25, 2008

New Prague, MN

June 25, 2009: DockDogs rolled into Northern Minnesota with a bang, and what a weekend it was. With great weather, a Bre= ed Record-Breaking jump, and even a Fair Sponsor jump-off between six brand new dogs with only a couple minutes of practice each, there truly was something= for all dog lovers. The 2009 Bemidji Game Fair= & Pet Expo saw some of the best dogs Minnesota has to offer, as well as some new dogs that made quite a name for themselve= s.=

The qualifying Big Air waves brought = out a lot of first time competitors - giving some of the veterans in the sport a run for their money. Friday evening saw Team STIHL’s Tom Dropik and Rocky take the first= Big Air qualifying wave with a great jump of 22'8", coming in second was newcomer Andrew Thul and Windsor taking (19'9&q= uot;) and another newcomer and junior handler David Horsmann= with Harley taking third (16'9"). Saturday morning's wave 2 brought out the best jump of the weekend and an all-time record for a Golden Retriever = as Steve Roessler and Rouser began their Big Air performance with an amazing 25'0" jump. Team STIHL’s Tom Dropik and Rocky took home the silver with a jump of 21'8" and Steve Roessler added a second medal with his dog Sota= who had a jump of 21'2". Wave three saw more of the same, as Steve and Rou= ser brought home the gold with a jump of 24'10", Steve and Sota moved up to second with a jump of 21'6" and Team STIHL’s Tom & Rocky took third at 21'0". Steve and his Golden's continued to dominate in Saturday's final Big Air qualifier taking home 1st (Rouser 24'3") and second (Sota 21'10") once = again. Providing some parity to the top three, was Jessica Johannes with Phoenix who had a= jump of 21'8". The final Big Air qualifying round saw more of the same as Stev= e and Rouser took home the top honors with a 23'5" jump, Jessica Johannes an= d Phoenix took seco= nd with a jump of 22'2" and newcomers John Villebro and Clifford jumped 21'6".

Saturday night's Extreme Vertical Fin= als brought out plenty of excitement as Team STIHL’s Tom Dropik and Rocky due= led it out with junior handler Kristina Schaffhausen and Zeke. Kristina and Zeke edged out Rocky with a winning jump of 6'8" and added a new personal b= est of 6'10" shortly after.

Speed Retrieve started Friday night w= ith a qualifier that saw only 3 teams, however some = great times were turned in giving the on looker. Team STIHL’s Tom and Rocky took home = the gold with a time of 6.591, followed by David Horsmann<= /span> and Harley at 7.442. Saturday morning's wave was more of the same, as Team STIHL’s<= span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;line-height:120%;font-family:Arial;color:#333333'= > Tom and Rocky (6.747) edged out a different junior handler, Brendan Pucel & Caly (7.624) = to take first. Sunday's qualifying round saw a weekend best 6 teams compete, with B= ig Air slayers Steve and Rouser taking home the top time at 6.745, followed by Kristina Schaffhausen & Zeke (6.956) and Brendan P= ucel with his other dog Trigger at 7.248.

The hotly contested Iron Dog competit= ion could not have been any closer with all of the teams being within 40 points= of one another. Team STIHL’s Tom Dropik and Rocky took 1st with a score of 2983.71, Steve and Rouser took se= cond at 2952.41 and Kristina Schaffhausen and Zeke took third at 2949.43.