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Dock Dogs Go After the Big Air
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Tuesday, July 10, 2018
 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Kristi Baird has a Labrador that can fly 26 feet four inches through the air in the long jump.

He’s set the Labrador Record Extreme Vertical leaping seven feet eight inches in the high jump.

And he acts like he’s in the middle of a doggie drag race as he dog paddles through the water headed for a throw toy at the end of the pool.

All this has earned him the titles of Iron Dog, Super Elite National Champion and eight appearances in the World Championships, as well as appearances on the Outdoor Channel and ESPN. Fur real.

“I saw a dog fly into the water at one of these contests that first time and thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen,” said Baird, who calls herself chief flight engineer for the Mighty Muck DockDogs.

Baird, who grew up ski racing in Sun Valley, returned to Sun Valley Friday and Saturday to earn qualifying points for the DockDogs World Championships that will be held in October in Knoxville Tenn. Baird, who has gotten downright dogmatic about the sport, had two labs taking part in Ketchum’s inaugural DockDogs aquatic competition.

And one of those dogs--Bobby McGee--was showing what he was made of, splashing down 22 feet six inches in the long jump, leaving other dogs in his wake during the speed retrieval competition and showing no fear as he leapt after a toy strung from a wire seven feet above the pool.

“Dogs have energy and need direction and this ended up being a good job for them,” said Baird, who trains dogs in Gig Harbor, Wash. “These dogs are on fire during competition. And, when it’s all over, they’re absolutely exhausted. They’ll sleep for two days.”

The pros taking part in the competition held behind the Limelight Hotel could be spotted in an instant. Hailing from Washington, Utah and Montana, they were the ones pulling at the leash as they ran up the stairs onto the dock, then raced down the dock, launching their bodies over the water without hesitation.

The amateurs were the Sun Valley dogs, whose human companions either wanted to see how their dogs could stack up in competition or just thought their pups would enjoy a dip in a pool on an 80-plus degree day.

Among them, a pit bull named Louie owned by Lisa Enourato, Ketchum’s assistant city administrator.

Eager to please, Louie confidently strolled up to the edge of the dock with Enourato. But, when she threw his ball in the pool, he planted his front paws on the edge, looking confused as if to say, “Why did you do that?!”

Enourato pointed to the ball. She prodded him. And she nearly fell in herself, as she got down on her knees next to Louie, splashing the water so he could get a good sense of it.

Ditto for Alison Smart, a nurse at St. Luke’s Wood River. Her golden retriever Abby looked happy enough trotting down the dock. But he froze as she threw his favorite play toy into the water.

Smart retraced her steps and ran toward the edge of the dock as if she was going to fling herself in the water. She mimicked jumping a couple times for her four-legged friend. She weaved her hands through the air, much as a ski racer uses his hands to visualize, hoping her dog would figure out her next move.

She bent down, encouraging Abby to examine the water. She spread her arms to keep her Abby at the edge when Abby decided to make a run for it in the other direction. And she got down on her knees, pleading and cajoling.

Finally, on the second go-around Abby did a little belly flop. It was a short one—maybe an inch, maybe a foot. But the audience cheered as loudly as they’d cheered for Bobby McGee.

“She loves ponds and rivers. She jumps off the dock at Indian Creek so I thought no problem, “said Smart. “I guess she got stage fright.”

Aquatic competitions for dogs are relatively new. They started in 1997 with the Incredible Dog Challenge produced by Purina. DockDogs was established in 2000, holding its first event at the ESPN Great Outdoors Games.

Today there are 80,000 dogs jumping across the United States and many more in countries like Canada and Australia. The real competitors get doggone serious, following a 77-page rule book.

Whippets and Labrador retrievers seem to excel the most. A whippet, known as “a poor man’s racehorse,” holds the world record long jump at 31 feet.

“The trick is they have to want the toy more than they don’t want to get in the water,” said Trina Lipscomb, a dog handler from Washington, who became hooked after winning a junior championship her first year.

Baird agreed: “You look for dogs that will go to the ends of the earth to get their toy. It ‘s the same thing you look for when you’re selecting dogs for things like avalanche search and rescue.”

Ketchum’s event attracted hundreds of curious Wood River Valley residents and vacationers, as well as a plethora of Jack Russell terriers, miniature Aussies, poodles, dachshunds and pugs who had come out to cheer their four-legged colleagues on.

“This is cool,” said Laura Hubbard, of Hailey. “I like that it’s a mixture of locals and visitors—my friend from the Nature Conservancy came from Idaho Falls to do this.”

“It’s fun,” added Ketchum’s Joney Otteson. “Everyone loves dogs. I may have found my next calling.”

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