“It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s DockDogs”
Sure, the name DockDogs may not be a recognizable brand in sports as the NFL, NASCAR or NBA, but there’s a good chance you caught a glimpse of this zany sport. Let me put it to you this way…have you ever cruised up and down the television channels and came across a program that featured man’s best friend sprinting down a ramp and launching themselves over twenty feet into a pool of water? Welcome to the world of DockDogs.
The DockDogs are invading Buffalo’s waterfront this weekend as part of the ESPN Bassmaster Elite Series tournament and Watersport Expo that is happening at the NFTA Boat Harbor through Sunday afternoon. All events are free!
Now back to the flying dogs. If you attend one of the DockDog competitions you’ll witness dogs of every breed and age sprint down a “dock” and jump far into a pool of water to determine which canine version of Evel Knievel can leap the farthest. The world record jump is over 28 feet.
What makes these dogs jump? Sometimes the owners will throw a retrievable object into the water, others will just run and jump.
There will be five heats limited to 40 dog / handler teams per “Big Air Wave” beginning Friday, July 20 at 1:00 p.m. with the last competition on Sunday, July 22 at 9:00 a.m., followed by the Big Amateur Finals at 11:00 a.m. then the Big Air Pro Finals at noon. Other competitions include the E.V. Cadets Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and the E.V. Top Guns Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
DockDogs was first introduced by ESPN in 2000 and has since grown to entertain thousands of outdoor sports enthusiasts, being featured at more than 100 events and shows with thousands of dogs and handlers participating across North America. The Wall Street Journal went as far as to publish a full-length article reporting that the DockDogs Big Air competition ratings beat the X-Games.
For more information, check out www.dockdogs.com for further information or www.buffaloniagarasports.com on the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in Buffalo.
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AuburnAve
I dont believe this - I just heard about this last weekend when I was camping on Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondacks. I met a friends uncle that dock dives his rotweiler. He swears that its the first ever dock diving rot. I believed him. He said he has this dog in competitions and that greyhounds have an unfair advantage. I didnt believe him. Until this post.
It was kinda cool to watch his huge dog dive off the dock. But as an official sport???
Guess I need to watch more ESPN and read up on my x-treme animal sports.
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BuffaloCook
I've seen this on the tv before. Its actually really competitive. It seems like the owners and the dogs work really closely together and share in the wins and the disappointments together. It looks like a fun sport to share with your dog, without any of the cruelness that seems to happen with a lot of other animal sporting events.
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LivingForge
It's all fun and games until a dog drowns. Sorry to be a wet blanket but this doesn't sound like a good idea. If you want to play with your dog in the water - cool. But getting it to fly down a sloped ramp and to leap 28 feet through the air: bad idea.
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othello
no dog could drown...they jump off a platform a foot above water level into a four foot deep pool! the max jump we saw there was 19 feet LONG, not HIGH :) the opportunity to have amateurs work with their dogs to jump nto water was fun, endearing, and a big crwd pleaser. there were a few dpzen people there during hte hour i attended on saturday, and it's always nice to have out-of-towners (and locals!) see our beautiful waterfront
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