The Amateur Big Air Finals turned into a International Competition with Youth Handler Garrett McDaugall from Welland, ON. Canada. Garrett and his 2 year old German short hair Pointer "Stikie" jumped a 16'6" for the teams first ever Final win. Rounding out the top spots were Linda Torson and Bosco with a 16'3" for second place. Third place went to Bill Helfer and Jazzie at 16'2".

Bill Helfer and his long legged chocolate lab "blazer" added another win to his so far short career with Dockdogs, winning the Semi Pro Big Air Finals with a 21'2". Driving all the way from Welland, On, Canada to take a second place was Sarah - Simone McDougall and her high flying black lab "Chubby" jumping 21'1". Third Place with a jump of 20'2" went to the German shorthair pointer "Champ" that spends his off time with his owner Lynn Taylor hunting..... ants.

Pro Big Air Finals was won by a long time friend of Dockdogs and former indoor world record holder Joann Chronister and her amazing yellow lab Rebel with 21.1". 

Extreme Vertical is the high jump for k-9' sand is always the crowd's favorite. The current record for this event is 8'2". There are two Divisions in EV. The cadet is any dog that has not jumped past the 6' mark. The top gun is for any dog that has jumped over 6'. Matt Bohn and Flyer tied with Jim Zelasko and Hallie at 5'. Second went to Chris Bruce and Rylee with a 4'10". 

Bill Helfer brought his 2 year old lab "Blazer" in at 6'4" and had a third place finish ay 6'6". Bill rescued Blazer 5 months ago and has put the dog in the top ranks of all the Dockdogs competitions.
The Team of Pam Karr and her malinious swept the top 2 spots. Her two year old "Dash" came into the competition at 5'2" and had to make nine first jump catches to finish second place going all the way up to 6'6". Pam brought her 5 year old big hitter "Dart" in at 6'4" to win the event at an amazing height of 6'10". Then hit 7'0" for there personal best. 

It was a fun 9 day of eating fair food, watching the k 9's fly. It don't get better then that.

Wednesday night's 7pm Big Air Wave saw the return of Darlene and her Springer Spaniel Bo who improved their personal best to 12'10". Thursday started out with our 3:30pm Big Air Wave and saw the longest jumping Canadian Dog of out Western Canada trip. Edmonton natives Scott Mathieson and his Yellow Lab named Gunner took the blue ribbon with a massive 19'7" jump. Coming in 2nd may be DockDogs newest Iron Dog team in Katherine Sanders and her Blue Heeler/Springer Spaniel Mix named Cash. They managed to jump out to 13'6" on their first competitive jump. Coming in 3rd was Prince Albert's Most Determined Award-Winner Judy Tubman and her dog Edo. They jumped out to 7'9". Katherine and Cash jumped big on Thursday's 5pm Big Air Wave as well, leaping out to 12'8" to take first. Judy and Edo came in 2nd with a jump of 7'8". Rounding out the top 3 was Sarah Graham and her Doberman Mix named Bella with a jump of 7'7". Thursday's 7pm Big Air Wave saw the arrival of 3 new teams, as Prince Albert's own Jed Fletcher and his yellow lab named tugger jumped out to the win with 16'7". Following closely behind, was Tim O'Shaughnessy and his Black Lab Cooper with a jump of 16'5". Katherine and Cash took 3rd with a jump of 10'1".

The 2:00pm Big Air Wave on Friday saw the return of a few jumpers from throughout the week as Amy and Halle took the win with a jump of 8'9". Judy and Edo made some waves of their own on the way to a second place finish with a jump of 8'6". Coming in 3rd was Canada's most fearless Fair Manager Dave Young and Charlee who took a break from swimming with sharks to finish 3rd with 7' even. The 4pm Big Air Wave saw the return of Katherine and Cash, who improved their best with a score of 15'5" en route to first place. Locals Derrick Pocha and his Golden Retriever Roz came in 2nd with a jump of 9'6". Rounding out the top 3 was Amy and Halle with an 8'8" jump.

On our final day of competition, we started out with a 10am Big Air Wave. Judy and Edo changed their throwing style and came back to take first place with a jump of 11'10" Newcomers Kristie Gray and her Chessie named Asia rumbled down the dock to second place with a score of 9' even. Rounding out the top 3 was Amy and Halle with a 8'7" jump. Moving right into our 12pm Big Air wave, Amy and Halle decided to try things a little differently. By changing up their throwing style, they managed to move into first place and add over 6 ft. to their previous personal best with a 14'11" jump. Taking 2nd was Judy and Edo with a 10'1" jump. In the 2pm Big Air Wave Katherine and Cash once again improved on their personal best, with the little guy jumping out to 16'1" jump. Amy and Halle jumped out to 12' even to take 2nd place, followed by Derrick and Roz with a 9'8" jump.

The preliminary Speed Retrieve Competition on Saturday afternoon had 3 dogs willing to give it a shot, as Curtis Stachniak and his Springer Spaniel Cricket turned in a time of 13.590 to take home the win. Katherine and Cash managed a 13.630 to take 2nd and Kristie and Asia took 3rd with a jump of 17.970. Moving straight into the Speed Retrieve Finals, Kristie and Asia managed to move up 2 spots and take home the title with a score of 21.870

The showcase of first-time local talent made the Big Air Finals even more fun than usual. With one dog in the Semi-Pro Final, there was no mystery who would take home that title, but how far he would jump was the question on everyone's mind. Scott Matieson and his Yellow Lab Gunner made their way back to the Fair to show everyone just how far dogs could jump in Prince Albert. They just missed crossing that magical 20' mark, turning in a score of 19'3". The Amateur Final featured 7 dogs from right in Prince Albert battling it out for the city bragging rights. In the end it was Jed Fletcher and Tugger that would claim that title, with a jump of 17'3". Following behind in 2nd was Katherine and Cash with a jump of 16' even. Taking 3rd was Amy and Halle with a jump of 12'5".

Overall, DockDogs first event in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan went great. A lot of new dogs came out to give our sport a try and there was a lot of interest from others in the area as well. DockDogs would like to thank everyone with the 127th Annual Prince Albert Summer Fair. It was certainly a pleasure to work with everyone and we truly enjoyed your fair. We'd also like to thank everyone that brought out their dogs to give it a try, the awesome crowds and the city of Prince Albert (especially Amy and Adam) for being so welcoming.

Saturday was the day for newbies, as many new people came out to give DockDogs a try. One of those teams, Craig Koger and Huckleberry, earned themselves the first place qualifying spot in the Semi-Pro division of the Finals the next day.

To round out the first day of qualifying competition, Extreme Vertical provided the crowd with excitement like Cheyenne has never seen before. The fair laid out 5 sets of bleachers, which all filled quickly, leaving standing room only for the crowd favorite discipline.

David Smith was a very busy man for this last event of the day as both his Belgian Malinois', Jet and Rocket, were competing. Little brother Rocket ended up beating his brother with a final height of 5'8". Jet was not far behind though, leaving the competition at 5'6", good enough for 2nd and 3rd place in the Cadet division (respectively).

Battling it out for 1st place status were Clarke Coons with Raven and Jon Langdon with Remy. Raven came in at 5'6" and held out until the 6' mark where they left with a respectable 1st place finish in the Cadet division. Taking home the win, were Jon and Remy, hitting the height of 6'.

By Sunday morning all the new teams were hooked, as they returned for the final day of competition. Qualifying for Finals later that day was tight, as all the teams were jumping within 2'-3' of each other.

Coming up with a huge jump on the final qualifying wave of Big Air competition was Jon Langdon and Remy. With a 26' jump this explosive duo took the title of biggest jump of the event!

Sunday was also host to our one and only qualifying round of competition for the DockDogs Speed Retrieve discipline. After about an hour of practice it was fully apparent to all within a 20 mile radius the dogs were geared up for their one and only qualifying heat of competition.

The husband and wife duo of Tracey and Kenneth Burlingame had a battle for he top spot in our Express division. Good think Ken's dog, Harley Pooch, isn't a sore loser as little sister Kasey took the first place finis with a time of 8.130 seconds.

Sit Means Sit friends Jon Langdon and David Smith had extremely close finishing times, being only .300 of a second apart! Jon managed to pull out the win setting (for the 2nd time this weekend) the fastest time all weekend at 5.790 seconds.

Immediately following the Speed Retrieve qualifier were the Finals. David must have been looking for some pay back as he came back full force with both of his Belgian Malinois - Jet and Rocket. The young pup, Rocket, pulled out a quick run of 6.960, good enough for 3rd while big brother Jet stepped up his game, pulling out the only other Sonic time at 5.960 and taking the win. Smashed in between was Remy with handler Jon Langdon, coming in second.

The Amateur division led the way as we got our Big Air Finals under way. Four states and three different breeds of dogs were represented in this hodgepodge of a Final. Newbies Mike Kise and Brenda Halverson with their yellow Labs inched their way into this Final. Finishing 6th and 7th (respectively) with scores that were only separated by 2 inches is very respectable for teams brand new to the sport.

Our Semi-Pro and Pro division only had three qualified teams in each, but that did not stop these pups from giving it their all. Newcomers, Erika Jones ad her mix Otis, pulled out an impressive 2nd round jump of 20'1" - taking 2nd. Beating Otis by a little over an inch was the Veteran, Jasper, taking home the win in the Semi-Pro division.

Our last Final of the event was a battle of the state to the south - Colorado. Talk about some fierce competition, all three teams were separated by one inch! Coming in 2nd and 3rd were Sit Means Sit trainers, Jon Langdon with Remy and David Smith with Jet. The lonely Lab in the group, Raven, pulled out a game changing second jump of 24'4" to take the win.

All three of the Pro finalists were also our top three winners in our doggie tri-athalon of iron dog. Coming in 1st by leaps and bounds was Remy with handler Jon Langdon. Rounding out the top 3 was Jet, in 2nd, and Raven, in 3rd.

As staff and competitors started packing up to head home we all looked back on this weekend and agreed... we would miss the warm hearted people of Cheyenne, but not the wind! We hope to return to the Laramie County Fair next year - we just hope Dorothy and her house can stay on the ground! :)

Moving onto Extreme Vertical we had teams going head to head from Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin. Two of the teams competing were first time participants in the sport with dogs coming in anywhere between the minimum entry height of 4'6" and 6'10"! Newcomer Eric Williams and his dog "Montana" who started at 4'6" made it all the way up to 5'08" before missing for the 2nd time at 5'10" knocking them out of the competition but sending them home with a 1st place in our Cadet division. Jason Moesch and "George" was the other team new to this sport and they chose not to come into the competition until 5'08". They made successful grabs all the way up to 6'02" before having their second miss at 6'04" sending them home with a third place in Top Gun. Taking home both first and second place this weekend was one man with his two dogs. That's right, Lee Hall's dog "Monty" made it up to 6'10" for the second place win and his other dog "Chopper" (named after the fastest lawnmower in the world) made it all the way up to 7' for the top spot on the podium.

After an exciting start to the weekend of Friday we moved on Saturday morning to our first Speed Retrieve qualifier. That familiar name from last night was right on top again as Lee's dog "Monty" took home first place with a time of 6.330. It didn't come without a fight however as Bill Helfer came to town this morning with longtime DockDog "Misty" and a new addition to the family "Blazer", both black Labrador retrievers. Showing us that being new doesn't mean that he can't go big was "Blazer" taking home 2nd place with a time of 6.470 and just behind him was his new sis with a time of 6.590.

We had 3 more Big Air qualifying rounds throughout the afternoon and SEVERAL more Pro-qualifying jumps to be seen. If you weren't their then you may never know what it's like to watch a dog fly out past 27'! Out of nowhere came a dog that I personally have never seen compete with DockDogs but it turns out that they have attended several events with us this year. There was something different about "Wrigley" today, a weimaraner handled by Meghan Williams. During the first Big Air wave Wrigley soared out to 27' to take home first place and earning that team a new personal best. Trailing close behind was a name well known in the world of canine dock diving, Rande Murphy sent his dog "Quasi" out to 26'for a 2nd place win and taking home 3rd place was Jason and "George" with a jump of 25'02".

The only thing that changed for the top three spots in the next Big Air wave was the distance these dogs were jumping. This time "wrigley" made it out to 27'05"! "Quasi" made it out to 26'08" and "George" stepped it up to 25'09".

The last and final Big Air qualifying wave stayed the same as well as far as the top three spots go. This time "Wrigley" took himself to a whole new playing field when he stepped it up and jumped all the way out to 27'11" to join an elite club of canines that you can count on one hand that has edged that close to the 28' mark. The crowd was truly amazed and was lucky to have seen such great jumps at the Marion County Fair this weekend!

Moving into our finals we started things off with the best 8 dogs in our Speed Retrieve this weekend going head to head with much rivalry between team Lee Hall and team Bill Helfer.
Only the top 4 spots get to take home the money so this is what all of the teams have been working to achieve all weekend. Walking away with an easy first place was Lee Hall with "Monty" coming in with a time of 6.150. Second place went to Bill Helfer and "Blazer" with a 6.750 second retrieve and coming in third was Max Nihiser and "Max" with a time of 6.910. Taking home that last money spot was once again Lee Hall this time with his other dog "Chopper" getting a time of 6.960.

We had 6 dogs qualify for the Big Air Pro-Finals with some serious competition to get there this weekend. After all of that big jumping earlier in the day I think the pups were just a little bit tired as it showed in some of their distances but it was a great competition none the less. Taking home first was to no surprise Meghan and "Wrigley" out of Crest Hill, IL with a jump of 26'05". Stepping it up a bit and managing to finish in the second spot was Jason and "George" with a jump of 26'02". Third place went to Rande and "Quasi" with a 25'01" jump and just behind them in fourth was none other than his wife Kay and their dog "Jag" jumping out to 24'.

Moving onto Semi-Pro Finals we had a full roster of 8 dogs ready to give it their best. Taking home first and third place was Lee Hall with "Monty" and "Chopper" with their respective jumps of 21'09' and 19'10". After a long weekend of competing Brian Johnson managed to take home 2nd place with his four legged friend "Gunner" with a jump of 20'04".

Amateur Finals was just as exciting as we had some new faces with DockDogs this weekend making it all the way to the top 8 spots and deserving of a mention. New to the sport was a youth handler name Grace Zeller with her dog "Copper" coming over from Efferington, IL with her family. Grace and "Copper" finished in 8th place with a jump of 7'10" but had much improvement with her dog throughout the day as this was their very first day giving a go to dock diving. Another newcomer Natasha Snyder and "Checkers" jumped right out of the Amateur range after making it to finals and took home a win with a jump out to 20'03"! 2nd place went to long time competitor Mark McDaniel and his dog "Missy" with a jump of 17'06". Trailing right behind them with a jump of 17'02" was our 3rd place team of Joyce Caswell and "Opal".

All that came out this weekend had much to see as we had newcomers learning the sport and near world record holding jumps as well. It was a great first year at the Marion County Fair and we hope to be back next year.