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June 25, 2008
New
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
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
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.