SportMutt

Marshall Tucker Band and REO Speed Wagon took to the stage at Americas River Fest in Dubuque Iowa over the weekend. And World Class, Action Packed, High Flying, Dock Burning, Water Churning dock jumping dogs took to the dock. DockDogs was the entertainment for 3 HOT Days as world class competitors came from all over the country to compete at a chance to earn an invite to the 2012 DockDogs World Championships. Team STIHL‘s Tom Dropik and his World Champion Remi and his new Up and Coming star RJ made a special trip to enjoy good times with friends and have some fun in front of HUGE crowds.

Team STIHL‘s Remi, RJ and Tom entertained the HUGE crowds in Big Air, the discipline that is all about Distance. This is Remi and RJ's weekest event and no medals were won, but they put on a Great Show all weekend.

The real entertainment began Saturday evening during the discipline that Tom himself invented, Extreme Vertical (EV). Remi is ranked #3 in the world in Extreme Vertical so the anticipation was high for him. RJ has only competed in one EV competition so there really was no expectations for the pup. 15 competitors took to the dock that evening. RJ was the first of Team STIHL to take to the dock. Starting at a height of 5'10", RJ made it look completely effortless. RJ continued to WOW the HUGE Crowd and continued to make clean snatches while the competition slowly started dropping out one by one. When it came down to only 3 dogs left, Team STIHL‘s Remi got his turn. Starting at 6'10" Remi showed why he is one of the Top Ranked dogs in the world. Remi made effortless snatches clear up through 7'2". A power house Labrador Retriever named Shadow had what it took to beat Remi and RJ, but a 2nd place for Remi and a Special 3rd place for RJ made Team STIHL a team that will not soon be forgotten in Dubuque.

Not to be out done by Saturday's Super Show in Extreme Vertical, Sunday brought the Great Discipline of Speed Retrieve to the dock. This was an event that was buzzing all weekend long because not only was the current World Champion, National Champion, and World Record Holder Team STIHL‘s Remi there, but the 3 time World Champion of the past and former World Record Jordan was there. The competition started out with 20 competitors, including RJ who has only competed in one other Speed Retrieve competition. When the smoke cleared, it came down to 2 tenths of a  second. Jordan takes the Gold with a 4.75 second run and Remi takes home the Silver with a 4.9 second run. And the BIG Surprise of the Speed Retrieve Finals was Team STIHL‘s RJ who blew the rest of the competition away with a world class run of 6.6 seconds earning him the Bronze.

Iron Dog, which is the combination of all 3 disciplines, was tabulated at the end of the weekend. We are proud to say that Team STIHL‘s Remi takes home the Gold. And RJ didn't do so bad either. He ended up with a very respectable 4th place finish.

"This was a very special event for me and my boys" says Tom. "Handling a power house like Remi is a challenge and always rewarding." "And to watch my work in progress puppy RJ develop in to a world class competitor is Amazing as well."

"STIHL has been a HUGE supporter of ours over the years. I want to thank STIHL for all their support."
"We couldn't do this with out you STIHL"
says Tom