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VIDEO: Watch Pritch Catch Air in the Dock Dog Competition!
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February 16, 2010
VIDEO: Watch Pritch Catch Air in the Dock Dog Competition!
By David DiBenedetto
Not too long ago I was mildly bragging about Pritchard’s water entry. In short, she’s a small dog but she hits the water with enthusiasm—and air. So when I heard that the Dock Dogs competition was coming to our hometown of Charleston, SC I decided to enter my pup.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dock Dogs (many of the national events can be seen on ESPN), here’s how it works: the dogs take a running leap from a raised platform into a 40 by 20 foot tank holding a whopping 28,000 gallons of fresh water. The handler can toss just about anything into the pool except a live or dead bird. The dog that jumps the farthest wins.
But not every dog jumps. I saw numerous dogs barrel to the end of the platform then come skidding to a stop as they teetered on the edge and whined. One Chesapeake rolled over on its back and a Golden actually jumped off the runway and onto the ground in an attempt to get her bumper.
So when Pritchard and I climbed the steps I was nervous. With about 50 spectators hooting and hollering (who doesn’t like a true underdog?) and an emcee calling her name my little dog was amped. So amped that she had two false starts (we get a D for obedience) before she made her leap. No hesitation. No fear. Just a little dog that wanted her bird—a Dokken’s Pheasant.
We didn’t set any Dock Dog records. In fact, our 8-foot, 1-inch jump landed us squarely in sixth place for the novice category. The winner of our 30-dog flight topped out near 20 feet. But my little gal out jumped quite a few big dogs, and in the end I was damn proud.
If you plan on entering a competition near you, I’d advise practicing your bumper toss. Even after a season of throwing bumpers I made one toss that was so poor Pritch didn’t even see it land. (Told you I was nervous.)
I know Dock Dogs doesn’t have much to do with hunting, but I had a blast. And I venture to say so did my dog.
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Comments (18)
Looks like a great time! Good job to you and Pritch!
i love watching the competitions when they're on ESPN! my dog is pretty impressive jumping off a dock, but not sure what she'd do when faced with a 4 foot drop into clear water! would be fun to find out.
Nice work Dave. It's always refreshing to see someone writing on this topic who admits to owning an actual dog and not a perfectly obedient robot.
Looks like ya'll had a good time.Good looking dog also..One thing I like about your blogs is that you openly share ups and downs....but this one was a definate "up" imo..And if this was the first time for Pritch to have a larger audience that probably contributed a little to the excitement
But it's not all about slaying birds, is it? I did some accounting and arrived at the conclusion that I spend much more money on training and birds than actual hunting. Hunting ducks is about The Dawn Magic. Gotta establish a relationship with your dawg, and you never really know what is most important other that trust and what to expect of each other.
Good form ... and enthusiasm. After hearing the Rocky theme I was expecting to see her downing a couple of raw eggs and running stairs.
Pritch seems real mellow! That looked cool
Great job keep it up
congrats pritch, i was hoping for one of these to come near us some time for my pup and I.
Thats awsome Dave!Talk about training with distraction!
Looks like your building a well rounded dog!AWSOME!
Talk about good spoiling, good job!
Good dog!
I think my big black dog would jump off the platform and run to the side closest to the bumper before jumping in! Dock dog he ain't!
Beautiful.
I think you should do as many different things with your dogs as they can (and want to). They're always willing to do more, especially if there's treats involved. And you have to keep those brains busy, or they'll figure out other ways to get into trouble.
David,
It has been a long time. Gilpin told me what you were up to back before the holidays when I told him I was giving my 3 boys a 1 1/2 year old Boykin for Christmas. I have gone back and read all of your posts and really enjoyed reading about Boykins and Pritch. We have fallen in love with the bread and Chimmey. He had a hunting season under his belt with the breader we bought him from and has done a great job the two times I have taken him. He is still learning what it means to be a Big City dog and I am attempting to train him but with 3 boys it is not easy. I noticed an orange leash in the Jump Video (nice jump!) that looked like some sort of modified choke collar/leash. What was that it looked like something I would like to try....
Thanks,
Chris Scott
Gang, Many thanks for the kind words. And I couldn't agree more...every new situation with your dog is one that you both can learn from. If you see a Dock Dog contest coming to your area I can attest that they're real fun.
csboykin, That lead is called a British Style Slip Lead. You can read about them here:
http://www.mendotaproducts.com/sliplead_comp.html
Many gun dog shops sell them. I love mine. Works in the field, around the home, and even on the Dock Dog platform. -D
LOL, thats great. Keep up the work. She's lookin good
That was great!
Pritch did a good job for her first leap.
that's one good looking dog you got there, dave!
I would have never thought Pritch would do that!
I wonder if I can get Gracie to do that? German Shorthair with the swiftness and agility of a cat!
jamesti and huskerguy--Thanks for the kind words...Pritch is growing up nice...that's one thing I can't screw up.
2Poppa--Nice to see you back around. And thanks.
Clay--Dogs will surprise you. (Good and bad.) You should have seen the looks on some of the guys when their big water dogs chickened out at the end of the runway...If it was allowed I think they might have tossed the dogs in. Pritch made me proud.
Wish there were more big jumpts. Nice vid anyway. Thanks
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But it's not all about slaying birds, is it? I did some accounting and arrived at the conclusion that I spend much more money on training and birds than actual hunting. Hunting ducks is about The Dawn Magic. Gotta establish a relationship with your dawg, and you never really know what is most important other that trust and what to expect of each other.
Looks like a great time! Good job to you and Pritch!
Looks like ya'll had a good time.Good looking dog also..One thing I like about your blogs is that you openly share ups and downs....but this one was a definate "up" imo..And if this was the first time for Pritch to have a larger audience that probably contributed a little to the excitement
Good form ... and enthusiasm. After hearing the Rocky theme I was expecting to see her downing a couple of raw eggs and running stairs.
Pritch seems real mellow! That looked cool
Great job keep it up
i love watching the competitions when they're on ESPN! my dog is pretty impressive jumping off a dock, but not sure what she'd do when faced with a 4 foot drop into clear water! would be fun to find out.
Nice work Dave. It's always refreshing to see someone writing on this topic who admits to owning an actual dog and not a perfectly obedient robot.
congrats pritch, i was hoping for one of these to come near us some time for my pup and I.
Thats awsome Dave!Talk about training with distraction!
Looks like your building a well rounded dog!AWSOME!
Talk about good spoiling, good job!
Good dog!
I think my big black dog would jump off the platform and run to the side closest to the bumper before jumping in! Dock dog he ain't!
Beautiful.
I think you should do as many different things with your dogs as they can (and want to). They're always willing to do more, especially if there's treats involved. And you have to keep those brains busy, or they'll figure out other ways to get into trouble.
David,
It has been a long time. Gilpin told me what you were up to back before the holidays when I told him I was giving my 3 boys a 1 1/2 year old Boykin for Christmas. I have gone back and read all of your posts and really enjoyed reading about Boykins and Pritch. We have fallen in love with the bread and Chimmey. He had a hunting season under his belt with the breader we bought him from and has done a great job the two times I have taken him. He is still learning what it means to be a Big City dog and I am attempting to train him but with 3 boys it is not easy. I noticed an orange leash in the Jump Video (nice jump!) that looked like some sort of modified choke collar/leash. What was that it looked like something I would like to try....
Thanks,
Chris Scott
Gang, Many thanks for the kind words. And I couldn't agree more...every new situation with your dog is one that you both can learn from. If you see a Dock Dog contest coming to your area I can attest that they're real fun.
csboykin, That lead is called a British Style Slip Lead. You can read about them here:
http://www.mendotaproducts.com/sliplead_comp.html
Many gun dog shops sell them. I love mine. Works in the field, around the home, and even on the Dock Dog platform. -D
LOL, thats great. Keep up the work. She's lookin good
That was great!
Pritch did a good job for her first leap.
that's one good looking dog you got there, dave!
I would have never thought Pritch would do that!
I wonder if I can get Gracie to do that? German Shorthair with the swiftness and agility of a cat!
jamesti and huskerguy--Thanks for the kind words...Pritch is growing up nice...that's one thing I can't screw up.
2Poppa--Nice to see you back around. And thanks.
Clay--Dogs will surprise you. (Good and bad.) You should have seen the looks on some of the guys when their big water dogs chickened out at the end of the runway...If it was allowed I think they might have tossed the dogs in. Pritch made me proud.
Wish there were more big jumpts. Nice vid anyway. Thanks
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