WASHINGTON — Dog handlers from North Carolina to as far as Ohio ventured to the Washington Summer Festival last weekend to take part in a nationally sanctioned Dock Dogs competition.

From Belgian Malinois to Labrador Retrievers, a diverse assortment of pups propelled themselves off portable platforms and into a 20-by-8-foot long pool, fetching tennis balls and grabbing decoys.

Dogs competed in three events: the big air, extreme vertical and speed retrieve. Dock Dogs was a three-day long event and drew hundreds of spectators over the course of the weekend. Below are the final standings for each event, including the iron dog, which ranks the top dogs among all three exhibitions.

 

IRON DOG

1. Ziva —Linda Torson, Doylestown, OH
2. Kaiser — Peggy Hager, Parkton
3. *River — Phyllis Manning, Blounts Creek
4. Keeler — Bernadette Balderson, Boiling Springs Lake
5. Buzzard — Peggy Hager, Parkton

EXRTEME VERTICAL

1. Kaiser (7’) — Peggy Hager, Parkton
2. *River (6’ 8’’) — Phyllis Manning, Blounts Creek
3. Ziva (6’ 6’’) — Linda Torson, Doylestown, OH
4. Keeler (6’ 4’’) — Bernadette Bladerson, Boiling Springs Lake
5. Abigail (5’ 10’’) —Tracy Franklin, Hertford

SPEED RETRIEVE

1. Kaiser (7.000) — Peggy Hager, Parkton
2. Ziva — (7.198) Linda Torson, Doylestown, OH
3. *River — (7.419) Phyllis Manning, Blounts Creek
4. Keeler — (7.820) Bernadette Balderson, Boiling Springs Lake
5. Buzzard — (8.118) Peggy Hager, Parkton

BIG AIR PRO

1. Ziva — (22’ 6’) Linda Torson, Doylestown, OH

BIG AIR SEMI-PRO

1. Buzzard (21’ 9’’) — Peggy Hager, Parkton
2. Shae (20’ 11’’) — Stephanie Roberson-Thomas, Sanford
3. Keeler (20’ 1’’) — Bernadette Balderson, Boiling Springs Lake
4. Gibbs (19’ 8’’) — Therese Leafstedt, Hope Mills
5. Kaiser (19’ 2’’) — Peggy Hager, Parkton

BIG AIR AMATEUR

1. Cash (18’ 11’’) — Tamra Spink, Hamilton, VA
2. *River (15’ 6’’) — Phyllis Manning, Blounts Creek
3. Dude (14’ 10’’) — Bernadette Balderson, Boiling Springs Lake
4. Abigail (14’) —Tracy Franklin, Hertford
5. Lucy (13’ 3’’) — Chris Garrett, Roanoke Rapids

NOTABLE BIG AIR QUALIFYING TIMES

• Ziva (24’ 1’’) —Linda Torson, Doylestown, OH
• Buzzard (20’ 11’’) — Peggy Hager, Parkton
• Kaiser (18’ 8’’) — Peggy Hager, Parkton
• *Georgia (14.6) — Archie Griffin, Washington
• *Butler (14’ 4’’) — Mariah Mordecai, Bath
• *Sadie (14’ 3’’) — Chris Garrett, Washington

 

*Local dog