Havre de Grace MD - Michael Hawanchak was the star of the weekend, with his dog Maxx flying through the air.  Entering into seven of the eight waves, Maxx earned 2 Master jumps, 4 Elite jumps, and one SuperElite jump of 25’4”, the best jump of the entire weekend.  In the Elite/SuperElite finals, Maxx still had a great jump of 23’8” to take home 5^th place and a new Elite title.  Maxx also took 5^th place in Speed Retrieve after being the 3^rd qualifying dog.  Cathy Hawanchak & Neesha were excited to see those great jumps from Maxx, and earned a Senior title themselves.

The Hetricks also braved the rain all weekend, with Emily manning the ribbon table and handling Argus, while Susan handled Coleman.  Coleman was consistently in the 18’ range, earning a spot in the Senior finals where he finished in 2^nd.  With Thunder still on the disabled list, Sharon Rodgers appreciated Emily’s support at the admin tent.

Tim Kline and his family arrived with a borrowed dog, Wilson, for this weekend’s events.  Wilson showed that he’ll “listen” to almost anyone, where Tim finished first in the Elite/SuperElite finals.  Tim let a new Youth Handler, Rainy Avery, try out Bella in Big Air and Speed Retrieve, where she finished as 3^rd place Senior and 6^th place Speed Retrieve.  Tim didn’t hand over Jasper quite yet, where he took home 2^nd place in Speed Retrieve.

Youth Handler James Sozio had his first weekend where he had all the handling responsibilities of Twister.  Working constantly on his throw and Twister’s sit-stay, James once again saw some Master jumps out of Twister.  James’ also had a respectable Speed Retrieve time (especially since Twister’s last Speed Retrieve involved only barking and no jumping).  However, James now enjoys Extreme Vertical more than any other discipline and is excited to do that some more.  We’ll be seeing lots more of James, Rainy, and all the rest of Chesapeake’s Youth Handlers this DockDogs season.

The Sparks/Parzow family also had some highlights with their Belgian Malinois(es).  Zachary Parzow and K-9 Buckley had a great jump of 19’7” to be second qualifier for the Senior finals.  They were out-jumped by Coleman & Bella in the finals to finish 4^th.  Sharon Sparks & Sky also saw some great jumps and finished 4^th in the Junior finals, but they still need to work on their exit from the water.

Thanks also to Cynthia/Wonder, Rick/Molly, and Allison/Kaya and everyone that braved the weather to attend this wonderful event by the Delmarva club.