Charleston SC - Well, the cabin fever ended this weekend for ten members of the Chesapeake DockDogs club.  After a long winter without any jumping, these members drove the 8-10 hours to experience and enjoy the new season of DockDogs, and the 67 degree “Winter” weather.  The crowds, competition, and event did not disappoint.  

This event also brought some interesting twists.  We saw new individual accomplishments as well as entire families competing with their dogs.  

Tim Kline, with his non-jumping (yet) dog Patton as cheerleader, had a great weekend.  Not only did Bella win the Big Air Pro Finals with a jump of 22’0”, but also finished first in the Iron Dog competition and second in Speed Retrieve, only to be beaten by her brother, Jasper.  Jasper’s Speed Retrieve time of 6.209 seconds was the fastest time all weekend, either in finals or in the multiple Speed Retrieve waves.  Jasper also had a great showing in the Amateur Big Air finals, where he finished fourth, and Iron Dog, where he finished fourth.  

Dan Bryant with Maggie also had some firsts this weekend.  Maggie recorded her personal best Speed Retrieve time of 7.136 seconds to make the Speed Retrieve finals.  Maggie also returned to Extreme Vertical, where she got her second Cadet title leg with a jump of 5’0”.  Just missing the Semi-Pro finals with her jump of 19’7”, Maggie was not disappointed because now she can claim to be one of the Chesapeake Iron Dogs.  

Peggy Toms also returned to dock diving after a long hiatus.  For Peggy, her last event was one soon to be forgotten, with Kai forgetting how to jump at that (indoor) event.  This weekend saw flashes of Kai’s former self, with jumps at 20’6” and 21’9” to make the Semi-Pro finals.  Alas, Kai began to hesitate again in the finals, getting jumps closer to Talley’s for the weekend.  

For dogs Rebel, Twister, Diamond, and Jake, several families decided to share handling of their dog this weekend.  Renee Beagle and Danny Renteria each took turns with Rebel.  In Big Air, Danny had the upper hand with a best jump of 19’5” compared to Renee’s 19’0”.  Speed Retrieve saw the opposite, with Renee getting the better time.  Renee also competed in Iron Dog and Extreme Vertical, where Rebel picked up another Top Gun leg at 6’0”, and watched as the bumper hung by one magnet at 6’2”.  Rebel will be another force in the Chesapeake Iron Dog club.

The Sozio family also all had a chance to jump with Twister this weekend.  First up in Big Air was Steve, who couldn’t get Twister to have the pop of last year.  She finished 3^rd in the Semi-Pro finals with a best jump of 21’4”.  On Saturday morning, 6-year old Youth Handler James was surprised to hear he would be jumping Twister, for the first time at a National event.  James got Twister to jump 14’5”, earning his first Junior leg and anticipation of more fun with his dog.  Speed Retrieve saw Heather and Steve both jump Twister.  Just like last year, Heather got more out of Twister than Steve.  Extreme Vertical saw Steve/Twister compete with the big jumpers of the weekend, finishing third in Top Gun at 6’2”, behind a former world record holder and the new world record holder.

The Pierce/Ward family also had their hands full this weekend.  Both Jim Pierce and Zachary Ward battled jumps out between their dogs, Jake and Diamond.  Youth Handler Zachary had a great time competing in his First Iron Dog Competition with Diamond completing BA and SR and they are still looking for that first EV grab.  Zachary also had a great weekend with Jake, where he got his first two Master title legs with a national personal best jump of 20’8”.  He was bested by Uncle Jim though, who made the Semi-Pro finals with Jake with a 20’11” and finished in 4^th place.  Jim also had some firsts this weekend with Jake—a first grab in EV and a first Iron Dog competition in which they finished in 6th Place.  Starting at 4’8” in EV, Jake made multiple grabs and won first place Cadet at 5’10”.  Sensing his dog was getting tired, Jim passed until 6’4”, where Jake just missed the grab.  Jim also made the Amateur finals with Diamond, with a best jump of 15’10”, and finished in 7th.

The warm weather, great competition, great fans, great fair, and great friends will be sure to bring our club back to this event next year.  What a wonderful start to the 2009 DockDogs season for our club.Congratulations to all the members who attended and we hope to see everyone at the next event.  Click Here for Club Stats and Here for complete event results.

Charleston SC	James & Zachary	Charleston SC
Tim Kline & Bella - 22' 6" 1st Place - Pro Finals	Tim & Zachary Announcing	Steve Sozio & Twister - 21' 4" 3rd Place - Semi-Pro Finals
Peggy Toms & Kai - 21' 9" 6th Place - Semi-Pro Finals	Jim Pierce & Jake - 20' 11" 4th Place - Semi-Pro Finals	Zachary Ward & Jake - 20' 8"
Dan Bryant & Maggie - 19' 7"	Danny Renteria & Rebel - 19' 5"	Renee Beagle & Rebel - 19'
Tim Kline & Jasper - 17' 11" 4th Place - Amateur Finals	Jim Pierce & Diamond - 15' 10" 7th Place - Amateur Finals	Zachary Ward & Diamond - 14' 9"
Peggy Toms & Talley - 14' 9"	James Sozio & Twister - 14' 5"	Steve Sozio & Twister - 6' 2" 3rd Place - Top Gun
Renee Beagle & Rebel - 6' 4th Place (tie) - Top Gun	Tim Kline & Bella - 6' 4th Place (tie) - Top Gun	Jim Pierce & Jake - 5' 10" 1st Place - Cadet
Tim Kline & Jasper - 5' 10" 2nd Place - Cadet	Dan Bryant & Maggie - 5' 6th Place - Cadet	Tim Kline & Jasper - 6.209 1st Place - Speed Retrieve
Tim Kline & Bella - 6.234 2nd Place - Speed Retrieve	Dan Bryant & Maggie - 7.136 6th Place - Speed Retrieve	Zachary Ward & Diamond - 7.347 8th Place - Speed Retrieve
Jim Pierce & Jake - 7.661	Heather Sozio & Twister - 7.844	Renee Beagle & Rebel - 7.928
Steve Sozio & Twister - 7.988	Danny Renteria & Rebel - 8.445	Tim Kline & Bella - 2963.61 1st Place - Iron Dog
Tim Kline & Jasper - 2885.16 4th Place - Iron Dog	Steve Sozio & Twister - 2865.73 5th Place - Iron Dog	Jim Pierce & Jake - 2861.41 6th Place - Iron Dog
Renee Beagle & Rebel - 2828.29 7th Place - Iron Dog	Dan Bryant & Maggie - 2788.83 8th Place - Iron Dog	Zachary Ward & Diamond - 1841.91 12th Place - Iron Dog