Important Announcements from Dogz Events! š¾ February 2024
DockDogsĀ® is gearing up for the Iron Dog Best of the Best East vs. West Championships as a special feature at the Nevada Wild Fest! This will be a special feature as part of the national eventĀ taking place in Las Vegas October 25th – 28th at the Rio Hotel & Casino. This special invitation only portion of the event is going to be a televised one hour feature that will air on the Outdoor Channel. We’ve invited the top 6 overall Worldwide ranked Iron Dog’s 3 from the East of the Mississippi River and 3 from the West to put them in see who is the top Iron Dog in the world! This one hour special will not only showcase the live event; we’ll see footage of these top 6 Iron Dog’s and their handlers at home, training, and just hanging out. This will be a back to back test of endurance as these top 6 ranked Iron Dogs will compete in Big AirĀ®, Speed Retrieveā¢, and Extreme Verticalā¢ to be named the top Iron Dog in the world!
Tom Dropik & his black Labrador / German Shepherd rescue Remi make up Team STIHL. “Homeless and all alone, I rescued Remi in September of 2010.
This beautiful, young, energetic and very athletic / Labrador / German Shepherd made his way into my heard, my family’s heart, and is now a world champion” says Tom Dropik.
Tom Dropik and Remi are the #1 ranked Speed Retrieveā¢ team in the world, #5th ranked Iron Dog team, and 5th ranked Extreme Verticalā¢ team in the world. Tom and Remi hold the Speed Retrieveā¢ outdoor World RecordĀ with a super sonic speed of 4.831 seconds Ā and the indoor World Record with a lightning fast speed of 4.442 seconds! Tom Dropik started competing with DockDogsĀ® in April of 2001 and has been competing for 12 years, a competitor that has been with us for the length of the sport; contributing experience and World Record holding dogs throughout the years.
Mike Chiasson & Taz 5 year old black Labrador Retriever started competing in DockDogsĀ® in 2011 and has quickly risen to be one of the top 6 Iron Dogs in the world! Mike & Taz hold the Iron Dog World Record with a score of 3120.59 points! They hold the World Record for the Super Elite Big AirĀ® jump of a massive 31 feet that he obtained in Clayton, NY at the 2012 Seaway Splash. Taz holds the #1 ranked spot in the DockDogsĀ® Worldwide Iron Dog rankings and is an up and comingĀ dock star. Mike is ranked 1st in the Big AirĀ® Worldwide rankings with an average jump distance of 29’5″, 4th in Speed Retrieveā¢ with a score of 5.390, and 10th in Extreme Vertical with an average of 7’1″. Mike attributes Taz’s competing in Flyball to his success in DockDogs; Taz has been competing in Flyball since 2009 with his personal best of 4.069 seconds.
Lise Strum & Vhoebe Ā du Loups du Soleil (VB) a Belgian Malinois out of San Diego, CA represent one of the top 3 ranked teams out of the west. Vhoebe was born in March of 2008 and came to enter Lise’s family as the breeder called herĀ very naughty pup who was too much for her family. Lise quickly fell in love with this Vhoebe and had to bring her home. In 2009 Lise attends her first DockDogsĀ® event where she quickly starts breaking her own records, a natural on the dock and in the pool. Lise & Vhoebe’s personal best as of 2011 at the DockDogs World Championships is an incredible 28’6″. In 2012 Lise & Vhoebe clench the DockDogsĀ® Indoor Iron Dog World Record with a score of 3089.84; she is the 2012 DockDogs Western Regional Championship top Iron Dog. In 2012 Vhoebe started jumping forĀ Team 21– a charity headed up by Dave Skoletsky, a DockDogsĀ® handler for Down Syndrome awareness.
Dave Skoletsky & Yeager and his Belgian Malinois, a rescue from a Craigslist makes up Team 21. Dave first started competing in DockDogs in 2010 and has quickly risen to the top 6 for the Iron Dog Best of the Best Championships! Dave and Yeager set the Iron Dog World Record with a score of 3093.64 in May of 2011, this record is now held by Mike Chiasson & Taz. Dave has continued to amaze crowds with the High Flyer heights Yeager soars to obtain in Extreme Vertical – consistently breaking his World Records from 8’0″ in Maine of 2011 all the way to his current World Record of a monumental 8’4″ grab at the 2012 Eastern Regional Championships at Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD. In 2011 Yeager & Dave were namedĀ Most Inspiring Team andĀ Rookie of the Year. Their Personal Best in Big Air is 27’3″, Extreme Vertical is 8’4″, and Speed Retrieve is 5.65 seconds.
Tony Lampert & Baxter, a Belgian Malinois is described by Tony asĀ “A once in a lifetime dog” .Ā Baxter is 3.5 years old and is highly active with a sky high drive, his father is a police K-9 in Chicago.
He took to training like no other dog I’ve ever owned. What I saw in him more than anything is his athletic ability even at a very young age. Everything I asked was fast and accurate, said Tony.
The first time Baxter was able to jump off of a dock he was 6 months old, he was just old enough to be on the dock for the first time. He ran and jumped over 15 feet, this is when Tony knew he had to keep jumping with Baxter. Baxter exponentially improved each event and as seasons passed – earning a Iron Dog World Record with a score of 3087.04 in August of 2010 and currently holds the Big AirĀ® Indoor World Record with a Super Elite jump of 29’03”! Baxter has earned himself quite a few accomplishments since he first jumped in 2009 including: 2010 DockDogsĀ® Iron Dog World Champion, 2010 DockDogsĀ® Iron Dog National Champion, 2012 DockDogsĀ® Big Air National Champion, 2010Ā DockDogsĀ® Extreme Vertical National Champion, 2010Ā DockDogsĀ®Ā Rookie of the Year, 2011Ā DockDogsĀ® Big Air World Champion, 2011Ā DockDogsĀ® Big Air National Champion, and 2011Ā DockDogsĀ® Speed Retrieve Turbo National Champion.
Joe Druck of York, PA & Jager (pronounced Yeager) a Dutch Shepherd is the oldest of the top 6 Iron Dog’s competing this weekend – he’s currently 7 and will be officially a Veteran Dog in December of 2012! Jager is the current Iron Dog World Champion; he won the cup in Canton, Ohio in 2011. Jager also won the National Iron Dog Championship in Killington, Vermont in October of 2011. Jager has been a competitor with DockDogsĀ® for year years and has rapidly become one of the top 6 teams in DockDogsĀ® Iron Dog history! Jager is the Druck family’s first (and only) dog. Jager is not only a dock star – he was recently featured in a children’s bookĀ When Dogs Fly.Ā