Dock Jumping Makes a Big Splash at Premier!!

Ultimate Air Dogs dock jumping was a huge hit at the 2008 UKC Premier, thoroughly enjoyed by competitors, newcomers to the sport, and the crowds alike! This year, UAD was a part of Premier as a companion sport, and jumps in competition counted towards UKC dock jumping titles. UAD had a record breaking pre-registration that filled up and closed in 2 days, with over 50 dogs entered in every splash.

There were also not just one, but two pools and docks set up; one for competition and competitor practice, and the other for newbies to introduce their dogs to UKC’s newest performance event. The practice pool was a huge success, and saw everything from a dachshund to coonhounds trying their paws at dock jumping!

Thursday through Saturday started with several splashes of Ultimate Air (distance jumping). While storms on Friday put a small delay on the fun, it did not stop the jumpers and once the lightening let up, they kept right on flying through the rain! Saturday dawned sunny and gorgeous and was a successful day with tons of dogs jumping, several of them newcomers trying it for the first time who did very well.


Sarah and Gumpy

The true star of the whole weekend was Forrest Gumpy, a 5 year old Parson Russell terrier, and his 14 year old handler Sarah Simone. This little bundle of dynamite has got to be pound for pound one of the biggest jumping dogs in the world. He can out jump many of the big dogs, and at Premier he flew to a personal best of 22 feet!! Sarah handles him like an absolute pro, with a smile on her face at all times. Together they made the front page of the Kalamazoo Gazette and continued to blow the crowds away all weekend.

Not only is Gumpy an amazing athlete, add to that the fact that he is accomplishing all of this while fighting cancer. Last fall, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and the prognosis was quite grim. By January he was in stage 5, with the cancer all through his lymph nodes and starting to spread. He was immediately started on an aggressive 25 week course of chemotherapy, and within a few weeks was in remission. He finished his chemo the week following Premier. His owners believe that feeding a raw diet, keeping him active in dog sports, and his intensity for life all contributed to his survival. He is quite an amazing little dog!


Featherweight and Junior Handler winner Forrest Gumpy

Saturday ended in an exciting Ultimate Vertical (height competition) qualifier. Shari Schukraft and her high flying CBRs dominated the competition. Two year old Irish's Beyond Measure Sage took first in the Supreme Ultimate Vertical division with a height of 5.06. Shari's other CBR, two year old RKK Meadow Buttercup clinched her spot in the finals by soaring to a height of 6.08 in the Radical Ultimate Vertical division. Unfortunately, Shari had to fly out on Sunday and could not stay for the finals. On Sunday morning, Barb Radtke's Rock's Bay Paddler (known in dock jumping circles as "the Rock"), a ten year old BL that has a thing or two to teach the youngsters, took the Supreme UV finals with a jump of 5.05. In the Radical UV division, Chris Mapham and her amazing three year old Belgian Malinois Flashman of Felon Den won with a height of 6.07.


Supreme Ultimate Vertical winner the Rock Radical Ultimate Vertical winner Flash

Following the Ultimate Vertical finals was the specialty finals, starting with the Featherweight (small dog) division. The unstoppable Forrest Gumpy blew the others away with a HUGE jump for any dog, especially a little guy like him, of 21.11! He and Sarah Simone, with Gumpy, also took the Junior Handler division with another big jump of 21. The veteran division went to the Rock, who is just simply a testament to what keeping an older dog active can achieve, with a jump of 16.11.


Veteran winner the Rock

After the Specialty Finals were finished, UAD managed to make it through the Junior Ultimate Air finals, where Beth Crawford and her two year old White Shepherd Lyons Royal Scott ("Indy") won with a nice Junior jump of 14.04. Then a major storm rolled in and everyone hunkered down for 45 minutes to ride out hail, hellacious winds, and lightening everywhere.


Junior Ultimate Air Division winner Indy

When the sun came back out, everyone was in for a very exciting finals! The Senior Ultimate Air finals were claimed by Lynn Taylor and her rescued GSP Champ with a MASTER division jump of 21.07, which broke their previous personal best jump by over 2 feet!!! Jeff Devries and his little powerhouse rescue APBT Flying High Rajah also busted out of their division by winning the Master Ultimate Air finals with an ULTIMATE division jump of 22.09, which also reset the current APBT record!! Great job for the rescue dogs!


Senior Division winner Champ


Master Division winner Rajah

The finals all culminated in an amazing display by all the Ultimate Division finalists, and the jumps came down to inches. Brian and Lisa Butler and their pretty Yellow Labrador Santa Fe's Blonde Diesel ("Sky") took the event with an amazing jump of 24.04. Kerri Zielke and her little 2 year old rescue Border Collie Kelsi absolutely wowed everyone by blasting out 24.02! She crushed her previous PB of 21.06 and set the Border Collie record.


Ultimate Division winner Sky


Ultimate Division runner up Kelsi

All in all, the dogs jumped great and had an absolute blast, as did all their humans as well, making UAD dock jumping at Premier a major success!!