A little more than a year ago, Tom Osborne, the general manager of Osborne’s Agway Farm and Garden Centers, got a call from one of his dog food vendors.
Representatives from Blue Buffalo reached out to Osborne with an exciting opportunity – hosting a DockDogs Competition they sponsored at his Winnisquam store.
“They encouraged us to give it a try and it’s been a huge hit,” Osborne said.
The event was such a success in Winnisquam, Osborne decided to move the event down to Osborne Agway’s Concord location for this year’s competition, with events stretched across Saturday and Sunday.
DockDogs is a national competition which tours the country where local dog owners bring their dogs to compete in three events.
The most popular event is the “Big Air” competition, in which dogs jump as far as they can into a pool of water.
Those in attendance are also invited to compete in the “Vertical Extreme” – where dogs jump as high as possible – or the “Speed Retrieve,” where the dogs must fetch a toy from the pool and bring it back as fast as possible.
Osborne said the competition attracts competitors from across the state and parts of New England.
“Some of the people come from all around and do this and do it professionally,” he said. “They do the circuit, they do the competitions all summer long … these dogs put on a real show. They really fly off the dock.”
In addition to these competitive events, DockDogs hosts a “Try DockDogs” event, where first timers are given a chance to compete in “Big Air” without all the pressure of competition.
Dennis Faugno and Sandy Sims of Loudon decided to bring their dogs, Belle and Bo, to compete in “Try DockDogs” because of the dog’s love of the outdoors and play.
“We live on a little farm and they get a lot of exercise,” Faugno said. “We play a lot of games with them, tennis ball and frisbee. These two are very competitive, they love to run down the balls … and have a good time.”
Sims said they decided to bring the dogs to an event like this for the first time on a whim.
“We saw this advertised quite a while ago and it just looked like a fun thing,” she said. “I was going to come and just watch and then said, ‘why don’t we just bring the dogs.’ ”
Like Faugno and Sims, Ann Gambino had never come to a DockDogs event before but thought it’d be a good way for her black lab, Bear, to have a little bit of fun.
Bear impressed on his first-ever jump, chasing a toy thrown by Gambino into the pool – landing with a splash and thunderous applause from onlookers.
“He loves water and is a good retriever,” she said. “I think it’s a good experience for socialization and a good community event.”