Dueling dogs big hit at Shell Factory
Bo knows just about everything there is about being the big dog. And on Sunday, against his arch-rival, he proved it one more time.
The famous dock dog added another notch to his belt by winning the first Dueling Dogs event at the Shell Factory in front of hundreds of adoring fans in the middle parking lot.
Bo bested rival Remi in the finals and, though he got off to a bit of a slow start and entered the pool a little later and behind Remi, he made up ground quickly and best Remi by a couple feet.
Not that it mattered, since Remi false started.
McClaran said it took a little bit of strategy to gain the win; don’t false start.
“I do my job on the dock and Bo does his. I didn’t want to false start, but not be so slow that the other dog gets too far ahead of us,” said McClaran, whose dog set a world record time of 4.51 seconds in one of his heats.
It was a great day for local trainers as McClaran also won the Class 4 championship with Flint Griffin while Vicki Tighe won in Class 3 with Storm.
For three days, the fastest animals on four feet battled it out in a temporary pool through seven heats before the top dogs in four classes were crowned in a qualifier for the world championships later this year. And the weather for the first and third days couldn’t have been better.
Dueling Dogs, a relatively new event, is like doggy drag racing. The dogs and their handlers wait at the starting line for the green light to go.
The dogs run 20 feet below jumping into the water and swim toward the bumper at the end of the pool. The best, such as Bo, can do this is less than five seconds.
Those less experienced are either shy to get into the water, or swim, but don’t retrieve the bumper at the end of the pool.
That was the problem world champion surfer dog Booker had as its owner Pops Steinberg implored him to “get the cookie,” only to watch him veer away and go to the end of the pool to Wanda, Pops’ wife, and attempt to get out.
That wasn’t going to be an issue with Tom Dropik, owner of Remi, who came all the way from Minnesota to battle Bo, owned by Cape Coral resident Crystal McClaran.
“I told myself I wanted to do as many of these as I can. I have many friends like Crystal and I have the time off, so I came for the weather,” Dropik said, who has a major company, Stihl, sponsor his team. “It’s an opportunity to have fun with the dog and play with him.”
That he false-started in the big race was a disappointment, but that’s to be expected sometimes.
“We both get a little excited and there are lot of good dogs in the finals. The only way to win is to time that start,” Dropik said.
Fans from all over, including Loretta Cocca, who came from Virginia to watch the event Saturday, enjoyed the competition despite some intermittent rain.
“I have a Labrador at home, and I’d love to see him do this. It’s fascinating the focus they need to do this,” Cocca said.