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Making a splash
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Longtime dog jumping enthusiast Tom Dropik hopes to win big at Lumberjack Days
by Jay Stephenson
Staff Writer
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STILLWATER — Tom Dropik admits that when it comes to dog jumping competitions, his black Labrador retriever is usually the underdog.
Dropik's dog Rocky will be one of about 50 dogs competing in the STIHL Dogs and Logs World Championship this week at Lumberjack Days. The sport of dog jumping, in which a dog jumps over a body of water and is measured by both horizontal and sometimes vertical length, has grown into a popular sporting event the past 10 years, having been featured on ESPN as dogs compete for national titles.
Dropik, a computer contractor from New Prague, Minn., has been involved with the sport for seven years. His 12-year old black Labrador retriever Tucker has competed in the ESPN Great Outdoors Games five times. Tucker went on to receive the bronze medal in 2001 and was also featured on Animal Planet and an ESPN commercial promoting the DockDog competitions.
"Tucker got to be the ground-breaker in the sport," Dropik said. "It was out there, but it really wasn't that popular."
Dropik noticed Tucker's talent when several apples from a backyard tree were missing, and he saw the dog eating them on the ground. The apples were retrieved as Tucker jumped in midair to take them off the tree.
"I knew then that he could jump off the end of a dock," he said. "So I made a few phone calls and found the right people with DockDogs."
For his first jump, Tucker jumped 18 feet and took fourth place, failing to qualify for a national competition held in Little Rock, Ark. But when one of the other dogs dropped out, Tucker got to compete. The sport has since become more competitive, he said, and today 18 feet would never qualify a dog for a national tournament where the average jump is usually 20 to 25 feet.
"Now there are thousands of events and you have to go through all kinds of hurdles to get in," he said. "But back then if you went to one event, all you had to do was finish in the top three, and the year before the organizers were knocking on doors looking for dogs to jump."
Since then, Tucker has become a national competitor and Dropik has grown more passionate about the sport, developing a company called SportMutt Inc. that's devoted to better train sporting dogs. He also developed a new aspect to dog jumping called "Extreme Vertical".
There are three aspects to dog jumping that all involve jumping from a dock: "Big Air" measures a horizontal jump, "Extreme Vertical" measures height, and "Speed Retrieve" measures how fast a dog can get to the decoy. Dropik says his other dog, Rocky, competed in the Iron Dog competition and qualified for all three categories at the 2008 Dock Dog World Championships.
Rocky, now 4, is a replacement for Tucker. Dropik said Rocky is benefitting from his owner's experience with Tucker.
"Seven years ago we got (Tucker) out to the dock and did several things to get him to go up and go fast, because its a perfect combination of speed and lift to get the big jumps," Dropik said. "Now I know there's more to it than just going to the end of the dock."
Training for dog jumping events can be similar to humans training for sporting competitions, he said, and a desire to win has to be developed. A dog might not know what winning means, but it does have an instinct for chasing after the toy decoy, which takes hard work and training to develop in a dog.
"We bring the dog to the dock maybe only once a week, whenever we need to introduce something new or maintain something," he said. "The other times we're building desire, strength and conditioning, and interaction with the handler."
Dropik runs with both dogs in the morning and evening, including shallow water runs and hill climbs that strengthen rear muscles. Part of the training also involves hiding an object from the dog that he must work for after obedience or other training is completed. Both dogs are also used for hunting.
"The reason I have the dogs is I love to hunt with them," he said. "I love the whole concept of what hunting does for the dogs. I believe that labs were put on the earth for that, and I love to give them the opportunity to do what they are born to do."
That natural instinct extends to dog jumping, he said, which is why he's grown such an interest in the sport.
"To be honest, I'm the bridesmaid and never the bride," he said. "I'm always the guy who's in that third, fourth, or fifth slot and never won the big one."
That might change this week at Lumberjack Days, he said.
Jay Stephenson can be reached at 651-407-1235 or scvalleynews@press pubs.com.
Dropik's dog Rocky will be one of about 50 dogs competing in the STIHL Dogs and Logs World Championship this week at Lumberjack Days. The sport of dog jumping, in which a dog jumps over a body of water and is measured by both horizontal and sometimes vertical length, has grown into a popular sporting event the past 10 years, having been featured on ESPN as dogs compete for national titles.
Dropik, a computer contractor from New Prague, Minn., has been involved with the sport for seven years. His 12-year old black Labrador retriever Tucker has competed in the ESPN Great Outdoors Games five times. Tucker went on to receive the bronze medal in 2001 and was also featured on Animal Planet and an ESPN commercial promoting the DockDog competitions.
"Tucker got to be the ground-breaker in the sport," Dropik said. "It was out there, but it really wasn't that popular."
Dropik noticed Tucker's talent when several apples from a backyard tree were missing, and he saw the dog eating them on the ground. The apples were retrieved as Tucker jumped in midair to take them off the tree.
"I knew then that he could jump off the end of a dock," he said. "So I made a few phone calls and found the right people with DockDogs."
For his first jump, Tucker jumped 18 feet and took fourth place, failing to qualify for a national competition held in Little Rock, Ark. But when one of the other dogs dropped out, Tucker got to compete. The sport has since become more competitive, he said, and today 18 feet would never qualify a dog for a national tournament where the average jump is usually 20 to 25 feet.
"Now there are thousands of events and you have to go through all kinds of hurdles to get in," he said. "But back then if you went to one event, all you had to do was finish in the top three, and the year before the organizers were knocking on doors looking for dogs to jump."
Since then, Tucker has become a national competitor and Dropik has grown more passionate about the sport, developing a company called SportMutt Inc. that's devoted to better train sporting dogs. He also developed a new aspect to dog jumping called "Extreme Vertical".
There are three aspects to dog jumping that all involve jumping from a dock: "Big Air" measures a horizontal jump, "Extreme Vertical" measures height, and "Speed Retrieve" measures how fast a dog can get to the decoy. Dropik says his other dog, Rocky, competed in the Iron Dog competition and qualified for all three categories at the 2008 Dock Dog World Championships.
Rocky, now 4, is a replacement for Tucker. Dropik said Rocky is benefitting from his owner's experience with Tucker.
"Seven years ago we got (Tucker) out to the dock and did several things to get him to go up and go fast, because its a perfect combination of speed and lift to get the big jumps," Dropik said. "Now I know there's more to it than just going to the end of the dock."
Training for dog jumping events can be similar to humans training for sporting competitions, he said, and a desire to win has to be developed. A dog might not know what winning means, but it does have an instinct for chasing after the toy decoy, which takes hard work and training to develop in a dog.
"We bring the dog to the dock maybe only once a week, whenever we need to introduce something new or maintain something," he said. "The other times we're building desire, strength and conditioning, and interaction with the handler."
Dropik runs with both dogs in the morning and evening, including shallow water runs and hill climbs that strengthen rear muscles. Part of the training also involves hiding an object from the dog that he must work for after obedience or other training is completed. Both dogs are also used for hunting.
"The reason I have the dogs is I love to hunt with them," he said. "I love the whole concept of what hunting does for the dogs. I believe that labs were put on the earth for that, and I love to give them the opportunity to do what they are born to do."
That natural instinct extends to dog jumping, he said, which is why he's grown such an interest in the sport.
"To be honest, I'm the bridesmaid and never the bride," he said. "I'm always the guy who's in that third, fourth, or fifth slot and never won the big one."
That might change this week at Lumberjack Days, he said.
Jay Stephenson can be reached at 651-407-1235 or scvalleynews@press pubs.com.
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