A 1st grade class at Osage Elementary School in the Voorhees Township Public Schools learned about Lager during a class discussion. The wonderful students in Mrs. Stillwagon’s class created a book of Thank-You’s to Lager for his service to our country. This was one of the sweetest, most thoughtful gifts Lager has ever received. I read each and every Thank-You out loud to Lager, and this awesome gift will now be displayed for a bit in our kitchen for all house guests to see. It will then be placed in his memory box, where we save only the most special items for Lager.
Mrs. Stillwagon and students…your class made Lager’s day – (and his PAWrents too!) We very much appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness!
This was our first time competing at this event. We were super-excited since we were able to camp on the RaittHomestead Farm Museum for the entire weekend!
Limoncello: Team Coach
In between yelling at the boys and after the competition, Cello had a chance to jump off the dock and swim in the pool. In our eyes, she won 1st Place for prettiest girl on the dock this weekend.
Hooch
Hooooooooooooch had a great weekend! He is brand new to competing in Speed Retrieve and Iron Dog AND to learning the Chase Method during Big Air … and he rocked the dock in all 3 areas, despite the mistakes his Mama made, and with him being a beginner in all three “new” games! We have a lot to work on as a team, but I am so proud of this little guy!!
Big Air:
20’3″
22’0″
Finals:
21’2″ 🥉3rd Place Elite Division Big Air Finals
Extreme Vertical:
6’0″ 🥉3rd Place Top Gun Division
Speed Retrieve:
6.690 seconds 🏅New Personal Best score!
Iron Dog:
2939.05 points 🥈2nd Place Gladiator Division
🥉Out of all the competitors this weekend, Hooch won 3 Place Overall in the Iron Dog competition!
Lager
Lager started off the weekend in a little bit of a slump, and was hesitating a bit on the dock. He pulled it together by the end of the competition though!
Big Air:
17’6″
17’8″ 2nd Place Senior Division
19’10” 1st Place Senior Division
Finals:
20’1″ 🥇1st Place Senior Division Big Air Finals
Speed Retrieve:
7.310 seconds 🥉3rd Place Turbo Division Speed Retrieve
The announcer at this event was a Massachusettes Law Enforcement Officer, and he “coined” Lager! The history of “coining” began in the ancient Roman army, where coins were presented as rewards. The U.S. tradition goes back to the 1960’s. A member of hte 11th SFG over-stamped old coins with a new emblem. The 10th SFG was the fist to mint a custom coin and remained the only Army unit with its own coin until the 1980’s. Originally the coins were given to recognized outstanding achievements. They are now used to build unit morale and cohesion. During the Vietnam Era, the “challenge-response” was added to the tradition. A soldier can be “challenged” to show his or her unit coin. Those that cannot have to “buy a round.”
Margarita: Team Cheerleader
Sweet Reet took a break from cheering on the team and caught up on some beauty rest this weekend in preparation to kick some Lymphoma butt this week!!! 💪🏼.
Whiskey
Despite the brand new toys Mom bought for this competition, Wish the Fish decided she would rather be a Land Shark this weekend, and timed-out in her jumps.
Porter: Team Manager
Porter had a great day of napping and taking walks around the farm on Saturday.
However, even though his meds have just been increased, the second night on the farm around 10pm he had another series of seizures. Luckily, his emergency injection of Midazolam brought him out of the seizures and he did not have to go to the ER. It had been 20 days since his last episode.
Overall, we had a great trip to Maine and enjoyed this competition!
The message behind all Dog is Good products is “A Dog Can Change the Way You See the World.” The company focuses on the profound, positive influence your dog has on your life. Dog is Good products let you share your love of Dog with others!
We are proud to announce that we are now a part of the Amazon Influencer Program!
This program allows us to have our own page on Amazon with an exclusive URL to showcase the products that the pups and humans in our pack recommend to our followers! When Amazon customers shop through our storefront, we earn money on qualifying purchases.
We get asked very often about the things people see in our posts. Now it’s even easier to compile and share items with our followers!
You can find a link to our Amazon page on the home page of our website, or by clicking HERE!
The students at The Calais School have created a “Wall of Stars,” honoring Veterans and current Military members. One of the students made a star very special to our hearts… Lager (War Zone name, Nayt).
A fellow GSP Rescue of NJ volunteer and friend, and GSP Rescue of NJ alumni, Sage the GSP, told one of the school’s students about Lager. Thank you to this student who chose to honor Lager, and created this star so perfectly!
We are grateful to have Lager be a part of the Wall of Stars at The Calais School, and we will forever cherish this!
We are excited to announce our new partnership with Undone Watches! Undone Watches allows you to create a unique watch that reflects your individuality. Each watch is a unique message! Visit them today to design yours!
Our personalized watches:
Back of our watch:
Suits and collars:
Individuality at its finest… haha!Be sure to visit Undone Watches, and tell them The Liver Killers at Cello’s Corner sent you!
The Liver Killers are proud to announce that we are now sponsored by Ken Tidy Photography ! Ken Tidy has long been known as one of the most talented photographers in our area, capturing stunning action-packed images that truly express each dog’s individual personality. His images have been shared across the DockDogs world, and we are truly honored that Ken has chosen our fur-kids to represent his amazing work. We super excited about this sponsorship! Be sure to check out some of Ken’s amazing photography, and schedule a session with him to capture YOUR pup!
Website: www.kentidy.com
FB: @kentidyphotography
Twitter: @kptidy
Instagram: @kentidyphoto
‘Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.’ This quote by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. most accurately describes how our pack, bred to carry out specific tasks, found a path to a quite different kind of ‘job’, says dog ownerJenny Beadling, as she explains how alongside her husband Brian, their new home led them to find an unexpected path to follow into the dog world.
I wish I could say that Brian and I are credited with finding such a rewarding, bond-building sport, for our dock diving dogs, but all the acknowledgement belongs to Cello.
Let me start at the beginning.
When my husband, Brian, and I bought our dream home in Medford Lakes, New Jersey, we had no idea how much it would change our lives. Our dream home is a log cabin on a lake…only it didn’t quite ‘look’ like a log cabin – and, it wasn’t quite in ‘dream-home’ state when we bought it.
Our goal was to restore this historic log cabin to its original state and to fill it with decorations and mementos of the great town we live in, as well as items that would be relevant to the cabin and its history. Brian works in the mortgage industry, and was able to research back to the original deed of our home. He found out that the log home was built in 1927, and also discovered the name of the original owner. Out of curiosity, Brian Google-searched the man’s name. Low and behold, he came up in the search!
The search result that came up was linked to the English Setters Club, a local and nationally known club that conducts field trials that are open to all pointing breeds. The original owner of our home owned a German Shorthaired Pointer, named ‘Windy Spot’, who won many awards at the club for field trials. I called the club to see if I could get more information on this dog and his owner, or a picture of them that we could hang in our cabin.
When the man from the club called me back, and I explained my story, the other end of the phone fell silent. When I asked if he was ‘still there,’ he asked me to repeat where I lived – what street, house, and so on. It turned out that the man I was speaking to was a direct family member of the man who built our log cabin back in 1927, needless to say, it was quite an interesting conversation!
Brian and I knew immediately that we needed to research German Shorthaired Pointers and we fell in love with the breed and all of their characteristics. We knew a GSP would be the perfect addition to our lifestyle, our family, and our lake home and we named our log cabin ‘Windy Spot,’ after the first dog that ever lived in our home.
In 2011 on Memorial Day, we met Limoncello, our now 5 year old GSP. Why ‘Cello’? Cello’s full name is ‘Tommy D’s Limoncello.’
Tommy D was my Italian grandfather, who was quite the character, to say the least and was famous among his family and friends for his homemade Limoncello, with his secret recipe. Before he passed, ‘Pop Pop Tommy,’ revealed his secret recipe to the family and Brian, as well as other family members, have been carried on the tradition of making homemade Limoncello ever since. When we saw Cello had yellow ‘bird dog’ eyes, we couldn’t think of a better name.
We found out rather quickly that Cello was gun-shy, not a usual characteristic of the breed. We knew GSPs need a ‘job’ to be content, but we were at a loss as to what job that would be since we knew that GSPs were bred to hunt birds. Brian found that Cello had a very strong toy drive, and began to incorporate games of fetch by throwing a tennis ball into our lake. Before we knew it, without any ball being launched, Cello began ‘flying’ off our dock over and over again, on her own. Neighbours began to notice and comment on how far she was jumping.
We happened to see an ad for a local dog festival that included dock diving. Knowing nothing about this sport, we were hesitant but decided to sign up anyway. We entered Cello in the contest, and she came in 2nd Place! Brian was hooked, and Cello found her ‘job’!
As we signed Cello up for more contests, she quickly became a crowd favourite, and continued to soar her way into Finals, placing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in every event. Cello was the number one ranked GSP in Warrior Iron Dog table in the world, and earned herself an invitation to the World Championship in each of the 5 possible disciplines!
I very much enjoyed traveling to events, taking pictures andvideoof Brian and Cello, and cheering them on.
However, I wanted to get more involved, which led us to add a second GSP, ‘Hooch,’ to our family in July of 2014. We came to find out that like his big sister, Hooch, too, was gun shy and at first, water-shy!
Hooch participated in his first official DockDogs competition in January 2015. Despite the fact that our goal was to get Hooch to run and jump his longest into the pool, he won the crowd over with his hesitation on the dock. He quickly became a crowd favourite as he hung over the edge of the dock ‘teetering’ back and forth, deciding if he should jump… or not! The crowd loved the anticipation!
Hooch began to decide to jump more times than not, but would come to the edge of the dock, look around at the crowd cheering ‘HOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!’ and at the last minute, pop into the pool, as if he had springs attached to his back paws. The crowds went wild, as his ‘pop’ had amazing height! Even though this pop only got him to about 6-8 feet into the pool, he quickly became well-known for his ‘Hoochie Hop.’
With each competition, Hooch increased his distance, earning a spot in finals, and placing in the top 3 of his division, all while keeping the crowd entertained. In just a short 6 months, he stopped his hesitation on the dock, and soared to an amazing 24’2′ in Big Air, stunning the spectators who once knew him as the dog who branded the ‘Hoochie Hop.’
Hooch now holds a prestigious National Elite Big Air title and has begun participating in Extreme Vertical competition, and has a personal best grab of 6’2.’ Hooch remains a fan-favourite, and receives some of the biggest cheers from the crowd with his signature springboard ‘pop,’ and his ability to ‘fly’ through the air.
Hooch earned himself an invitation to the World Championships in both Extreme Vertical and Big Air. He made finals in both and placed within the top 6 dogs in the world in his division. Hooch and I even won the 2015 DockDogs ‘Most Improved Team’ award! Hooch also was ranked the number one GSP in the United States for Big Air.
Hooch has become the talk of ‘Dog Town,’ as spectators and fellow competitors alike have said he is the dog to watch in 2016.
With Cello and Hooch in tow, we were not planning on having more than two dogs, however, in late August of 2015, we received a call about a retired Explosives Detection Canine who needed a home.
The reason we were sought out as a possible candidate for Lager (known then by his war zone name, Nayt) was because Lager decided that after serving his country for 18 months in Iraq, that he would much rather jump in the water. Upon his arrival back in the United States, Lager began to show distraction duringtrainingand would often dive into water, refusing to come out.
A search began to find a home that would have access to water, have knowledge of the GSP breed, and get Lager involved in dock diving…and we were the perfect match!
Lager began his dock diving career in August, just a week after joining our family, and was immediately a crowd favourite, receiving a standing ovation while he is on the dock, due to his service for our country.
Lager has also been involved in leading the spectators through the National Anthem at events. Within two months and just 2 National events, Lager soared to 20’3′ in Big Air, and a grabbed the bumper at a whopping 6’4′ in Extreme Vertical earning his invitation to the World Championship for Big Air, and placing within the top 6 dogs of the world within his division! We cannot wait to see what 2016 brings for him.
We enjoyed this sport and the joy it has brought our dogs so much, that we wanted to find a way to make dock diving a part of helping other less fortunate dogs and so to give something back, we donate all cash prizes won at their competitions to the German Shorthair Rescue of New Jersey, and all food, treats and toy prizes are donated to a local no-kill shelter.
We are fortunate to live on a lake, where all three pups swim daily and practice for competitions where our lakeside yard has officially ‘gone to the dogs’.
We have installed a 40-foot turf runway and an Extreme Vertical rig so that all of our dogs can practice their Big Air jumps, and Extreme Vertical grabs. Our trio’s exercise regimen also includes strength and stability training, cardio, agility, hiking, swimming, treadmill, and running hills.
We never imagined being involved in a sport with our dogs but now we can’t imagine life without dock diving and its rewards.
Dock diving has brought much joy to all members of our pack.
This sport not only became the ‘job’ our dogs needed, it has also helped make a strong bond between two and four-legged family members even stronger. It has prompted us to increase our dogs’ exercise and training even outside the sport.
We have travelled to and competed in over 10 states, and have encountered some of the coolest dogs, and nicest people we ever met.
Through our travels, and the dogs social media accounts, they have been recognised and approached in public by their followers up and down the East Coast. Their social media accounts have also promoted enquiries about the sport of dock diving and have motivated over 30 people and their dogs last year tojoinin on this fun activity.
Dock Diving may not be what our German Shorthaired Pointers were ‘meant’ to do, but they didn’t let that stop them from following their hearts, and beating the odds…all while helping less fortunate dogs, and inspiring others to try this amazing sport.
About the Author
Thinking about trying Dock Diving with your pup, but have more questions and want more information?
Visit our website atcelloscorner.com where you will find more details and information on the sport.
There will also be a dog agility course and a food tent open all day. Dog food vendors will also be there to answer questions and hand out treats to your canine companion.
Entertainment for the kids includes a clown, face painting, and a moon bounce.
VIRGINIA BEACH — Care-A-Lot Pet Supply will host the 9th Annual Pet Lovers’ Extravaganza featuring the popular DockDogs competition from April 29-May 1 outside of their headquarters at 1617 Diamond Springs Road in Virginia Beach. Admission is free to enjoy three days of high-flying dogs, contests and giveaways plus significant savings at all three Care-A-Lot retail locations.
“From live dock jumping and diving events to pet ice cream eating contests and even a chance to win $10,000, there’s something for everyone,” Care-A-Lot owner Bobby Clarke said. “More than 12,500 people from around the country came to watch the action last year, and this time we expect an even larger crowd.”
One fearless flyer running off the dock will be Lager, a veteran explosives detection canine who served 18 months in Iraq. The German Shorthaired Pointer is a natural in the water, ranking fifth overall in the World Championships in his division during his first year competing.
“We adopted Lager knowing he had an intense love for the water; and from the second he jumped off the dock, we knew he was a natural,” Lager’s owner Jenny Beadling said. “After being discharged from his military duties, DockDogs’ competitions have been a great way for Lager to use his skills and endless energy.”
As part of Care-A-Lot’s partnership with the Norfolk SPCA, every dog adopted at the event will receive a starter package of more than $200 worth of food, supplies and store coupons.
K9’s in Flight, the “homeless to high-flying” world champion Frisbee-catching dogs, will also return to perform throughout the weekend. All the dogs were rescued or adopted from shelters around the country.
Vendors from more than 40 pet supply manufacturers will be at the Extravaganza to provide training tips, product information and sampling. They include: Blue Buffalo, Nutro, Nature’s Variety, Canidae, Wellness, Merrick, KONG, Greenies, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Purina and more.
DockDogs® is the international governing body that oversees events which test a dog’s ability to jump as far as possible into a pool, retrieve items from the pool in a timed event and jump as high as possible. Contestants are grouped based on experience and past results. For more information, visit DockDogs online at www.dockdogs.com.
Dogs fly through the air at Dockdogs competitions in Virginia Beach
VIRGINIA BEACH
Whether detecting explosives in Iraq for the military or jumping into a pool to fetch a toy, Lager takes his job seriously.
The German Shorthaired Pointer, who lives in New Jersey with his owners, came to Virginia Beach on Friday to show off his skills in the annual DockDogs competition, part of the Pet Lovers’ Extravaganza outside the Care-A-Lot headquarters near Shore Drive.
Outfitted in a patriotic swimsuit, of course, Lager jumped twice in the qualifying round and will compete in the Big Air competition today and the Extreme Vertical competition today and Sunday with a few hundred other dogs from around the country.
Jenny Beadling, Lager’s owner, said they often bring him to events in Virginia. He practices his dock dives at home off the family’s 40-foot pier and also does agility drills, running exercises and strength training.
“I think that he takes everything like it’s his job,” Beadling said.
Lager was retired from the military because he would get distracted by water, so when he came back to the states, the contractor who worked with him wanted him to be in that kind of environment.
He earned an invitation to the DockDogs world championships last November in Iowa and placed fifth in the senior division. His leaps average about 19 feet, 9 inches, Beadling said.
The Beadlings call their dogs “The Liver Killers” because of their names: Lager, Limoncello, Hooch and their newest one, Margarita.
Another competitor Friday was Leia, who lives in Virginia Beach. She competed in the Iron Dog Warrior Competition in Iowa, another DockDogs contest, last November, coming in second in the world.
Her owner, Karen Cummings, named her dogs after “Star Wars” characters – Leia, Chewey and Vader. Leia, a Lab, was in the qualifying round for Big Air on Friday.
Cummings said Leia also competes in the speed retrieve and extreme vertical events. She trains locally by doing a lot of jumping, muscle training and agility competitions.
Along with the competitions, the event includes dozens of pet-supply vendors, and Care-A-Lot is having its biggest sale of the year.
The speed, height and distance events continue throughout the weekend. Other contests, for less athletically inclined canines, include best kisser, best dressed and best at, well, eating treats.
March 13 is K9 Veterans’ Day. Today, on National K9 Veterans’ Day , we remember and honor all military and working dogs, both past and present. We would like to thank all the courageous K9 soldiers for their service, and the sacrifices they have made for our nation. We are honored to have a K9 veteran as a family member, and thank SOC for blessing us with Lager (war zone name, Nayt) as a family member. Lager served 18 months in Iraq as an Explosives Detection Canine. In honor of Lager’s service, and all K9 veteran heroes, we took him to visit and pay our respects to the War Dog Memorial, located in Holmdel, NJ, guarding the gateway of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial . If you know a K9 veteran, be sure to shake their paw and thank them today!
After an exciting drive out to Iowa, the days that followed were even more exhilarating! We are so proud to share this summary of our 3 pups’ World Champion performances!
The competition was held at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa, located directly across the street from our hotel.
Five Flags Arena where the competition was held
Five Flags Theater where Gala was held
We waited in line outside the arena for 2 hours for official check-in:
Waiting for the doors to open
Waiting in line
check in!
Everyone got a gift bag and fleece
Dog Town
The city of Dubuque shut down part of a street so that DockDogs could construct what’s known as “Dog Town” – where all the competitors set up. We could see the Dog Town tent from our hotel room.
The start of Dog Town – viewed from our hotel room
Dog Town – viewed from our hotel room
Competitors starting to set up in Dog Town
Our spot in Dog Town
A very full Dog Town!
JUST after we got done setting up in the Dog Town tent, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued, then a tornado warning was issued! Thank goodness the tornado warning was downgraded, and we did not have to evacuate.
The Official Schedule:
BC = Brian and Cello, JH= Jenny and Hooch, and JL= Jenny and Lager
Seeing the competition floor for the first time at our Handlers Meeting:
We were beyond honored that our friends, Jen and Grace, also volunteers of the GSP Rescue of NJ, decorated their car window, and drove all the way from New Jersey to Iowa to route on the Liver Killers at the World Championship! Honestly, I don’t know what we would have done without them there. Jen and Grace gave our dogs potty breaks, took pictures and video, cheered us on, and made sure our dogs who were not competing were never left alone in their crates.
Jen and Grace’s Liver Killers window art
“Aunt Jen” hanging out with Hooch in Dog Town
The Liver Killers
Tommy D’s Limoncello
Windy Spot’s Homemade Hooch
Brogan’s American Lager
Limoncello (Handler: Brian)
Limoncello had an outstanding season. Not only did she compete in Iron Dog in every event, she earned herself an invite in EVERY discipline possible:
Big Air (Master Division)
Speed Retrieve (Express Division)
Extreme Vertical (Cadet Division)
Iron Dog (Warrior Division)
Dueling Dogs (Class 4)
Brian really wanted to focus on Cello’s Iron Dog performance, so he declined all invites, with the exception of Iron Dog invitation. Just 3.5 weeks after an injury that occurred at The Pittsburgh Pet Expo, Cello was cleared by our vet to compete, and our little girl competed in Iron Dog at the World Championship with all her heart! Competing in Iron Dog means she had to participate twice in each of the three disciplines in order to accumulate Iron Dog points.
Her performance was awesome, and she also earned herself a new Personal Best in Extreme Vertical!
Qualifier 1
Big Air: 20’4″
Extreme Vertical: 5’2″
Speed Retrieve: 8.500 seconds
TOTAL IRON DOG POINTS: 2720.81
Qualifier 2
Big Air: 20′ 6″
Extreme Vertical: 5’6″ ***New Personal Best***
Speed Retrieve: 8.482
TOTAL IRON DOG POINTS: 2758.42
OVERALL WARRIOR DIVISION IRON DOG WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING: 10th in world
Cello doing Extreme Vertical:
Cello doing Big Air:
Although Cello did not qualify for Iron Dog Finals, she impressed the crowd with her endurance and efforts. We are beyond proud of our little princess!
Hooch (Handler: Jenny)
Hooch had an AMAZING first season of dock diving… in a matter of months, he went from being afraid of the water, to leaping over 24 feet! Hooch only participated in Big Air and Extreme Vertical competitions this year. He earned invitations to the World Championship for both of those divisions in Elite Division Big Air and Cadet Division Extreme Vertical. Hooch also qualified for BOTH division’s finals at the World Championship! If that wasn’t exciting enough, at the big gala, Hooch and I won DockDogs 2015 Most Improved Team! Hooch is a very sensitive dog, and can be very skittish. We had several hiccups throughout the dock diving season while up on the dock due to banners that blew off the pool, wind that caused the water in the pool to swirl, and light reflections in the water. When these things spooked Hooch, he refused to jump. It took a great deal of support and effort to get him over his fears and continue to perform consistently for the rest of the season. At the World Championship, he did an amazing job during his qualifiers for Big Air – he even made finals! However, the Elite Finals were chosen to be “Spotlighted” – held under the lights at night in the Arena. This means they shut all the lights of, and only had spotlights on the pool and dock. This also meant that Hooch was faced with darkness, shadows, and reflections from the spotlights. “Stage fright” set in during finals, and in the middle of running, he put his “brakes” on … skidding down the dock, and plopping in at 7’7″. On his second turn, he flat-out refused to jump, and we were timed-out. Although this was heartbreaking to me because I felt like Hooch was afraid and confused as to why I’d ask him to jump in what he considered “unsafe conditions,” I couldn’t be more proud of him, his huge accomplishments throughout the season, and his earned spot in both Big Air and Extreme Vertical Finals.
During the “spotlighted” finals when Hooch got freaked out by the lighting
Big Air
Qualifier 1: 21’9″ 21’11”
Qualifier 2: 23’0″ 23’3″ Qualified for finals
Finals: 7’7″ timed out 6th Place
OVERALL ELITE BIG AIR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING: 6th in the world
Hooch doing Big Air:
Extreme Vertical
Qualifying Round: 6’2″ Qualified for finals
Finals: 6’0″ 4th Place
OVERALL CADET EXTREME VERTICAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING: 4th in the world
Hooch doing Extreme Vertical:
Jenny and Hooch winning 2015 DockDogs Most Improved Team:
Words cannot express my excitement for this awesome award!
See just how far Hooch has come from 8 weeks old, to 1 year old, and 6 months of competing:
Lager (Handler: Jenny)
The fact this amazing boy earned his way to the World Championship in 2 months, and just 2 National level events, with no training, and with never having been on a dock before was unbelievable. When he made the finals, we were filled with excitement and joy!
Our friend, Kiersten, caught us just at the moment we found out Lager made finals:
Big Air
Qualifying Round 1: 17’11” 19’6″
Qualifying Round 2: 19′ 19’7″ Qualified for finals
FINALS: 17’7″ 18’8″
OVERALL SENIOR BIG AIR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING: 5th in the world
Lager doing Big Air:
A whole-lotta Liver Killers bling!
Besides medals and trophies, we got some other pretty cool “bling” while at Worlds:
Every handler got a fleece vest
And each team got a gift bag
Everyone who attended the gala got a t-shirt
Our friend, Mandy made all the Chesapeake DockDogs teams personalized cookies!
Chesapeake DockDogs bought all their teams personalized tote bags
Out of thousands of dogs, only a few hundred are lucky enough to earn their invitation to the World Championship…out of those few hundred, only 6 dogs in each division make it to the finals…I can’t say enough how proud we are of our three fur-kids!
Since Lager has joined our family, we have tried to keep his nose busy so that he can still feel like he is doing his job. Here is Lager finding Hydrogen Peroxide in our home. Hydrogen Peroxide is just one of the 30-plus explosives ingredients Lager is trained to identify.
THE LIVER KILLERS 2015 DOCK DIVING SEASON IN REVIEW!
The dock diving season technically ends in mid-October, with the World Championships being held in November. We have officially completed our season, and what a season we had!
Cello had and absolutely incredible season, earning an invite to the World Championships in every discipline possible!
We thought Hooch would never jump – not only did he jump – he entertained everyone with the “Hoochie Hop” – -but only for a short time as he soared to over 24 feet in just 6 months of diving at a mere 1 year old! Hooch also ranked #1 German Shorthaired Pointer for Big Air in the United States, and 2nd GSP in the WORLD – by less than an inch!
Lager came in to our lives unexpectedly, and without any training, and jumped like a boss, earning an invitation to the World Championships after participating in just 2 national events!
Limoncello was offered a sponsorship from TurboPUP.
Cello and Hooch made the front page of the top local newspapers
News teams came to our house to do features on Cello, Hooch, and Lager – and they all made the top TV news channels with their stories.
Cello and Hooch had a story published in a world-wide published magazine.
Lager had a story published in a local magazine.
TOMMY D’s LIMONCELLO
Brian’s main goal this season was to earn an invitation to the World Championship with Cello in Warrior Division Iron Dog (a combined averaged score of Big Air, Extreme Vertical, and Speed Retrieve). Not only did Brian and Cello achieve this goal, they did so very early in the season at the Wild Card event at Cabela’s in West Virginia during the month of May!
Little did we know that was just the beginning of Cello’s road to Worlds! Brian and Cello went on to earn an invite in Speed Retrieve (also earned at the Wild Card event at Cabela’s in West Virginia)
But that’s not where Cello’s invites ended! She earned an invite for Dueling Dogs, after participating in that discipline for the first time ever at the Mid Atlantic Regionals, held at Shipps Corner Pet Spa in Virginia Beach.
At the end of the season, we found out her rankings from sanctioned facility events also earned her an invite in Extreme Vertical, as well as Big Air!
OVERALL WORLD RANKINGS:
BIG AIR:
5th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Master Titled
23′ 3″ average
SPEED RETRIEVE:
2nd ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Express Titled
7.964 average
EXTREME VERTICAL:
4th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Cadet Titled
5′ 2″ average
IRON DOG:
2nd ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Warrior Titled
2754.67 average
UNITED STATES OVERALL RANKINGS:
BIG AIR:
4th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Master Titled
22’3″ average
SPEED RETRIEVE:
2nd ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Express Titled
7.964 average
EXTREME VERTICAL:
4th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Cadet Titled
5’2″ average
IRON DOG:
#1 ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Warrior Titled
2754.67 average
Cello ended the season with an injury. While competing at the indoor event at the Pittsburgh Pet Expo in Pittsburgh, PA, Cello slipped on the wet floor, and strained muscles in her neck and front leg. Unfortunately this meant pain meds and lots of rest during the 2 weeks leading up to Worlds. We are hopeful that she will be be back to 100% for the World Championship competition.
Windy Spot’s Homemade Hooch
As a puppy, Hooch wanted NOTHING to do with water of any sort. He slowly began to realize water wasn’t so bad, and cautiously went into our lake and into a baby pool. The weather quickly became what was to be the coldest, snowiest winter we’ve ever had, and access to water became difficult. We took Hooch to some indoor pools, were he felt comfortable jumping in at the water’s edge. However, when he found himself up on a regulation dock, which sits 2 feet above the water, Hooch gave dock diving a second thought. Hooch kicked off his dock diving career in January being very hesitant on the dock. He would run down the dock, get to the edge and “teeter” for a long while – sometimes not jumping and timing-out, and other times projecting himself off the edge of the dock as if he had springs in his back legs, only landing a few feet into the water! He quickly became a crowd favorite with his “Hoochie Hop,” as the crowd waited in anticipation to see if he would POP off the dock…or not! By about April, he was “hopping” out to about 7-8 feet, still hesitating, and still choosing not to jump at times. By May we discovered that with Jenny running down the dock with him, Hooch would hesitate less. This technique got Hooch leaping up to 17 – 18 feet by the beginning of June. By mid June we had switched to the “Place and Send” method, bringing Hooch to the very back of the dock (Thank you Frank Moraff for forcing me to do this!!) With that change came great results. Hooch jumped 21 feet in mid-June, and by the end of June soared 23’8″ and earned his invitation to Worlds at 13 months old ! By July, Hooch jumped his current personal best, 24’2″, and also earned a second invitation to the World Championship for Cadet Division Extreme Vertical. In September, Hooch was nominated for “Most Improved” for the Golden Paw Awards, held at the Gala during The World Championship celebration, and was voted to be one of the finalists for the award.
Here is my absolute favorite video from this season: It captures Hooch’s progression from being fearful of water, to his 23+ ft jump that earned him his Big Air Invite to the World Championship!
OVERALL WORLD RANKINGS:
BIG AIR:
2nd ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Elite Titled
23′ 7.4 ” average
EXTREME VERTICAL:
2nd ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Cadet Titled
5′ 10.7″ average
UNITED STATES OVERALL RANKINGS:
BIG AIR:
#1 ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Elite Titled
23′ 7.4 ” average
EXTREME VERTICAL:
4th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Cadet Titled
5’2″ average
Brogan’s American Lager
Lager came home with us on August 23, apparently born to be a dock diver, not an Explosives Detection Canine! When the training company who had Lager (known then as Nayt) saw how much he loved the water, they contacted DockDogs in hopes to find a family who were familiar with the breed, had access to water for him to swim, and would promise to get him dock diving. Read the full story on how Lager became a part of our pack by clicking HERE! The first day Lager came home, he was exposed to water, and had no fear of the lake, or jumping off the dock. He had a perfect sit-stay, and seemed like he came to us with the Big Air discipline of dock diving mastered! In less than a week’s time, Lager also picked up on Extreme Vertical, easily grabbing the bumper on our home rig. Lager competed in just 2 national level events, and earned himself an invitation to the World Championships in Big Air!
OVERALL WORLD RANKINGS:
BIG AIR:
9th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Senior Titled
19′ 10.4″ average
UNITED STATES OVERALL RANKINGS:
BIG AIR:
7th ranked German Shorthaired Pointer
Senior Titled
19′ 10.4″ average
GIVING BACK:
The Liver Killers are also happy to report that through their 2015 winnings, an abundance of food, toys, and supplies were donated to the Animal Orphanage of Voorhees, NJ, and over $1,100 was donated to the GSP Rescue of NJ!
When Custom Ink found out that The Liver Killers donate all their cash prizes to the GSP Rescue of NJ, they made a donation to the rescue in honor of Cello’s Corner and The Liver Killers! How cool is that?!
And of course, “pawtograph” cards – made by our friend, Mandy!
After the season our team has had, it won’t matter to us what happens at Worlds – we are beyond proud of all three of our pups- and overjoyed that we have the opportunity to share this experience as a family!
As we begin to pack for our big adventure, we continue to reflect back on the amazing season these pups had. We will cherish every memory – the highs and lows – the laughter and the tears – the (very) early mornings – the late nights watching EV under the lights – and the comradery shared with friends at events. We are truly blessed to be part of such a great community (humans and animals alike). Never have we met such a large group of the nicest people who not only strive to improve within their own team, but will at the same time stop and help other fellow competitors to enhance their game, and applaud fellow opponents just as enthusiastically as they cheer on their own dog. The patience, advice, support, and guidance we have received from friends, family, fellow competitors, and social media followers is overwhelming, and greatly appreciated. Thank you all for being part of this thrilling escapade with us. We look forward to writing the next chapter of this adventure together!
Three months after returning from Iraq, two months after joining our family, and after competing in only 2 National events, Lager earned his invitation to the DockDogs World Championship for Senior Division Big Air! Words cannot express how proud we are of this boy!
Bill Rohrer from Fox News did a story on Lager! It was nice to meet Bill – he was so nice, and made us feel very comfortable while filming the story at our home. Brian and I had great fun doing this story, as Lager is a very special pup!
Click HERE for the link to the story, and the video of the news feature that was aired:
Nora Muchanic visited us at our home to do a story on the Liver Killers!
See the full story, plus a video of the news segment – click HERE!
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
MEDFORD LAKES, N.J. (WPVI) —
Most people just walk their dogs. But Jenny and Brian Beadling’s dogs go for a flying leap.
The German Short Haired Pointers (GSPs for short) are two of the top dock diving dogs in the country and also rated internationally.
Brian says, “They are fun, happy, energetic dogs who really love competing and playing. And they think of all of this as play, which is really exciting for us.”
And Jenny tells us, “They need extreme exercise and what you would think of as your exhaustion point is just their starting point.”
The dock at the Beadling’s Medford Lakes cabin has become a launching pad as these two pooches practice each day. In competition they are judged on how high, long and fast they can jump.
A room inside the Beadling’s house is filled with ribbons and medals.
Hooch is the number one ranked GSP in the country for “big air”; Cello is ranked number one for “iron dogs”, the canine equivalent of a triathlon.
Jenny says, “They can run for hours and hours and hours on end. And they will keep going, they’re working dogs. They will keep going until you shut them down.”
The newest member of the family is Lager, a former bomb sniffing dog for the U.S. government who served in Iraq.
Now Lager regular leaps into the lake with his new companions.
He is clearly adjusting to his new digs.
They are highly trained and these dogs may be world class dock divers, but if you ask me they look like they’re just having fun.
Brian explains, “The humans involved take the competition seriously. The dogs just enjoy being out with the owners, jumping in the water. To see them just have fun and love life it’s really fun for us as well.”
Jenny a special education teacher and Brian a mortgage banker, travel with the dogs to competitions several times a month. The cash prizes Hooch and Limoncello win are turned over to a GSP rescue group.
Jenny says, “The amount of work that goes into it and the enjoyment you see in the dog is the best.”