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2016 DockDogs World Championship

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Last year we attended the DockDogs World Championship with all three of our diving dogs qualifying to compete.  This year, we were lucky enough for all three competing dogs to qualify once again for the DockDogs World Championship in all the disciplines in which they participate! Check out our 2016 Season in Review and see some of our team’s Worlds Bling by clicking HERE!

We drove our motor home out to Iowa this year! We had custom window decals made and updated the “Miles to Dubuque, Iowa” with every stop-over!

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Our Route:

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Dubuque, Iowa – Dog Town:

Our Schedule:

LIMONCELLO:

Limoncello competed as an Iron Dog.

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Big Air:

22’0″

22’4″

Speed Retrieve: 8.531 secnds

Extreme Vertical: 5’4″

Total: Iron Dog Points: 2754.14 points

At the big Golden Paw Awards Gala, Limoncello was named DockDogs #1 Ranked Warrior Iron Dog in the World!

HOOCH:

Hooch competed in Elite Division Big Air, and Top Gun Division Extreme Vertical.

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Big Air: 23’3″

Extreme Vertical: 5’10”

At the big Golden Paw Awards Gala, Hooch was named DockDogs #1 Ranked German Shorthaired Pointer in the World!

LAGER:

Lager competed in Senior Division Big Air (with Jenny) and Top Gun Division Extreme Vertical (with Brian).

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Big Air: 19’3″

Extreme Vertical: 5’10”

MARGARITA:

Although Margarita doesn’t compete, she was sure ready to cheer her siblings on with her Super Fly suit and painted pink piggies!

Margarita in her Super Fly Suit
Pink piggies!

Our fellow GSP Rescue of NJ friends, Jen and Grace, drove all the way from New Jersey to Iowa to be with us and our team. Jen and Grace took Margarita every day during the competition to run at the dog park! Margarita even took a trip with Jen and Grace to see the Mississippi River.  Much to Margarita’s delight, her Aunt Jen and Grace also took her to get a McDonald’s chicken sandwich for lunch one day, and to Starbucks to enjoy a puppuccino!  I think Margarita had THE time of her life!

We are so proud to have been able to compete against the best dock diving dogs in the world, and are so very pleased with the performance of our pups!

Swiss Valley Campground: Dubuque, IA

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After a long road trip from New Jersey to the 2016 DockDogs World Championship, we arrived in Dubuque, IA!

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Even though we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Downtown Dubuqe with all the other competitors, we had driven our motor home out to Iowa, and needed a place to park it for the week.  Swiss Valley Campground was the perfect place! Once we saw this beautiful 62 acre park, we wish we had camped for the week instead of staying in the hotel!

Our campsite (site #4):

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Immediately after arriving, we had to pack up all of our dock diving gear, and head over to the hotel in our rental car!

The two “Princess and the Pea” gals “helped” us pack:

We said goodbye to the camper for the week – but got to stay the night here at beautiful Swiss Valley Campground on our last night in Dubuque, IA, before heading back home to New Jersey.

Our 2019 Stay:

We stayed here for the week during the 2019 DockDogs World Championship.

Our Campsite (site #4):

Limoncello and Margarita walking on the nature path:

Porter, Lager, Whiskey, and Limoncello playing in the creek:

Hooch taking a walk through the campground:

Road Trip! 2015 DockDogs World Championship

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Words cannot express how exciting this week was for our pack!  All three of our pups qualified for the World Championship, we drove further West than we’ve ever been before, we got to see some pretty cool sights along the way, all three Liver Killers finished within the top 10 in the world in their own divisions, and best of all, we had a safe trip out and back, with no injuries or illnesses.   Here is a recap of the Liver Killer’s preparation for our road trip, and some of our adventures on the drive!

Everyone was asking for us to bring Tommy D’s famous Limoncello, so Brian made a few batches to bring with us:

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We ordered lots of bling the month before our trip! We designed and ordered team gear from CustomInk.com – – and when the company saw we donate to the GSP Rescue of NJ, they made their own donation in  the Liver Killers name to the GSP Rescue of NJ – how nice was THAT?!

 

 Our trip wouldn’t be complete without truck bling!

Our talented friend, Mandy made our trading cards:

And, of course, we did lots of shopping:

Jenny has a very difficult time packing lightly, so the packing started (and never seemed to stop!)… and Brian decided it was a good idea to rent a little trailer just in case 🙂

 DockDogs had a window decorating contest for everyone making the road trip out to Iowa… so of course we dressed up the truck windows!

 

And we’re off!

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As we crossed state borders along our ride, we saw some pretty neat sights:

It was difficult to be in the car for so many hours, so we stopped often to let everyone potty and stretch their legsunnamed (41)

Along our stops, we came across the coolest place right off of I-70 in Indiana!  Not only is it the World’s largest “candle,” it was a candle company and gift store that had a cute little restaurant, THE coolest bathrooms ever, huge and safe areas to walk the dogs – and best part of all ???… they welcome dogs INside!

Warm Glow Candle Company

We are huge American Pickers fans, so we couldn’t help but stop to see their Antique Archaeology shop!

 

Crossing the Mighty Mississippi!

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We went a bit out of our way for this one, but we couldn’t miss the opportunity to stop at the movie set from Field of Dreams!

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Once we checked into the hotel, and got the pups settled, we celebrated our adventurous road trip, and our safe arrival at our destination in Iowa!

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What an exciting week of competition we have ahead!