Document text
Photo by Bob Pennell Paul Podesta of Medford and his border collie, Valaka, won Saturday's 13th annual Canine Frisbee Disc Championships Catch of the day Contestants doggedly pursue fun at Frisbee contest BY VICKI GUARINO Spectators cheered the deft catches and sighed for the struggled misses Saturday as the game of Frisbee catching took on a competitive edge for a dozen or so dogs and their owners. Purebreds and mutts, large dogs and small, ran and leaped through paces that were part fun and part contest. The event was the area's 13th Canine Frisbee Disc Championships, one in a 25-year-old series that takes the game from the back yard to the sports field. Winning the day was veteran catcher Valaka and Paul Podesta, Medford. The 7-year-old border collie is a Northwest regional champion in Frisbee competition and a runner-up in national games. "He's the one who taught me how to throw," Podesta says of the family pet. The event, on the Jefferson Elementary School playground, was one of more than 100 community events around the country, from Anchorage, Alaska, to St. Petersburg, Fla. Competitions are sponsored by local dog handlers, national pet food products company Alpo and makers of the Frisbee brand throwing disc. The Medford show was put on by the local Australian Shepherd Club, which also sponsors far more serious trials for livestock working dogs later in the summer. Although owners say the competition is all in fun, the sport has its own rule book, division classifications, and series of regional meets heading up to national finals in Washington, D.C. Dogs have one minute to catch as many Frisbee tosses as possible. Rules set out how dogs earn points for each catch, with the highest scores going to the dogs that run the farthest and leap the highest. The dog that leaps and nips the Frisbee from the air earns more points than the dog that stands on all fours and waits for the disc to float in. The distance record in the nation is 130 yards, set in 1994. Meet officials says the dog ran at 35 mph to keep up with the disc. "It's a team sport," says Podesta. Winning owners are those who know best how fast and high to throw for their dog. Getting the best toss for the best catch takes practice, Podesta says. For dogs like Leftie, who competed with a litter of pups on the sidelines, practice comes easy. Nothing better for this registered border collie than hours and hours of Frisbee tossing, says owner Wayne Cool, Medford. "You have to, or she just bugs you to death," Cool says from the sidelines. As for the puppies, he adds, "They're already showing an interest." German shorthair MaCrea's work is to be a pheasant hunting partner to Jeff Beck of Medford. Chasing down a Frisbee is pure sport. "That's all she does is play Frisbee for fun," Beck says. Out on the playing field, in front of the judges, dog owner JoAnn Frey, Ashland, lamented that it was she, not her dog, Ruff, who needed some practice. "I told you I couldn't throw the Frisbee ... I need lessons," Frey told judges as Ruff swerved for errant throws. The more typical show arenas for Frey, of the Australian Shepherd Club, and Ruff, a registered Aussie, are serious and professional. They compete in trials measuring the dog's lineage, conformation and grooming, and testing livestock herding skills. Frisbee was always a game, and the disc championships a chance to play and visit with other handlers. "This is strictly for fun," Frey says. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA