MEDICAL LAKE – A big crowd gathered to watch the furry flying fun of the Spokane Disc Dogs 2023 season-opener on June 16. The event was a disc catching competition held in the baseball field at Waterfront Park during the first day of the Founders Day celebration.
The format of the sport drew the interest of hundreds of passers-by, and they stopped along the fence line to watch.
Bringing in 31 points in two rounds, Bella with her owner Carrie Dugovic, took first place.
“Bella is part golden retriever and part border collie,” Dugovic said. “She’s four –and-a-half years old and has always just had the spark to catch Frisbees. This was actually the first event she was able to make six catches in one minute.”
The scoring grid allowed dogs to score anywhere from 1-4 points per catch, with extra points for tips or for being completely airborne during the catch.
Owners would throw Frisbees from one end and the dog would catch and return the disc as many times as possible within the 1-minute time limit in each round. The most points earned within two rounds determined the winner.
The second-place prize went to a high-speed whippet named Charmander, which brought in 25 points through the event, catching throws from the owner Whitney.
A bouncing beagle mix named Charlotte took third place with 21 points, with owner, Brad, throwing the discs.
Gracie blazed back-and-forth across the field with her owner Chris throwing and came in right behind them at 20 points even.
The next two spots were a tie for fifth and sixth places. Whitney was back with another dog named Josie and scored 18.5 points for an award placement.
Sixth-place went to Wyatt and Maisy.
Another dog that didn’t place on the award stand still managed to steal the show during her rounds. A small corgi named Rosie managed to score over eight points, even though she could only jump a few inches off the ground.
“This is the first event of the season,” organizer Rodney Jameson said. “We are super happy to see so much support here during Founder’s Day. We also have a couple competitions coming up in Sprague and those will be a lot of fun, as well.”
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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