Dog Daze IX almost upon us
Shop Farragut/Farragut Business Alliance volunteers will help facilitate this event from 4 to 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 15; from 10 a.m. (registration and practice at 9 a.m.) to about 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 16; and from 11 a.m. (with practice at 10 a.m.), to the end of the Big Air Finals, which starts 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 17, in Village Green shopping center parking lot, 11435-11543 Kingston Pike in Farragut in front of Planet Fitness.
For more information on competition schedules, visit shopfarragut.com and go to Programs and Events.
“The schedule is based on the competitions for the dogs,” Shop Farragut/FBA executive director Stephen Krempasky said.
“There will be over 400 jumps with 150 competitors — and new this year will be ‘Dueling Dogs,’” which replaces the former “Pooch Plunge” with “Canine Water Racing” Aug. 15, stated a press release from Shop Farragut/FBA, also working in cooperation with Smoky Mountain Dock Dogs and Ricki’s Pet Depot.
This year, Krempasky anticipates, “if the weather’s nice,” at least 6,000 attendees and more than 65 vendors.
“It just keeps growing,” he added. “There seems to be a lot of excitement out there this year … because it’s been there long enough now that you don’t have to remind people what it is. They just know.
“We had a lot of fun in the (Farragut Independence Day) Parade,” Krempasky added. “We actually had somebody, local Dock Dogs people, marching with us, pulling a banner for Dog Daze.”
Dog Daze is a three-day festival featuring dogs from around the nation competing for prizes plus vendors, food and shopping. Along with many sponsors, Shop Farragut also gets a grant from the Town to support the event.
While Dog Daze is free to attend as a spectator, Krempasky said there are registration fees for dogs to compete. He explained the registration costs depend on the competition event in which they are registering and the number of dogs being registered.
Shop Farragut, with the support of Town of Farragut and other sponsors, has teamed up with Smoky Mountain Dock Dogs and Rikki’s Pet Depot to bring the nationally sanctioned regional canine aquatics competition by Dock Dogs International to Farragut, according to Krempasky.
“We look forward to this event all year long and to showcase the talent of our canine athletes and all of the hard work we put in with them to get them to this level and to share our love for the sport with the community,” said Jennifer Belle, president of Smoky Mountain Dock Dogs. “We love seeing the joy and smiles of the spectators, whether it’s the biggest jumping dog or the smallest.”
“Shop Farragut has been an amazing advocate for us,” she added. “We are thrilled to come back every year and we are ecstatic to be a part of Dog Daze,” she added.
So far, “it’s going great,” Krempasky said about organizing the event. “The number of vendors is a little bit better than last year. People are really excited about it.
“I’ve gotten more dog people involved this year than ever before,” he added. “It takes a few years for everyone to know what’s going on.”
About “Dueling Dogs” Aug. 15, “That’s actually another category of Dock Dogs (competitions) that has become very popular in the last few years,” Krempasky said. “This year, we decided to add (Dueling Dogs). It’s more of a dog-against-dog competition, so it’s like Olympic swimmers.
“They split the pool in half and have the dogs — two at a time — race on up to the end of the pool, and it’s all based on speed,” he added. “Word on the street is that people actually start betting for their favorites on side hustles. It gets that exciting. They get so involved with the dogs.”
Krempasky assured, however, “there is no public wagering on (the competition).”
To register for Dueling Dogs, visit http://duelingdogs.net
Krempasky replaced the Pooch Plunge because of the cost and “it’s hard to get sponsors” for that portion of the event, he said.
