We became Countrys owners in the spring of 2002; he was going on two years old. We were at a Coondog Field Trial in Ohio where he finished in last place. At the end of the race we were ask by a friend if we would consider taking Country; we are his 5th owners. Although he had potential he just didnt seem to fit in wherever he went until he became one of our dogs.
After a month of training and nutrition regiment, off we went to try him out at a Field Trial in Cochocton, Ohio. He finished first in his heat at that race and continued to win a race here and there throughout that summer. Although he did well he was never a great racer but he always kept up with the pack.
One of the largest races he competed in was a Field Trial/Water Trial Race held in Transissippi, Ohio. I also enjoyed water racing dogs and had a UKC Grand Champion Water Racing Dog Named Miracle. At this particular event, field trials were run in the daytime and water racing in the evening. So we had both field and water dogs with us. Country always liked to jump and as he watched the dogs race he jumped around and showed total enthusiasm to participate. So we decided to enter him in a race and see what happened.
Country shot out of the starting box like a rocket towering high above the other dogs. But as his body entered the water he was lacking the ability to swim, so he was left behind by all the other dogs. When we returned home I began to work on his swimming techniques in our back yard pool. His swimming began to improve but in the fall of 2003 I returned to further my education to become a Massage Therapist. Although we still exercised all our dogs in our pool, after Graduation I was working at Nemacolin Woodlands Spa and Resort so for the next two years we did not race.
In the spring of 2005 I watched the Purina Dog Challenge and told my wife, Jo Anna that I was sure Country could do that. For the next couple of weeks we threw things into the pool so Country would retrieve them preparing our trip to Jersey City, New Jersey for the Challenge, in which we finished third. We knew we had to adjust our jumping if we were to improve. While there we heard about DockDogs and attended our first competition in Harrisburg, were we finished in first place jumping 23+ feet.
Our next event was Baltimore Maryland in August. It was at this event that Country broke the world record not once but three times with jumps of 268 then 273 and yet again with 275. He won the event and continued to his next competition which was in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. He took first place honors and broke the world record again with a jump of 287. Not only did he set a new record but he won the Big Nickel Challenge presented by SportDog. The following competition was the Kiki Classic which was held in Norwalk, Connecticut by Chris Litwin, it was not a sanctioned DockDog event but was the largest event we have attended. He jumped an amazing 29 10 securing another first place win. The next competition was Detroit Michigan were he set yet another world record with a jump of 2810, which is now the new and current official DockDog World Record. We attended that Nationals and he won with a jump of 286. Country has found a place to fit in and loves to compete. He is always ready to show off for the people and keeps jumping. Country is currently ranked #1 in DockDogs with an average of 282.
Team Country
Kevin, Jo Anna Meese and Country
Fredericktown, Pennyslvania
