Sporty Pups: The Incredible Dog Challenge

The Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge is the most widely-recognized canine sporting competition.

Dog sports began to get organized around the late 1970s, and by the mid-1990s were occasionally being shown on TV, but there wasn’t much overlap. So Purina wondered, what if there was an Olympics for dog sports, bringing the best of the best in various disciplines together at one event?

The result was the creation of the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge in 1998.

The original core lineup of sports were diving dogs, agility (large and small-breed divisions), freestyle flying disc, flyball and Jack Russell hurdle racing. Since then, over 30 different competitions have been part of the IDC lineup at one point or another, including the high jump and surfing events.

“We’ve also included unique showcase events such as sheep herding, assistance dog competitions, police dog competitions and mountain bike agility,” says Emily Goldkamp, of Purina public relations.

The IDC was the first known competition to use a specially-designed pool with measurements for diving competitions, as previously natural bodies of water were used.

“The Incredible Dog Challenge is more than a competition; it’s a passionate community of dog owners who feel the same way that we do – that all dogs are capable of amazing things,” Jim Allen, Brand Manager of Purina Pro Plan, stated in a press release.

For much of IDC history, Eastern, Midwest and Western Regional events were used as qualifiers before the National Finals were held in Grey Summit, Mo. Despite primarily featuring American and Canadian competitors, participants have come from as far away as Poland and Japan.

The Winter Incredible Dog Challenge was begun in 1999, featuring events like search-and-rescue and a humans-vs-dogs slalom skiing event.

In NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson won five of his seven championships from 2006-10. Overlapping that impressive feat was an equally impressive one: a Jack Russell named Huntmoor Diamond won five straight national titles in hurdle racing from 2009-2013.

In 2006 at an IDC competition in Harris, Pa., a diving dogs competitor broke the 30-foot mark for the first time, necessitating the use of a bigger pool (currently extended to 45 feet)

Cindy the Greyhound set not just an IDC record, but a Guinness World Record, in the high jump in 2006 with a successful leap of 68 inches.

Olympic diver Greg Louganis competed with his dog Dobby in the small-dog agility and diving dogs events in both the 2009 Western Regional and National Finals

In 2012 the sponsorship shifted to the Pro Plan division of the company, resulting in its present name as the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge, and the event’s colors changing from red and white to purple and black.

In 2013 the dog/handler team of Mona Kinichi and Laika won their second straight national championship in freestyle flying disc with the only perfect score ever recorded in IDC history.

The current diving dog world record is held by Indie the Belgian Malinois, who leaped 33 feet, 10 inches in 2014.

In 2017, to celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary, an exhibition event was held on board the USS Midway  aircraft carrier in San Diego.

In 2018 the format was changed to a single event in Huntington Beach, Calif., but still drew champions in their fields from across the country.

The IDC has been shown via tape-delay on ESPN, Pax, USA Network, CBS, Fox, The CW, and ABC, with a current home on NBC. The production company responsible for editing the program is Carson Events, which also films the National Dog Show presented by Purina.

Former Olympian skiier Trace Worthington and broadcaster Shallene Cockrell have hosted the IDC program for nearly all of its existence.

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