ESPN Dog Day recap: Pretty doggone pawesome

ESPN Dog Day was a great success.

ESPN Dog Day celebrated National Dog Day a little early on Saturday, August 24, rather than Monday, August 26, with a variety of programming.

The programming slate started on the ESPN app at 11:30 a.m. ET with a Meet the Breeds show hosted by broadcaster Anita Marks, AKC Vice President Gina DiNardo and WeRateDogs founder Matt Nelson.

Much of the programming was first shown on ESPN2, later repeating on ESPNEWS.

ESPN Championship Pup featured an agility competition, along with a dock diving competition and a flyball demonstration.

The agility course was miniaturized, with about three jumps, a teeter-totter, weave poles and a tunnel, so the course layout used most obstacles twice.

While Spry the Rat Terrier ran the fastest at 22.31 seconds, followed by Skybee the Cocker Spaniel at 32.13 and Rebel the Papillon in 33.47, though Boogie Shoes the Boston Terrier won the 12-inch division on his fifth birthday with a clean run of 34.13 seconds.

Boogie Shoes is also a model, having appeared in a Roomba commercial.

In the 20-inch division, Phire the Golden Retriever won with a run of 23.13 seconds, possibly powered by her taste for organic treats.

She was competing against Shift the Border Collie (26.58), Gus the Australian Shepherd (27.85) and Pique the Whippet (27.99).

The dock diving competition, as is the case with most televised competitions, featured two leaps with the better one shown. Nelson did most of the play-by-play here as Marks and DiNardo talked over one another, both being used to being the primary broadcaster.

Shiva the Belgian Malinois leaped (26 feet 3 inches), Tsunami (23 feet 9), Cali the Border Collie (22 feet 9), Rikkochez (Ricochet) the German Shepherd (21 feet 6), LeDoux the Cane Corso (18 feet flat), Finley the German Shorthaired Pointer (17 feet 6), Scout the Golden, Lhotse the German Shepherd and Merle the Lab all went 15 feet 9.

Other competitors were Mina the Dutch Shepherd (15 feet 3), Allie the Lab (15 feet flat), Carlton the Lab (13 feet 9), Pyro the German Shepherd (13 feet 6), All-American Dogs Mojo (12 feet 6), Logan (12 feet 3), and the 10-year-old Diesel (9 feet 9) and Mr. Lokee the Jack Russell Terrier (8 feet 9).

The flyball demonstration featured Infurno, from Lagrangevile, New York, going against the Weston Whirlwinds from Walpole, Massachusetts. The first and third heats went to the Whirlwinds, while the second and fourth were claimed by Infurno. The final hat went to the Whirlwinds as they claimed the victory by a 3-2 score.

Dog Tales was a collection of four E:60 and SportsCenter Featured pieces that were dramatic in tone.

The ESPN Plus late-night show Always Late with Katie Nolan featured Nolan’s snarky wit in a dogcentric episode, which included dressing up as Joan Rivers rating a canine costume contest

Flyball: The Ultimate Dog Relay was a half-hour special following Let Freedom Race, the tournament held in July alongside the Houston World Series of Dog Shows, in its 17th edition this year. Competitors Sam Ford, Danielle Prince, Kim Davis, and Ashley Stricklin were all featured, and NAFA chairman Steve Corona was interviewed as well.

The inaugural AKC Agility Premier Cup, from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in April, was also broadcast.

As a Disney company, they showed the original Air Bud as a way to promote the new Disney Channel series Pup Academy, with Thoughts of Dog posts airing during commercials giving Buddy’s thoughts at various points of the story.

To wrap things up on ESPNEWS, there were highlights of the canine portions of the 2004-05 ESPN Great Outdoor Games, which featured a variety of lumberjack activities for the most part.

We definitely hope ESPN Dog Day is brought back next year.