Last Friday in Deadwood was Wild Bill Days – the annual weekend celebration full of free entertainment and Old West action. One of the featured events was the national DockDogs competition that I blogged about last Friday. The event was open – meaning any dog, from novice to pro, could compete.

There were some dogs who, with their owners, had traveled hundreds of miles for the competition. They (the dogs) wore spiffy vests covered in award patches from previous competitions; this wasn’t their first rodeo. They had obviously done this a time or two! Those high-flying, long-jumping professional pooches were definitely impressive.

However, some of the local – Black Hills area – dogs were the ones who really stole the show. While they didn’t always jump 20 feet or more like their counterpart canines, many of them were well-known by the folks in the crowd and often drew the biggest reactions. Kind of like rooting for the hometown team.

This chocolate lab – who I’m pretty sure is from Sturgis – was a prime example. A “local boy” who everybody wanted to see succeed. He never did make it off the dock, but he sure had fun thinking about it.