Frisbee Dog World Championship

The Frisbee Dog World Championship (also known as the Ashley Whippet Invitational World Championship and the Canine Frisbee Disc World Championship) is an annual competition for disc dogs.

Origin

In 1975, Irv Lander, Alex Stein and Eldon McIntire first organized a World Championship for flying-disc (Frisbee) catching dogs and their handlers. ["History of Ashley Whippet," "Hero Disc USA". Retrieved from http://www.herodiscusa.com/store/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=11 on 2007-03-20.] The event continued annually. Stein and his disc dog, Ashley Whippet, won the first three championships in 1975, 1976 and 1977."Our History," "AshleyWhippet.com". Retrieved from http://www.ashleywhippet.com/history.htm on 2007-03-20.] McIntire was the owner of another disc dog named Hyper Hank.David (2005), "Canine Frisbee History," "K9 Disc Thrills". Retrieved from http://k9discthrills.com/news.php on 2007-03-20.] Lander worked for Wham-O, the maker of the Frisbee, which is a registered trademark of Wham-O. He was a promoter of the Junior Frisbee Disc Championships, an event for humans. In the early years the championship took place alongside the "human" Frisbee championships, sponsored by Wham-o, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Eventually, it turned into a contest series and, in the early 1980s, was named the Ashley Whippet Invitational (AWI). The competition series included local and regional events where dog and handler pairs would qualify for the Ashley Whippet Invitational World Finals Championship. Until the mid-1990s there was only one organization for disc dog competitions. For many years the AWI World Finals was the only championship event.

Qualification

The final event was contested as a one day, "winner take all" type event. The early qualifying format included 4 to 6 regionals with the 1st and 2nd place teams each earning a trip to the World Finals Championship. It was a closed regional system, meaning that the dog and handler team had to live and compete in the geographical area of the regional qualifier competition. Anywhere from 8 to 16 teams would qualify, depending upon the format and number of regional qualifiers that year.

Format

Early tournaments were "Throw and Fetch" contests. Some were judged on style points, others on distance, others on standing in a circling throwing out, and still others on throwing into a circle.

Peter Bloeme got involved with the disc dog sport in the early 1980s, after winning the 1976 Men's World Frisbee Championship and won a Frisbee Dog World Championship in 1984. He then "retired" from competition and began to work for AWI as a judge and event coordinator. Peter Bloeme pushed the sport in the direction of multiple disc "Freestyle" contests, which changed the disc dog game forever. Over time the World Finals Championship was modified to include a freestyle event (sometimes known as "Freeflight"), and a timed throw and catch event (known as "MiniDistance," and later as "Distance/Accuracy").

Lander Cup

In the late 1980s a trophy cup was introduced by Peter Bloeme, Eldon McIntire, Jeff Perry, and Alex Stein to commemorate the yearly AWI World Champions. The large silver cup is mounted on a wooden base, which is covered with small plaques inscribed with names of the winners. It is called the "Lander Cup" in honor of Irv Lander, then the Executive Director of the AWI tournament series.

Changes to the World Championship

Lander died in 1998 and left the AWI tournament series and the related business to his son, Steve Lander. Many involved in the disc dog sport and the AWI organization had expected Peter Bloeme, then director of the AWI series, to be Irv Lander's successor. That year was the first time the AWI World Finals Championship was filmed for TV. The event, sponsored by ALPO, was presented on Animal Planet as the ALPO Canine Frisbee Disc World Championship. [(1998-09-20) "1998 Friskies ALPO Canine Frisbee Disc World Champions Crowned; First Time a Senior Citizen and His Dog Win the World Title," "Business Wire". Retrieved from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1998_Sept_20/ai_53016715 on 2007-03-21.] Peter Bloeme was the "on screen" announcer for the event. After the 1998 World Finals, Bloeme left AWI and did not renew his contract.

kyhoundz

Upon his split from AWI in 1998, Bloeme contacted Friskies PetCare Company (then the parent company of ALPO) and was hired as a consultant. That year, Bloeme founded his own disc dog company with Jeff Perry, Skyhoundz. ["Contact Us," "Skyhoundz". Retrieved from http://www.skyhoundz.com/contactus.html on 2007-03-20.] A non-compete clause in Bloeme's AWI contract prevented him from starting his own series for one year. In 2000 Skyhoundz organized the Canine Frisbee Disc Series for Friskies, including the ALPO Canine Frisbee Disc World Championship. The event, again televised on Animal Planet, took place in New York's Central Park within a smaller size field. [(2000-10-07) "King of Catch Crowned Again at the ALPO Canine Frisbee Disc World Championship; Dog Owner from Dallas Takes Home National Title and Makes History," "Business Wire". Retrieved from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_Oct_7/ai_65823808 on 2007-03-21.] The 2000 Canine Frisbee Disc World Championship was not an AWI event, but the winners' were awarded the Lander Cup. It was the first (and only time) the AWI organization allowed the names of winners of a non-AWI event to be engraved on the Lander Cup. ALPO did not continue their sponsorship of the event beyond 2000.

In 2001, Bloeme and Perry continued to run their Skyhoundz event series without a major sponsor. The company introduced its Hyperflite disc, a flying disc intended especially for use by dogs in flying disc competition. ["The Hyperflite Story," "Skyhoundz". Retrieved from http://www.skyhoundz.com/downloads/HyperfliteStory.pdf on 2007-03-20.] AWI refused to award the Lander Cup at Skyhoundz events after 2000. Skyhoundz introduced a new award cup for its championship and engraved it with all of the past "Skyhoundz World Champions," which included the AWI Champions for the years 1975 through 1999."World Champions," "Skyhoundz". Retrieved from http://www.skyhoundz.com/worldchampions.html on 2007-03-20.] AWI objects to Skyhoundz claiming the past AWI champions as Skyhoundz champions.

AWI

The AWI ceased in 2000, and there was no AWI World Championship in 2001 or 2002. The AWI reorganized in 2003 and once again began running a World Championship, without a supporting series. The 2003 event was held in Japan and was an "all comer" meet (with no qualifier). The event continued through 2005."Upcoming Events," "AshleyWhippet.com". Retrieved from http://www.ashleywhippet.com/events.htm on 2007-03-20.]

In 2006 the AWI World Championship merged with the Unified Frisbee Dog Operations (UFO) World Cup Series, which ran the Ashley Whippet Invitational World Championship as the final event of its season. ["UFO Finals & other great new events," "UFO". Retrieved from http://www.ufoworldcup.org/News.html on 2007-03-20.] Competitors qualified for the UFO Finals - AWI World Championships by earning points in the UFO World Cup Series or by finishing in the top 15 at a semi-final event. One of the qualifier events held by UFO is the Annual Irv Lander Memorial Canine Frisbee Championships, which has been named in honor of Lander since 2003. [(2006-04-30) "4th Annual Irv Lander Memorial Canine Frisbee Championships," "WTNH". Retrieved from http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4837523 on 2007-03-20.]

List of World Champions

The following teams of dog and owner (handler) have been awarded the Lander Cup. ["UFO Finals: Scottsdale, Arizona. November 4-5, 2006," "UFO". Retrieved from http://www.ufoworldcup.org/Results/2006/2006-Finals.html on 2007-03-20.]

kyhoundz World Champions

For the years 1975 through 2000, Skyhoundz recognizes the AWI champions as the Open Division/Expert Class winners of the Skyhoundz World Championship for Freestyle and Distance/Accuracy combined. The following teams of dog and handler (owner) have won the Open Division/Expert Class Skyhoundz World Championship after 2000.

References