BOZEMAN — Making the biggest splash at this year's Big Sky Country State Fair is the DockDogs event.
It's a sport where dogs compete against one another with track-and-field style rules.
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Different types of DockDog events will be featured at the fair, including the Big Air event every day, an extreme vertical competition on Saturday and a speed retrieve competition on Sunday.
One of Wednesday's top competitors was Roy, a 2-year-old golden retriever. His owner, Amynda Behm, first heard of DockDogs seven or eight years ago from a friend.
"I had one of her puppies that I had purchased from her litter," Behm said. "She asked me when the puppy was a year old (if I was) interested in coming to try it. I was hooked from day one."
A lot of the practice for DockDogs events includes more on-the-ground work versus on the dock, with handlers working on their own throws in addition to training their dogs.
When they're not practicing or competing, many of these dogs have different roles, including Roy with his day job.
"He is completely different when he's not on the dock," Behm said. "He's actually a school therapy dog. During the school year he spends five days a week at his school in North Dakota, and then when I need him for DockDogs I take him (with me)."
Behm emphasized how exciting it is to watch the dogs in action during these events, and also how excited the dogs are to get out there and compete.
"I just really hope that people come out and see us all week," Behm said. "It's so fun to watch, it's a very exciting sport. Sometimes there's dogs that won't jump, and then sometimes there's dogs that jump off without the toy."
The DockDogs events will be running every day of the fair.
