By Julianne Mosher
With high humidity, torrential rainstorms and hot temperatures, the Village of Port Jefferson brought a new meaning to the dog days of summer last weekend.
The second annual Port Paws Dog Festival was initiated last year and is a friendly competition for dogs of all sizes, ages and breeds. Dogs from all over the East Coast — and even Canada — came downtown to participate in what was supposed to be a three-day event.
On Saturday, July 15, Kevin Wood, economic development director for the village and chair of the event, said the event brought in more than 160 registered people and their furry friends while the start of the festival on July 14, a day for noncommitted competitors, brought more than 70 dogs to try it out. However, severe flooding resulting from Sunday’s rainstorm caused the last day of the festival to be canceled.
Wood said that the event, which has been in the planning since last year’s festival took place, won’t be rescheduled for 2023 as they are already preparing for next summer.
The Port Paws competition looks to see who can jump the highest, swim the farthest and retrieve a toy in the pool the fastest after jumping and diving off a dock, built on the field, and into the giant pool. All money raised goes to the Port Jefferson Harbor Education & Arts Conservancy.
“The conservancy brings something special to Port Jefferson village and I am proud to plan and manage it,” Wood said. “A big thank you to the village parks, DPW and code departments for making this event one of the highlights of the summer in Port Jefferson.”
Located at Joe Erland Field on Caroline Avenue, a 30,000-gallon pool was installed as well as tents, a misting station and games; animal lovers alike were able to find something to do. Some played cornhole while others visited the tables of several local businesses that helped sponsor the event.
Throughout the show, Dock Dogs presented the Big Air Wave competition accompanied by the Extreme Vertical and Speed Retrieve competition for both competitors and spectators to enjoy. The Big Air competition featured dogs running down a 40-foot dock and diving into a pool of water for an object, in which they were electronically judged for the length of their jump. Rounding out the action was the Speed Retrieve — where the dogs were put on the clock to see how fast they could run down the dock, jump into the water, swim to the end of the pool and retrieve an object that was held by a modified extender arm.
The Extreme Vertical competition is a “high jump” for the dogs as they each lunge to snag a “bumper” suspended in the air. With each grab, the height increases in 2-inch increments until only one dog is crowned king.
Wood had previously said he first saw the competition while visiting the East End of Long Island, and soon realized he needed to bring it Down Port.
“Port Jefferson is a dog-loving town,” he said.
The Wood family always had small, lap dogs — whom they loved — but when they adopted Brody, who adores the water, Wood thought it would be fun to see how he, and all the other local dogs, would do in a friendly competition.
“No municipality has done this before,” Wood said. “I wanted to bring it to the next level and bring it to the village.”
This year’s winners were Tonka Bean, from Millerton south of Albany, who won a basket donated by Fetch Boutique and was crowned Top Iron Dog. Another pup, Gilly, won second place for Big Air and received a Fedora Lounge Salon gift certificate.
Also in attendance were the Suffolk County Police Department Canine Unit which showed off some of their lifesaving methods.
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