Twinsburg boy and his dog find new sport rewarding
TWINSBURG — It’s called dock diving: a sport in which dogs jump for height and distance into a pool. And a Twinsburg boy and his dog, Duke, are racking up national awards, beating their personal best at every event.
In June, Duke and his family will introduce the rest of Northeast Ohio to the sport with the first dock diving facility — Duke’s K9 Dash N’ Splash — at a grand opening at Roundup Lake Campground in Mantua. The dock will offer training classes, competitions and practice sessions for dock-diving teams.
It also will be open to the public, for those who want to let their hounds practice or just have fun in a pool.
“One of the biggest reasons we’re doing this is because we want to see other kids and families get involved, doing something fun with their dogs, and having as much fun as we’ve had,” said Michelle Filler, whose 15-year-old son, Zakary Filler, competes with Duke, a 55-pound Belgian Malinois.
“I like to say they’re making waves,” Michelle Filler said.
It all started in 2015 when the Filler family got Duke at 8 weeks old.
“I fell in love with him online and really didn’t know what we were signing up for,” Michelle said. “We quickly realized he wasn’t your typical pet dog. He was going to need a ton of not only training and obedience, but he was going to have to have a purpose. He was going to have to have a job.”
She researched activities for Duke and came across dock diving in Dayton. With nothing closer, the Fillers headed to Dayton, where each family member had a chance to work the dock with Duke.
By the end of the competition, Duke had caught the attention of veteran diving teams. It was clear Duke was a natural, and Zak was in his element.
“At that point we were addicted and couldn’t wait to find the next event,” Michelle said.
Duke’s sole handler became Zak, who wants to help others learn how to dock-dive.
“I’m going to be doing a lot more this summer than sitting around the house,” Zak said. “It’s fun to teach people how to do this.”
Last year, Zak and Duke competed at the Dock Dogs World Championship and were invited to compete in the American Kennel Club North American Diving Dogs National Championship in Orlando.
They were named the top junior handler team at nationals and placed third in the Masters Division out of the more than 80 dogs invited to compete. They also received their first sponsorship through 1-800-Pet-Meds.
So far, 55-pound Duke’s best jump is 25 feet, 4 inches.
With that level of talent, the Fillers needed someplace closer to practice. They had camped regularly at Roundup Lake so they approached the campground about creating a dock diving facility.
The camp thought it was a great idea and the Fillers recently broke ground to install a regulation 40-foot pool with a 40-foot dock.
Beginning April 3, Duke’s K9 Dash N’ Splash will open online booking for hour-long sessions. The pool opens May 3.
And because most people have never heard of dock diving, the Fillers wanted to throw a big opening event.
“We want to let as many people know as possible that you don’t have to be an expert; you can just go and have fun with your dog,” she said.