By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Cascade K9 Jamboree is moving its annual fund-raising event, featuring extreme air dock diving, to two days during Sportsman’s Holiday weekend.
Connie DeBusschere, a Sweet Home Municipal Court clerk and a local dog trainer and enthusiast, and Sweet Home Police Officer Sasha McDonald began the Jamboree event last year as a way to raise funds to pay for the Police Department’s K9 program. McDonald is the handler for Gemma, a Belgian malinois trained to detect drugs, and as a way to educate the public in responsible pet ownership and safety.
The event will help support Gemma and “be a family event where people enjoy doing things with their dogs,” DeBusschere said.
This year, the Cascade K9 Jamboree is presenting the “Dogtown Festival, Sweet Home” on the north end of Husky Field off 22nd Avenue below Sweet Home Junior High. Gates open at 9 a.m. on July 13, with the final event scheduled at 5:30 p.m., and 10 a.m., with the final event scheduled for 5 p.m., on July 14. Camping is available.
About 200 people attended last year, when the event was held in September, DeBusshcere said.
The Dogtown Festival is a production of Meadowsview Productions, operated by Mike Allen. The Dogtown Festival will feature Xtreme Air Wave events, Xtreme Air RapidDisc, Xtreme Drags and Xtreme Hi-Jump.
“If you have a dog that’s been dock diving, you can sign them up,” DeBusschere said. Sign up at x-tremeairdogs.com.
The festival will feature a number of booths from various vendors and organizations providing education, such as safety around dogs and how to approach and pet dogs. Vendors will feature brain games again this year, and the lure course, a 150-yard dash for dogs, will return.
Dog contests also return, DeBusschere said. They include owner lookalike, biggest dog, smallest dog, fastest tail wag and best trick. Dogs will be able to compete in a pie-eating contest. Winners will receive medallions.
The Jamboree will feature a new barn hunt, which owners will be able to try with their dogs.
The barn hunt is a fairly new dog sport, DeBusschere said. “Dogs use natural hunting instincts to find a live rat.”
The rat is hidden in hay inside one of three tubes, DeBusschere said. One of the tubes is empty, and the other contains litter. The dogs search through the hay bales to find the rat.
“People will be able to try it out with their own dogs,” DeBusschere said.
In the Xtreme Air events, dogs jump into the air to catch a bumper, an object designed for retrieval, and land in a pool of water. In Xtreme Air RapidDisc, they chase a Frisbee. In the Xtreme Drags, dogs race each other chasing after a bumper.
“We’ll also have a raffle to help raise money,” DeBusschere said.
The festival will be open during the parade, DeBusschere said, but it is participating in the parade. Allen will have a float in the parade, and McDonald and Gemma are the parade grand marshals this year.
“The parade’s going to the dogs,” DeBusschere said.
Organizers decided to move the festival to Sportsman’s Holiday to help bolster the annual Sweet Home community event, DeBusschere said. “We thought it would be a better time of year for people to do things with their dogs.”
Dogtown will charge a fee for local dogs to compete, DeBusschere said, and admission is $5 for adults and free for children.
The Police Department’s K9 program is funded entirely by donations. Proceeds will help pay for supplies and continued training. The Police Department also is looking at replacing McDonald’s specialized patrol vehicle.
Dogs are welcome as long as they are on leashes, at least 5 months old and friendly. Flexy leashes are prohibited.
For more information, contact DeBussschere at (541) 367-4660.