Disc dogs fly into Naperville seeking world championship bids

Frisbees were flung by the Riverwalk with care in hopes that a World Championship berth soon might be theirs.

More than 40 teams of dogs and owners competed Sunday in Naperville’s 2011 Ashley Whippet invitational seeking one of five available seeds in the Ashley Whippet World Championship taking place next month in St. Louis.

The competition included a freestyle segment set to music as teams were judged on the types of throws, the level of coordination between master and dog and the amount of canine energy. Among Sunday’s teams were multiple time world finalists Chris Sexton and his 8-year-old partner Banzai, a Border Collie/cattle dog mix, from Evergreen, Colo.

“It doesn’t matter how ridiculous my throw, Banzai is going to do everything she can to go get it,” Sexton said. “Banzai is a disc dog through and through. We’re a great team.”

Several dogs along with their owners took in the action from the bleachers at the Riverwalk’s Grand Pavilion, barking their approval throughout much of the competition.

Tom and Sheila Burns of Naperville were walking their West Highland white terrier, Spike, when they came across the event. Spike, they said, led them to the bleachers where he barked at the competitors.

“Seems odd that he appears to be into this,” Sheila Burns said. “He won’t even play fetch at home so I can’t imagine him catching a Frisbee.”

Others, meanwhile, did a pretty good job catching and retrieving flying discs in a park just outside the competition area.

Jason Weims, 18, and his Jack Russell terrier, Sadie, played with a disc tossed to him by one of the competitors earlier in the day.

“She’s pretty good playing catch and running and jumping, but we’ve never done anything this serious,” Weims said, motioning toward the competition. “We just do it for fun.”

Sunday’s competition wrapped up a two-day event which also saw several teams compete Saturday for a spot in next month’s UFO World Cup Championships in Texas.