Bass tournament goes to the dogs tonight

Tonight’s show should be quite a spectacle: pistols shooting, dummies flying and dogs running.
It’s the Four Paws’ retriever contest. As of last night, eight dogs were registered and more are expected.
“It’s great for the public because it’s interesting and fun,” said Dawn Taylor, organizer. “And it’s the entity of ‘you just don’t know.’ A dog may retrieve 100% at home and you bring it out here with so many distractions, there’s the unknown factor.”
If you can beat that, if the dog has the attention span, then you’ve got it made.”
The dogs are divided into juvenile, intermediate and advanced divisions. Juveniles are puppies under one year, while intermediates are over a year old.
Their owners will fire the starter pistol and throw a dummy resembling a duck or other target.
The dogs in the advanced group will have a similar contest, but the dummy will be thrown by someone other than the dog’s handler.
“That’s closer to how it would really go,” Taylor said.
Dogs will be scored on how much control they show; how straight is the line they make going to and coming from the target; how steadily they hold the dummy in their mouths on the way back; and then how they quickly they can get ready for the next time.
“People can come out and get their feet wet,” Taylor added.
The beer gardens will open today at 4 pm, followed by the retriever contest at 5. The mocktail bar opens at 6 p.m. again.
The official welcome takes the stage at 6:30 p.m. and parade prizes will be awarded at tonight’s rules meeting, starting at 6:45 p.m..
And teens between 13 and 18 are invited to the Much Music Teen Dance starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.