BETHANY, W.Va. (WTRF) — A sport that is less well-known than many others in our area, and also included some four-legged friends came to the Ohio Valley this weekend.
The Town of Bethany welcomed Three Rivers DockDogs on September 15 and 16 for the town’s first-ever DockDog Diving competition.
The event saw several participants come out with their furry friends to let them leap as high and as far as they could.
The idea has been in the making for about 15 months in an attempt to bring more people and attention to Bethany.
Finally, the small town was able to put on a show that their residents had never seen before.
“This is an event that we’ve never had anything like that in Bethany. So, I’ve had several people say they would like to see this be an annual event, which we’ll see about that. But it brings a lot of people in, and it’s good for the town and the college. We want to, of course, promote our college. With enrollment being up this year, we’re moving in a good direction.”
Shirley Kemp | Mayor of Bethany
The President of Three Rivers DockDogs said seeing the different dogs participate is something that is eye-opening.
“When your dog does something more than you expected to do, you are jumping for joy.”
Susan Weis | President of Three Rivers Dock Dogs
Mayor Kemp said that the event was something she thought could help bring more attraction to the small town.
“As the time went on, I thought this would be a good thing for Bethany and get back tourism back to Bethany. So, we want to promote tourism, get people here know that we have a beautiful little town.”
Shirley Kemp | Mayor of Bethany
Bringing the competition to Bethany is something that Weis said is great for not just the town but also the sport itself.
“A lot of the big cities get these kind of events, and they get a ton of people to come. So, to bring it into this rural area and get people to come here, it’s just wonderful to get the sport known down in this area.”
Susan Weis | President of Three Rivers Dock Dogs
Money prizes were handed out to the top three finishers in each event based on how far they jumped, and all the dogs received a ribbon just for participating.
The event ran all day Saturday and Sunday and was a huge success.
