UNION SPRINGS - Every dog has his day. Or two or three.

Over the holiday weekend, 138 dogs and their owners will compete in the DockDogs world qualifiers in Union Springs, hosted by Charlie and Delores Bochenek.

The Bocheneks are also competitors who got interested in the sport three years ago.

“We heard about dock dogs,” Delores said. “We decided to see what it was all about and we just got hooked. Since then we've traveled all over the U.S. and Canada to compete.”

Their interest in the sport, and in their Chesapeake dogs, led to the creation of their own home practice facility, complete with a 40-foot running board for the dogs to jump off. There's also a diving pool.

And it happened to be the perfect site for the qualifying event, called “Fire on the Docks Fest.”

Grant Reeves, CEO of DockDogs, said the organization began seven years ago as part of the Great Outdoor Games on ESPN and has since spun off into competitions like these all over the country. There has also been a series developed for the Outdoor Channel.

Reeves said it is an accessible sport, one that only has a few requirements.

“Any dog can do this,” Reeves said. “All it has to do is be drawn to toys and like the water.”

Dogs will compete in several events, including the Big Air competition, where each dog runs down the dock and dives into a pool after an object. They are electronically judged for the length of the jump.

There is also the Extreme Vertical competition and the Speed Retrieve. The Extreme Vertical is a “high jump” for dogs as they each lunge to snag a bumper suspended in the air. With each grab, the height increases in two-inch increments.

The Speed Retrieve puts dogs on the clock to see how fast they can run down the dock, jump into the water, swim to the end of the pool and retrieve an object which is held by a modified extender arm.

The qualifier falls in zone seven, which includes states from as far west as Ohio and as north as Canada.

“We're trying to grow the sport in this zone,” Reeves said. “So we thought this would be the perfect location to host the qualifier. We got a good turnout, we have 138 entries. There will be people from all over - Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada. We're very happy with the turnout.”

Joann Chronister made the trip from Buffalo, meeting up with her friend, Kay Murphy, who traveled up from Kentucky.

Chronister said one of her dogs, Rebel, held the indoor record in the Big Air, with a distance of 25 feet, 11 inches.

“It is all about working with the dog,” Chronister said. “You have to be patient and have that love for animals.”

Chronister and Murphy said that along the way, they have become friends with many of the people they've met along the way at various competitions, which is part of the appeal of the sport.

“It is a lot of fun,” Murphy said. “But everybody is like one big family and you get to know everyone and you get to be friends with a lot of people.”

A fact the Bocheneks know very well, as they opened up their yard to so many guests.

“Everyone is really nice,” Delores said. “We've got to travel to so many places and meet so many people. You really do get to be friends with a lot of the people you meet. Once we got involved we loved it and everyone has become like a big family.”

Among those friendly faces in the Bocheneks#, backyard was Kevin Meese, from Pennsylvania.

Meese's dog holds the world record in the Big Air (28 feet, 10 inches) and the Extreme Vertical (7 feet, 10 inches).

With the chance to qualify for the world competition, Meese said there is still really only one way to approach these kinds of events.

“Really, you just have to go out and have fun,” Meese said. “No matter what, that has to be the main thing. We'll see how we do this year.”

The winners in the competition will be eligible to go on to compete in the world championship, which will be held in Stillwater, Minn. the last weekend in July.

For more information on DockDogs as well as a full schedule of events this weekend, visit www.dockdogs.com.