TU's Goldie Places In First Dock Diving Competition

Goldie, the University of Tulsa mascot, took part in her first national Dock Diving competition this weekend. Goldie qualified for the North American Diving Dogs competition in Florida.

Dock diving is fast growing sport for dogs, especially retrieving breeds. Dogs run along a dock and jump in water to retrieve a toy or other object.

"Goldie's a natural swimmer and absolutely insane for water, so we just decided to try it," said handler Matt Casteel. Matt and his wife, Paige, work with Goldie. 

They have a Newfoundland trained in water rescue and got the idea for training Goldie during their many trips to the lake. The Golden Retriever finished eighth out of 18 competitors in the novice division.

Matt said the show in Florida was huge and had competitions in other areas such as agility, conformation - even grooming.

"They had every breed of dog, every kind of competition," he said. "We're dog people, so it was just fun. Now we want 12 more dogs, basically."

Goldie is TU's Canine Ambassador and a certified therapy dog. Matt said she'll probably take a little time off training til the weather gets warmer again next spring.