The best catch

The weather in Baguio last Saturday was chilly. Perfect bed weather for those of us who love to sleep in on weekends. But that was not to be for my Toy Poodle Gorby and me as we were in the Pine City to cheer for our favorite canine Frisbee players.

The venue was SM Baguio. The event, the Alpo Frisbee Challenge.

The Alpo Frisbee Challenge had 10 contenders for the top prize of P25,000, while the second placer went home with P15,000 and the third placer, P10,000. The challenge spanned a total of four months and traveled from SM Mall of Asia to SM Clark in Pampanga to Canyon Woods in Batangas City.

Out of the total 40 human-doggie teams, 10 teams made it to the finals.

The Alpo Frisbee Challenge has been around for three years now with the first two years of the Frisbee Challenge held in Boracay.

This year, for the first time, Alpo chose to get the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) as its event partner. The rules were altered a little to make the competition  more exciting. The humans had to throw the Frisbees and their dogs had to fetch them — the difference being that the Frisbee field was marked with a certain number of points depending on the distance between human and canine. A three-minute period was given and the object was to make as many catches as possible within the time limit. The winner, of course, was the team with the most number of points.

The competition started at 5 p.m. and the terrace of SM Baguio was a wonderful place for the event, with a cool breeze keeping us happy in spite of the huge crowd.

“I used a strategy that I felt was the best for this competition,” said lawyer Byron San Pedro. The team of lawyer Byron and his Belgian Malinois Booger was the runaway winner of the competition. The team had a total of 131 points.

The strategy that the good lawyer employed was that he made Booger stay in the two-point area and then he threw the Frisbee methodically so that Booger caught almost every Frisbee thrown towards him. I counted a total of 66 Frisbees caught at two points each. A total of 131 points. I guess we have to hand it to this lawyer who used his skills not only as a Frisbee player but also as a lawyer to come up with the best strategy for the competition.

The team of Aidelbert Tangcora and Java placed second with a total score of 66 points. I must say that Gorby and I and the rest of the crowd, too, got our high watching this team in action. I guess it was because Aidee’s throws were consistent in his three minutes in the ring and Java seemed more focused than any other dog that day.

I was quietly rooting for the team from Boracay: Erick Kim and his Labrador Julie, two-time champions of the Alpo Frisbee Challenge. They had a total score of 56 points. What I love about this team is the bond that exists between Erick and Julie, which was obvious in the way they play Frisbee together. I am sure that Erick wanted to get the first prize, but it seemed that it was more important to him that he and Julie had fun playing Frisbee. 

“It is a different kind of sport as it strengthens the bond between owner and pet,” Erick said. “Julie just loves playing Frisbee on the beach in Boracay.”

The other equally competitive teams at the challenge were Gino Jeffrey Bailon and his Belgian Malinois, Baron; Aleta Yniguez and Shepherd-Lab mix, Kayu; Oscar Enciso and Belgian Malinois, Vina; Lito Barrameda and Belgian Malinois, Kim; Jessie Abilla and choco brown Labrador, Zheal; Archie David with German Shepherd, Agos; and Nice Rodriguez with her Aspin (asong pinoy), Poypoy.

The hosts for the afternoon who kept the audience entertained were Regine Tolentino, Marc Nelson, Hillary Isaac and the comic duo of Ariel and Maverick. It was equally fun to see how the hosts were so into the challenge that the intensity of the competition had them asking the crowd to be quiet and not to distract the dogs.

It was almost 7 p.m. when Gorby and I finally called it a day. Gorby yapped to me that he wants to be a Frisbee player, too. But could I buy him a small Frisbee?

As we prepared to make the trip back to Manila that evening it occurred to me that truly one of the best bonds in life is the bond that exists between humans and their doggies.

Pure loyalty, pure fun — and all love.