Mountain Home dog wins world championship

Mountain Home resident Matthew McCluskey's dog Pepper took home the title of world champion during the Cynosport World Games in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Pepper competed in two events, the Big Air (dock jumping) and the Vertical (where dogs jump to grab a bumper hanging 16 feet in the air).

Pepper was named world champion in the Big Air competition with his best jump of 25 feet, six inches.

The dogs in the Big Air competition were entered in divisions based on how well the dogs jumped, Pepper was entered in the highest division, the Extreme division.

Pepper went into the competition against Henry, a pure bred Chesapeake Bay Retriever, who has won Big Air the last three years and owns the world record jump of 28 feet.

Pepper squared off with Henry in the semifinal qualifier. Each dog jumped twice in the event, with the best jump marking the dog's qualifying position in the final round.

In Pepper's first jump he leaped 25 feet, two inches, falling short to Henry's jump of 26 feet, three inches.

In Pepper's second jump, he bettered his personal best jump of 25 feet, seven inches. Henry jumped 24 feet, seven inches.

In the final round, Pepper's first jump, exceeded his previous personal best jump of 26 feet, seven inches. Pepper's rival Henry jumped 26 feet, four inches.

Pepper somehow realized the mark he set, because following the jump, he swam victory laps around the pool and stopped at each photographer outside the pool to get his picture taken.

According to McCluskey, Pepper was so worn out from his victory laps, that someone had to jump in and bring him out of the pool, so Pepper could get ready for his final jump.

"At that point, I was like, we can win this," said McCluskey

In Pepper's second jump, Pepper jumped 24 feet, six inches. With the event on the line, three-time champion Henry was unable to reach Pepper's final mark jumping 22 feet.

Pepper competed in the Vertical competition the previous day and finished second.

Pepper was among 21 dogs who qualified, a rarity for the event as only six dogs usually qualify.

In the finals, Pepper squared off against the number one ranked Striker, a border collie mix.

Pepper and Striker battled until the late hours jumping at a bumper raised at first to six feet, six inches.

When night set in the bumper had been raised to seven feet, two inches, Pepper was unable to reach the bumper and lost to Striker, taking home the second place medal.

"We took second in the world, you can't really complain about that," said McCluskey.

McCluckey was pleased with Pepper's performance and is already looking forward to next year.

"I'm really excited. I keep going through it in my mind and it was a really exciting moment. There's a lot of talk that he'll have a bigger year next year. Our goal for next year is for Pepper to take home first place in the Vertical," said McCluskey.

Next year, Pepper is scheduled to competing in events taking place in Boise, Spokane and Seattle, Wash., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Denver, Colo.