farragutpress

Dog Daze hits high-flying decade mark

September 9, 2026 by Jake Nichols

Pharaoh launched off the dock, a furry black missile moving at warp speed.

He contorted his body and captured his toy just before hitting the water, splashing into his second victory of the 10th annual Dog Daze event, presented by Shop Farragut/Farragut Business Alliance at Village Green shopping center.

The event ran from Friday, Aug. 21, through Sunday, Aug. 23, and it featured a carnival-like atmosphere.

“Yesterday was really busy vendor-wise,” Shop Farragut executive director Ashley Lynch said Sunday. “And today, I’ve noticed a lot of people are sitting around watching the show, staying with it. We have 40 dogs on deck, which is the most they can allow to go in one setting. It’s been great.”

A ruff start

The event did not begin smoothly, as part of the Dock Dogs pool broke before Friday’s competition.

“Something broke, like an arm that needed welding,” Lynch said, “and then the storm hit.”

“So they couldn’t even set up the pool to start the event at 4 p.m.,” Shop Farragut president Candace Viox added. “So it had nothing to do with Shop Farragut or Ashley’s amazing event. It was that the pool was broken, we had to bring in a welder, wait for them to fix the pool, then fill it up. WATE came and had to leave because they couldn’t do their live coverage. 

“And then when they finally got it going, the rain came. We were delayed two-and-a-half hours, and if it would have started on time and they would have been here on time and their equipment would have worked, we would have been out of here before the rain came. And it would have been a completely different event on Friday.”

With the late start, some of the vendors left before the event ended Friday since they were only scheduled to be there from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“Just like any event, there’s challenges that arise randomly,” Lynch said. “But we have pushed through it, had great support from Shop Farragut people, vendors, friends. They have all come through for me to make this event possible.”

Stiff competition 

Pharaoh lived up to his description as a “high flyer” for a 7-foot, 10-inch first-place result in the extreme vertical competition Sunday morning. He also won the Sonic round of the speed retrieve competition (5.348 seconds), then jumped 24 feet to win the Big Air contest.

“He’s actually jumping less than he usually does — he’s usually a 26, 27-foot dog,” owner Amneris Santiago said. “He did very good; he just usually does more. The schedule was weird, so they had extreme vertical this morning, and he went up 7 feet, 10 inches and 8 feet out in the pool, so he’s tired.”

In the semi-pro event, Camille won with 20 feet, 3 inches. Her owner, Trent Steele, helped start Smoky Mountain Dock Dogs and has seen this event grow through the years.

“It’s awesome,” Steele said. “A lot of people have marked this as one of the go-to events they want to come to, and it being a national event brings people from all over. People from North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, everywhere.”

Gracie Nipper and Athena took first place in the contender level (18 feet, 3 inches) with Julie May and Layla winning the amateur round (12 feet, 1 inch).

Other extreme vertical winners included Jennifer Bay and Rogue in the top gun class (6 feet, 2 inches) and Gretchen Hocker and Charley in cadet (5 feet, 6 inches).

In other speed retrieve results, Santiago’s Cillian won the nitro class (6.355 seconds) and Brooke Hamilton and Finley Rose won in the turbo class (7.010 seconds) with Kristen Belle-Kay and her dog Urban winning among express participants (8.715 seconds).

What’s next?

Aside from the rough start and the competitions, there were a couple businesses that were featured for the first time, including Grayson BMW, which had an SUV on site. 

There also was a kids zone, and Lynch noted that they want to look at expanding the tent area for next year — which will mark the start of Dog Daze’s second decade in Farragut.