Meet the top dogs from Minnesota’s 2025 Game Fair

The 44th annual Game Fair, held over two weekends (Aug. 8-10 and Aug. 15-17 in Ramsey) saw thousands of dogs enter the front gate and walk the grounds of Game Fair in Ramsey, Minn.

Many of those dogs and their owners participated in the various dog events, including the five championship-qualifying games: the scurry, goose hunt, obstacle course, and long jump (small dog and large dog). Daily winners took home a big bag of Eukanuba dog food and returned the final Sunday for the championships.

In the championship round, those daily winners went in order of when they qualified, and the top three dogs and handlers took home trophies. Second and third place winners were given a framed certificate, while the champions received Minnesota-shaped trophies for their accomplishments.

The Goose Hunt. In the goose hunt – a single timed retrieve through a field of decoys – there were five dogs that participated in the championship. Third place went to Hank the Lab with Jake Powell (l). Second place went to Tilly the Lab with Joe Will (center) – just 0.37 seconds behind Rip, a black Lab, and Jerod Hahn, of Elk River, who claimed the win.

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The Long Jump, Large. The final event of the 2025 Game Fair Dog Events Championship was the long jump off the dock for the large dogs. Five dogs competed in that competition, and all of them made crowd-pleasing jumps.

Figaro, a German wirehair, leapt 22.5 feet, giving Alicia Ammerman (l) the third place spot. Carter Neu’s Labrador Finley (c) just beat that effort with a jump of 23 feet, giving them second place. It was a mighty leap of 24 feet by Champ, a German short-haired pointer, with John Pregler, of Big Lake, that took home the championship trophy.

The Obstacle Course. Five dogs participated in the obstacle course, which featured a timed double water retrieve over fences and through decoys.

Third place was taken by Kyle Ravn and his yellow Labrador, Porter (r), with a time of 38.28 seconds. There was a less than a one-second margin between first and second place, with Lindy the Lab and James Sterne (l) coming in second at 38.05 seconds. Meanwhile, the champion was Ashley Grondahl and her black Labrador, Riley, with a time of 37.4 seconds.

The Long Jump, Small. Four dogs qualified for the long jump small dog division championship and three dogs participated in the finals, so all of them received a top award.

English springer spaniels took those three spots with similar jumps. In fact, the championship was decided in an overtime jump-off. Jim Flom’s spaniel, Gauge (c), jumped 13 feet and took third place.

Both Mabel, with Leah Tavman (l), and Ginger, with Matthew Warme, jumped 13.5 feet in the first round. In the final round, Mabel made another 13.5 foot jump while Ginger hit 14 feet, meaning Tavman, of Excelsior, and Mabel, were this year’s champions.