SAN FRANCISCO -- Fans who hope to scoop up splashdown homers in the waters outside Pacific Bell Park have some new competition, and these guys aren't afraid to jump in with all four paws.

Six Portuguese water dogs, known as the Baseball Aquatic Retrieval Korps, or BARK, is on the job. San Francisco's newest team is poised to snag the floating prizes in the name of charity.

The dogs made their splashy debut this weekend leaping from the decks of their motorboat, the Good Ship Jollipup, into the bay just 20 feet beyond the rightfield wall. They are scheduled to appear again Tuesday, when the Giants take on the Colorado Rockies.

BARK is the brainchild of Father Guido Sarducci, the stage name of comedian Don Novello. The self-proclaimed Vatican gossip columnist teamed up with Pets in Need, a Redwood City, Calif.-based animal adoption agency, to locate and train the dogs. Pets in Need will receive a $5,000 donation from the Giants, and can auction any of the balls the BARKers pick up.

So far, Pac Bell Park has seen five splashdown homers since it opened. But, as Giants executive vice president Larry Baer says, there are 162 games in the season.

"It is the one sport where you have enough games to try something new. And what unites families more than animals?" Baer said.

Novello was on hand Saturday, tossing balls to the rare, poodle-like dogs, to the delight of hundreds of fans. Dressed in black pastoral robes and zebra-skin shoes, Novello praised the dogs, which have webbed feet and have been bred for centuries to carry messages between ships and to herd fish into nets.

"This is the first sport to bring another species into the game," said Novello, who pitched the swimming-dog idea to Giants' officials some four years ago, when he heard about plans for the new park. "These dogs are geniuses."

Baer said everyone thought Novello was kidding initially, but then, "We passed it around and decided it was very San Francisco."

The dogs -- named Justy, Kyma, Shadow, Surfer, Topper and Rio -- and their owners do their work for BARK on a volunteer basis and with great enthusiasm -- and, sometimes, confusion.

On Saturday, Shadow balked before making her maiden leap into McCovey Cove, then did a strong bellyflop into the water, and quickly grabbed a ball with her teeth. Briefly distracted by the cheering crowds, she dropped the ball but regrouped and brought it back to the boat.

"I think this a really good idea," said Hilary Shipley, 12, of Albany, Calif. "Most ballparks don't have dogs to retrieve home runs."