Do you have a dog who zooms into lakes, creeks, and rivers at first sight? Does your dog live for fetch and toy play? If so, dock diving may be the sport for her.
What Is Dock Diving?
Dock diving combines jumping, swimming, and toy retrieval into one splash-filled, competitive canine sport. Dock diving at its core requires dogs to jump off a platform (or dock) into a pool. There are three different events or disciplines in canine dock diving: distance jump, hydrodash, and air retrieve.
Distance jump requires you to throw a toy for your dog while they get a running head start and try to jump as far as possible down the pool. In hydrodash, dogs aim to swim as fast as possible towards a fixed toy in the pool and retrieve it. In air retrieve, dogs shoot to jump and grab or knock down a toy that’s fixed above the pool, gaining lots of vertical distance. Note that these events may have slightly different names based on the organization you’re competing in.
How Do You Get Started in Dock Diving?
Whether or not you’re interested in competing in dock diving, pretty much any dog can try it out. According to Bri Benton, a long time dock diving instructor, dock manager, and dock competitor based in Spring, Texas, puppies and dogs don’t need to know how to swim to begin learning the initial skills for dock diving.
“I incorporate many foundations from other sports such as disc, agility, and flyball into my training foundations and I will focus on relationship building, confidence building, and toy drive exercises with my young dogs,” she says. “While I encourage swimming and retrieving at a young age, I generally do not start training them on the dock until they are 8 to 12 months old.”
Benton recommends finding knowledgeable instructors in your area to try out dock diving. She also recommends going to local competitions to observe, learn, and volunteer. “Most competitors are always happy to help beginners find training resources and competitions around their area,” she says.
Once you’ve found a dock diving instructor in your area, you and your dog will start with foundational training. Though many dogs love water, they’re likely used to getting into bodies of water with sloped, gradual entries like lakes and ponds. Dock diving pools can be intimidating, since dogs need to jump off the elevated surface into the water below.
Kelly Roll, dock diving competitor and owner of K9cation dog training and boarding in Hudson, Colorado, says that the best intro to dock diving involves building your dog’s confidence. In foundation training, Roll says that K9cation clients often get into the pool with their dog. Dogs start by entering the water from a ramp before building confidence to swim out into the pool and are always heavily praised and rewarded.
“Once a dog is confidently entering the pool and sticking their face in the water to retrieve a toy, we work on a dog gaining an arch while jumping off the ramp,” Roll says. “This shows us the dog has potential to dive off the dock.” Roll says that once a dog is getting arch while jumping off the ramp and confidently sticking their face in the water, training will move to the dock to begin to teach the dog to jump off it. Dogs that have a hard time gaining arch or distance may be better suited to hydrodash than the other two dock disciplines.
Training for the sport should always include positive reinforcement methods. “We never want to pressure a dog so much that the dog is frustrated, and we definitely never shove the dog off the dock,” says Roll. “Dogs that are forced against their will to enter a pool are not allowed at competition and we do not allow it at training because it causes a loss of confidence and is just not a good way to get dogs to have fun and be confident in this sport.”
What Are the Different Dock Diving Organizations to Compete In?
Similar to other dog sports like agility, there are multiple venues for dock diving competitions and figuring out which organization to register and compete with can be confusing. According to Benton, there are currently several Dock Diving organizations to compete with, the most popular being:
- North America Diving Dogs (NADD)
- DockDogs
- Ultimate Air Dogs
- International Dog Sports
- Super Retriever Series
- United Kennel Club Dock Diving
“Each organization offers different formats for competing as well as different titling structures,” she says.
How Do You Compete in Dock Diving?
Each of the dock diving organizations requires a separate registration plus a registration fee before you can compete at events. Registration fees typically sit around $30 to $35. Once you’re registered, you can use the organizations’ event search features on their websites to find local dock competitions and enter them. Entry fees typically run about $25-$40 per jump, and pre-registration will usually get you a discount.
According to Benton, there are also tons of helpful Facebook groups that will post details for upcoming competitions. “When in doubt, asking other competitors or trainers local to your area can be helpful too,” she says.
Not sure if your dog is ready for a competition yet? Roll says dogs are typically ready to enter trials when they are confidently and consistently jumping off the dock. If you think your dog is ready for the competition environment but you just want to try it out in a more low-stakes way first, many dock diving events offer “try-its” or discounted practice runs that don’t count for points but allow you and your dog to get the feel for a real trial. Try-its are usually around $10 per splash.
Should I Try Dock Diving With My Dog?
Whether or not you decide to compete, dock diving can be a fun activity for you and your dog to enjoy together. “At the end of the day, this sport is all about having fun with your dog,” Benton says. “Your dog has no idea how far they jump or how many ribbons they win, they just know that they’re getting to play their favorite game with their favorite person! It is so important to never lose sight of why we compete in dog sports and that is to enjoy our dogs and bond with them on a deeper level.”
