Trying dock diving

[RaisingRiver]

Ok, so the county fair starts on Friday. I was looking at the events online and there's DogDocks this year. So, why not, I'm only 2 miles from the fair. Which dog do I take... or both? Neither of my dogs have jumped from a dock or dock-like platform. Reading about dockdiving, I'm supposed to throw a chase toy and my dog jumps in after it.

 

Diesel likes water. Willingly walks right in. Beach, pond, no problem. He will give chase to tennis balls and frisbees with enthusiasm.

River LOVES fetching. She will walk into water but doesn't like to put her face in it so much - only to fetch something.

 

I'm thinking River might run to the end and stop - but she's very toy motivated and has done agility. I think Diesel will jump.... but who knows, maybe he'll get scared. It's $20 a dog to enter a wave. Maybe I just spend $40 for a fun opportunity?

 

I know there's some dock divers here... any advice on how to tell if a dog will do it and/or any advice on the best way to do it. Any safety concerns? Like... what if River isn't a good swimmer?! I've only seen her swim in a few feet of river water and only like 3 times. Worth getting a swim vest?

 

"This is an OUTDOOR event to be run off of a SCAFFOLDING DOCK into a POOL."

[kelpiegirl]

I work at the county fair every year. We have a canine tent, and this year they are having dock dogs The thing you need to be aware of, is how your dog handles the crowds, and noise. Some dogs *really* hate this. Our canine tent is next to the talent tent, so it can get really loud.

So, take the dog that you think can handle all of the noise and people. If it is warm enough, that should help I plan to see if my girls can do this- maybe on the off times, so that we can have some quiet while she learns As for doing the dock diving- I would get in the water- yes, bring your suit, and get the dogs comfortable with being in the water first, and then hang out on the dock, and throw toys in- make sure they know where the steps to get our are. I think you should do it, just don't be pressured into doing anything faster than your dogs want to

Have fun!

Julie

[Rosanne]

Every DockDogs or similar event that I've been to (which is only 2!) has had a practice session or two that you could enter to see if your dogs would do it before you tried the "wave" which is the actual competition. usually they cost like $10 or so.

 

My dog who loves the water the MOST won't jump. he does the slow boat launch method so when I tried it with him he just walked up to the edge, stopped, then slowly plunked down in the water

 

Both of my girls jump in at home so I'm anxious to try them!

 

It's fun, and if your dog doesn't do it, then who cares?

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

If you want to enter this, I would definitely try to find a dock nearby and give it a try today. I think you may set yourself up for dissapointment if you just show up and expect your dogs to jump off of the dock. Most dogs practice in ponds/lakes and I have seen tons of people come with their dogs to competitions for the first time and the dog takes one look at the clear water and says "No way!" And these are dogs that can jump, they're just using to doing it into cloudy water. Your best bet is to acclimate your dogs to jumping off of a dock (~2' high) into water of some sort. It's not as easy as it looks. Some dogs take right to it and some will never want to jump off of the end of that dock.

 

If you have $40 to spend and you don't really care if your dogs jump off of the dock, I say go for it. But if you're expecting great results, maybe you're better off to save your money.

 

Here are some pics of SoBe practicing at lakes:

 

 

 

 

 

The first time SoBe saw a dock it was all I could do not to push him off of the end of it.

[smileyzookie]

You got any pic's of SoBe actually hitting the water? I'd like to see them if you do lol.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

Since I don't think of the "splash" as a good shot, I would have to go back and go through tons and tons of pics to find one. I'll see what I can do.

[silhouettestable]

This is something I would love to try. Lightning is always diving into the water after his kong whenever I take him to the river near us, or to the lake at my mom's cottage. I just found out that there is going to be dock diving this year at the Barrie, ON fair and that there are training sessions during the first couple of days (mid-week) with waves later in the day. I was sort of thinking about going but there are waves each day and then I think maybe finals on the weekend. Maybe it's overly optimistic to think that he'd make it into a final, but if he did I would have to miss, I've already sent in an entry form to a disc trial that same Sunday. Wish there were more events nearby and everything wasn't happening at the same time.

[RaisingRiver]

Well... my neighbor has a swimming pool. If she doesn't mind my dogs trying to jump in, I could simulate that way. At least the water would be clear and there is an edge.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I don't want to be disappointed, that's not my nature - though I do expect it considering they have never done anything like this. I don't mind so much about the $40 since I'm not doing agility classes right now, I have the cash I would normally be spending.

 

I'll talk to my neighbor today (who has a young BC, btw) and ask if it's ok I try out her pool.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

Cool! Let us know how the pool adventure goes. That is a pretty good way to get them used to dock diving although for some dogs it's the sheer height of the dock that throws them off. If they offer practice sessions, definitely do those before the competition.

[Guest LJS1993]

There is a group in San Diego that is big into this sport. Aren't the top dogs in this sport the hunting/gun dog breeds?

[diane allen]

OK, here's disappointment for ya.

#1 BC - mature dog, at a large event, no issues with waiting in line with many other dogs, hot, just wanted to get her wet; loves running into lakes after a toy (no docks there), will retrieve all day long. Dock dog event: walked her down the ramp where the dogs come out; she really really really wanted that toy, but would NOT go into the water. After a few minutes, and everyone else waiting...we just left.

#2 BC - young dog, same event a year later, same deal. EXACTLY same deal!!

 

Most of the really good ones I saw jumping were retriever-types, though some BCs did very very well!

 

Good luck.

 

diane

[RaisingRiver]

As long as whoever I take jumps in, I'll consider it a success. They are having warmups. Hmmm.. 10am I think my neighbor might be awake.

[RaisingRiver]

Drat, she has a liner within the sides of her pool, only the bottom is concrete.... dog nails, thin liner, not a good combo.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

Generally, if a dog's never jumped into a body of water before (I mean from a ledge 1-2ft up), dock diving in a competition won't be a great success.

 

Some of the best dock divers in the history of DockDogs have been border collies. Generally you see a lot of retreiver/gun dog type breeds because it's second nature to them to leap into the water after a rubber duck. But many of the other, more athletic breeds can many times outdo them if they are properly trained to jump high AND far (you can see SoBe just jumps flat out and not UP into the air to get distance, too).