brady's mom Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Is anyone on the boards involved in this sport/game? Brady and I are going to our first practice on the 30th, but I was just wondering how else you would go about training the sport/game (other than just tossing the bumper off a dock). It looks like a fun activity to get involved in and it combines two of Brady's favorite things: swimming and retrieving. HOPEFULLY we have a good success with this game since it's about ten times lower in cost than agility or fly ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 I entered one competition on a whim since the entry fee was only $10 for 4 jumps. Never trained for it. Dog had not gone swimming in 3 years. I just showed up, paid my money and we got a trophy for 2nd place, just 1 inch behind first. It was fun and my dog was in heaven getting to launch himself full speed into the water. I almost entered one last weekend, but when I saw the cost I passed. It was $30 PER JUMP with 5 jumps per day! I decided I would rather spend that money in other ways and stayed home. When I expressed my disbelief at the cost, several friends chimed in and said that was fairly typical and the one I entered last year was not the norm. It's a shame, because otherwise I would do more of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 I entered one competition on a whim since the entry fee was only $10 for 4 jumps. Never trained for it. Dog had not gone swimming in 3 years. I just showed up, paid my money and we got a trophy for 2nd place, just 1 inch behind first. It was fun and my dog was in heaven getting to launch himself full speed into the water. I almost entered one last weekend, but when I saw the cost I passed. It was $30 PER JUMP with 5 jumps per day! I decided I would rather spend that money in other ways and stayed home. When I expressed my disbelief at the cost, several friends chimed in and said that was fairly typical and the one I entered last year was not the norm. It's a shame, because otherwise I would do more of them. Wow, that entry fee is pricey. I could see $30 for all day (5 jumps). Was this a mobile set-up? Or just a dock for jumping into a lake? I attended a dock diving event locally about 5-6 years ago. It was so neat. It was held in conjunction with a national fishing tournament to help draw more spectators to the tournament. (I guess it didn't work out because the dock dogs never came back. ) Cabela's has/had a semi-truck that travels around the country with the equipment to set up a dock diving competition pretty much anywhere flat (fairgrounds, parking lots, a flat field, etc.) Basically they set-up an above-ground pool of the appropriate width and length, a carpeted? dock and all the cameras and computer equipment needed to measure the jumps. With a set-up like that, I can understand a higher entry fee. But at that time, they were inviting locals to try it with their dog for free. If someone wanted to enter, I do not know what the fee was (but again, it was a while ago). I hope you have a great time - and hope that your dog loves it. Jovi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 The competition that was $10 was hosted by the local dock dog club near my Mom's place. Their training facility was a regulation length dock on a large pond, a canoe and a floating measuring rope. I am sure that helped to keep costs down. The competition last weekend was at a dog training facility with a specially built, permanent dock diving pool. If sheep dog trial entries can be $20 to $40 and involve trucking in an entire flock of sheep, hundreds of yards of fencing, sorting pens, man power to handle the stock, etc I don't understand why dock diving can't figure out a way to keep costs lower. One competition advertised 8 jump waves with a limit of 40 dogs per wave. That's 320 jumps per day if they fill up. If each jump is $30, a single day brings in almost $10,000. Do the clubs really need that much money to pay for their equipment, especially considering that their members pay fees to use the pool for practice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Brady's mom, where do you take your dog swimming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretchdrive Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I have also wanted to try Dock Diving, but just can get myself to drive all the way to an even, spend $25-$30 for 1 entry fee, and then find out my dog is afraid to jump off the dock. I have always wanted to try it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I was told that most people who want to compete in dock diving end up having to get sponsors to help defray the costs. It looks like fun, but if I had money to spare it would be for sheepdog trials, and I can watch Kat and Pip bellyflop from the pond edge into the water and be well entertained, for free. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I'm with you, Julie! When we are in NC, the in-laws have a lovely dock with a floating lower dock. Megan is the queen of diving there, always off the lower dock as the upper one is a bit high. Dan has yet to master jumping off the lower dock and, while he knows the way back around by the bank, tends to be a bit doofy and misses out on most of the fun. Celt, who doesn't like to dive, will come in off the back with a rush if he figures he can beat everyone else to the ball. On the sound-side at the Outer Banks, all three love to play fetch in the water. Dan, maybe learning from Celt, enjoys the balls that go where there are sandbars and so the dog can race out along the shore, run along the shallow sandbar water, and beat everyone else to the ball. Megan is our queen of fetch and queen of water games. I think that I would not at all enjoy it so much if there was any sort of competition involved. I just love it for the enjoyment the dogs get out of it (while getting great exercise). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisbeegirl Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Year ago I had a beautiful Austrailian Sheperd named Rogue she was the love of my life. My family has a place in NC on a lake with a hugh boat dock. Thinking I was being cute (After me jumping off the dock a millian times.) oushed her off. OMG she rolled and rolled until she was dry. She never got wet again. I now own a 13 year choc lab (they have fins.) Any the most amazing femal border collie. We practice swimminng and retrieving everyday(there is a pond on my farm). If other dogs are around she will race to retrieve the stick, I also use a rubber bommerang she loves it. I never heard of dock jumping but I may have to research this. Keeva will do anything I ask I love her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Living in the "Ocean State' we have always wondered why the nearest place to Dock Dive was Maine, well coming to Foxboro this summer is dock diving and I think we are going to have to go just to see. Might have to brush up on our technique off the local fishing docks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Double pos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brady's mom Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I entered one competition on a whim since the entry fee was only $10 for 4 jumps. Never trained for it. Dog had not gone swimming in 3 years. I just showed up, paid my money and we got a trophy for 2nd place, just 1 inch behind first. It was fun and my dog was in heaven getting to launch himself full speed into the water. I almost entered one last weekend, but when I saw the cost I passed. It was $30 PER JUMP with 5 jumps per day! I decided I would rather spend that money in other ways and stayed home. When I expressed my disbelief at the cost, several friends chimed in and said that was fairly typical and the one I entered last year was not the norm. It's a shame, because otherwise I would do more of them. Wow, 30 bucks a jump? Yikes. $10 sounds more my speed for something that just seems/feels like a fun game to play with the pup. I hope they bring another competition similar to the first back, sounds like it was a blast! Wow, that entry fee is pricey. I could see $30 for all day (5 jumps). Was this a mobile set-up? Or just a dock for jumping into a lake? I attended a dock diving event locally about 5-6 years ago. It was so neat. It was held in conjunction with a national fishing tournament to help draw more spectators to the tournament. (I guess it didn't work out because the dock dogs never came back. ) Cabela's has/had a semi-truck that travels around the country with the equipment to set up a dock diving competition pretty much anywhere flat (fairgrounds, parking lots, a flat field, etc.) Basically they set-up an above-ground pool of the appropriate width and length, a carpeted? dock and all the cameras and computer equipment needed to measure the jumps. With a set-up like that, I can understand a higher entry fee. But at that time, they were inviting locals to try it with their dog for free. If someone wanted to enter, I do not know what the fee was (but again, it was a while ago). I hope you have a great time - and hope that your dog loves it. Jovi Thanks! If it ends up being too costly we might just stick to the practices and enter only one or two competitions just to see what they're like. I just want to give him something fun to do that's different from our normal activities. Brady's mom, where do you take your dog swimming? We used to go to Lacamas Lake since we found a pretty secluded dock/swim area over there, but I'm skeptical of the place now since Lacamas is where the whole puncturing of the toe joint incident occurred. I think there was some hidden shards of glass we didn't see. :/ I was told that most people who want to compete in dock diving end up having to get sponsors to help defray the costs. It looks like fun, but if I had money to spare it would be for sheepdog trials, and I can watch Kat and Pip bellyflop from the pond edge into the water and be well entertained, for free. J. Sponsorships? Oh man, if we have do sponsorships to compete I'm definitely not interested. I just figured it'd be lower cost based on the lessons being only $15. It looks like so much fun, too! They have competitions every year at the county fair and it's always looked like a pretty inexpensive activity--looks are deceiving I guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretBC Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I had big dreams of getting into this with Secret last summer! She LOVES to swim. If I shaved her down I think I'd find gills. We had lots and lots of fun playing at various dock locations near home. This was the first time she saw a dock, so I was pretty excited about how well she might do: We played at several other locations before going to our first dock diving competition at the state fair. All were natural water locations located outdoors. I guess that was our problem, as when she saw the dock diving pool located indoors she completely spazzed. Not one single jump the whole day: Honestly, I kind of abandoned it at that point. I know I could get her over it if we had access to a dock diving pool (that I could get into) or maybe if we found a natural water event --- But dock events are few and far between around here and all would require several hours of driving for us. I decided to stick with agility, at least for now. But I still think it would be loads of fun if I had a way to practice and compete on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Addict Posted August 8, 2012 Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 We have been dock diving twice. Both events have 2-3 waves per day (at $25/30 per wave) for several days. You can enter one or more waves. One of the issues I have is that it can be HOURS between the waves and they do not stick to their time schedule at all. So you can be sitting outdoors all day for two waves with two jumps each (5 minute total) or you show up at 1000 for the advertised first wave and they don't start until noon. It can be a VERY long day. Also, you don't know if you made it to the finals until the very end... so you have to wait and wait. Both times we made it to the finals, but how painful for other people to wait for hours only to find out that they did not qualify. We were there about 12 hours on that day. Both times there were people that had dogs that would not enter the water. I was surprised that they would pay money without knowing if their dog would jump and the whole event grinds to a halt while someone spends several minutes coaxing and pleading with their dog to jump. On the bright side, our dog loves, loves, loves it. She took third place in one event and won $25 so almost half our entry fee (we entered 2 waves). I sort of understand the cost, because they bring the pool and dock in on a tractor trailer along with sound system and judges. They even had to pay to have the water delivered and then pumped back out at the end of the trial. Maybe if you had your own dock, it wouldn't be so expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 If sheep dog trial entries can be $20 to $40 Wow, really? In my part of the country, sheepdog trial entries are $45-$70. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlasl Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 Most clubs do not have the pool and dock, they rent them for each event. If I remember correctly (I looked into hosting a dock diving event for our city) It was $10,000 to rent the setup for a weekend (dock diving events are two day events). So the costs are to defray that expense and then to pay for everything else hosting an event costs and then hopefully pocketing some money for your club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setsail Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 We've been trying it just for fun and my border collie/spaniel mix Poe loves it! The site has an official dock and host events even though we haven't actually tried a competition yet. I don't know much about the actual events but we might give it a try. This was only Poe's 2nd time trying the dock. She's just a little thing and we were only a few feet from the end but it includes all of her favorite things: tennis balls, swimming and jumping lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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