We participated in a new (for us) and fun sport this weekend. Perhaps you have seen it on ESPN. It's called Dock Dogs.....Check it out (Sunny has the orange bumper and Lacey has the tennis ball):

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0MP700280G0010&po=10&c=

What a blast!! Easiest title I ever put on my girls...they are now:

Wiscoys L.A. Sunshine CGC,TDI,CD,RE,NJ-N
Wiscoys Irish Lace at Brimar CGC,TDIA,RE,NJ-N

NJ-N = Novice Jumper - National.

If Dock Dogs ever comes to a city near you...GO!!!! Don't miss the fun. You don't need any experience or training, just a dog that loves the water and loves to retrieve. They also have a Junior Handler class and a Veteran Dog class (Lacey got a Veteran Dog Award).

It doesn't matter how far the dog jumps, all they have to do is jump. The shortest recorded jump is 1 1/2 inches and the longest is over 28 feet (held by a greyhound mix).

Terry,

It was a fun weekend, eh? This is Jane, mom to Peanut.
We've been doing Dock Dogs since March. Peanut finished 11th in the Amateur Finals this weekend in
Buffalo.

Terri Kieffer and I drove all night Friday night
to get to Buffalo from Maryland. Well worth the fun.
Look forward to seeing you at some other DD events.

Jane and Peanut
RRK Labs

I loved the slideshow.... the dogs obviously had a blast! Way to go girls!! Ya make me proud!

-Jill

What fun. I do love to watch it on TV and have a dog that would do great. That is really neat.

Looks like tons of fun. I've always wondered, though, about how safe it is for the dogs' joints. It looks like it would be awful rough on them, so I don't allow my dogs to jump off docks. If I'm wrong, do tell. They'd be thrilled to hear it

This is awesome!!! Looks like a lot of fun!!!

I wish we had that in Brazil too!!!

The dock is covered in Astro Turf. It's 40 feet long. You can use as much or as little of the dock as you'd like to prepare your dog for the jump.

Does this look like fun or what! I'd never heard of it. I'm definetly interested in having my water maniacs try this sport.

Where can I get more information?
Thanks,
Bea

Liz, when Cabela's opens in central CT mid October maybe they will bring in one of these events so that we can see it first hand. Like you, I too have wondered how much stress is put on the dogs, not only in the dogs joints but their backs.

I heard a rumor that UKC will be adding this as another competition venue.

Bea, you can get more info at www.dockdogs.com

Also, I know some of the big Cabela's, like the one in Dundee Mi, have a permanent dock and pool and run these events and exhibitions often.

Even just being a spectator is fun!

Thank you so much for sharing - the photos are absolutely GREAT!!!!!

You girls ROCK, Teresita!

Give them hugs from their family members from the West.

:)

Terry and Jane---

Do you live on the water with a long dock for training or did you just decide to go w/o prior practice? Did you sign up ahead? How much did it cost? Looks like fun!

Amy, I live near Lake Erie and once I found out DockDogs was coming to Buffalo, I got together with a group of people and we practiced once a week for about 6 weeks before the competition.

There were several people who came to see the competition, saw how much fun it was and went home and got their dogs to enter in the remaining 'waves'. These particular dogs had never practiced jumping off a dock before, and had no previous experience or knowledge.

You do not have to pre-register, although you can on line through DockDogs website. The cost is $20 per 'wave'. The dock is open prior to the wave for any dog who is entered, to practice. During practice, the people who run the event are awesome in giving guidance and assitance to newbies and helping encourage the dogs to jump in. Once a dog jumps, they usually don't ever hesitate again!

Each dog jumps twice per wave. The jumps are measured digitally from the edge of the dock to the point where the base of the dogs tail and butt meets, hits the water. The longer of the two jumps is the distance that is recorded.

Feel free to email me privately if you have any other questions or would like to discuss it more in dept.

Dock diving is one of the safest events my dogs have participated in. The surface of the dock is covered with Astroturf.

Eclectic info, I know only because I was in charge of transporting the roll of Astro turf our club just purchased. It is about 3/4 in thick, heavy duty rubber matting with indoor outdoor carpet type stuff on top. Easy on the dog's joints.

The only injuries I have heard of as a direct result of dockdiving happened because the company running the event (not dockdogs) had a metal strip at the end of the dock, and a dog caught his toenails in the metal and tore two of them out.

Everything I have experienced with dockdogs is about safety and fun.

You can't push your dog in the water, but he can push YOU in. If you fall in, they will score your "jump", and the dog's jump too!

My field girl, S.C.R.A.M. has her National SR title (jump between 15' and 19'11" for 5 legs) and is ranked at #89 or so Nationally. She also has her Master title with the Regional clubs with jumps between 20-23'11".

I have never had so much fun with my dogs. And I get to shoot pictures TOOO?! ROCK ON!

If you know an event is coming to your area, you can pay $5 and try your dog to see if they like it, between waves. There are usually a handful of spots left open for each wave, so if you don't get signed up online they will let you enter the day of the event.

See you all there!

http://dockdogs.com is the National site. Upcoming events are usually listed about a month ahead of time.

There is an event in WV coming soon, and Frederick MD. Our regional club has an event on Labor day weekend at LilyPons, and another one in Suffolk VA.

Be prepared to give up all free time to run to the next event and play with your dog.

You don't need any formal training or conditioning to go and have fun. Some of us go to the indoor pool in Pa on occasion, or our clubs have a training day at someone's private pond.

The Pool in Dillsburg, PA has a dockdiving dock they put in place on Friday evenings, or they will put it up if you call them ahead of time.

Dockdogs.com has a great forum, and lots of info for beginners.

The best I can say is show up, bring a floatable retrievable toy which is not edible (ok how did they make THAT rule when so many competitors are LABS?). Wear pants you expect to have wet from the waist down, and shoes you don't mind getting soggy. Bring a sense of humor and don't stress if your dog doesn't want to jump from a 5' elevated dock, down 2' to a pool.

Scram's first jump was 3' 11". She ran down the dock full blast, tried to stop, and FELL in to the pool. Her head hit at 1', but her butt flipped over and she got scored by that landing point.

Now, she's jumping between 18-21' consistently!!!