How To Train A Competitive Dock Diving Dog!

Have you ever heard of dock diving competitions for dogs? Dock diving is a relatively new entry into competitive dog sports, but its popularity is growing fast! This sport was first introduced in the U.S. in 1997 by Purina’s Incredible Dog Challenge and started gaining tremendous popularity when ESPN started televising the event on its newly created Great Outdoor Games program.

Several organizations today offer notable events for dock diving. One of the largest organizations, North America Dock Diving (NADD), host what is considered as one of the largest and most prestigious championships in competitive dog dock diving! Other notable organizations include Splash Dogs, and Ultimate Air Dogs. Thousands of spectators and participants come from all around the world to cheer on these pool diving pups!

People who have never competed in any kind of sport with their dogs are finding a surprisingly fun and welcoming environment in the form of Dock Diving events. Another surprising find for dog owner’s is how their dog reacts to practicing, training, and working towards improving their performance! While other dog sports can be a little intimidating to join without a community or a group to welcome new members, dog diving has been seen as a very open and easy sport for those who have never participated in an organized dog sport before.

Continue reading as we explore more into the sport itself, learn where we can get more information, and get an inside look from one of Sportsman’s Pride’s ambassadors, Settie Harrison and her dog Lucie, and how they found themselves competing in this fun and challenging sport!

The Basics

There are a few different events in a dog diving competition, such as distance, vertical, hydro-dashing, and air-retrieval. Regulations for dock sizes may vary between different organizations who host competitions, but it’s typically between 35 and 45 feet long and around 8 feet wide, while it sits about 2 feet above the pool! The dock itself is usually covered with artificial turf, carpet, or rubber mats to provide better traction for the dogs. It’s always a good idea to check the rules and regulations of an organization’s competition before participating, such as NADD’s website!

The most common event for dog dock diving is the Distance event. A dog will wait at the end of the dock while their handler will be at the edge of the dock, usually carrying their pup’s favorite toy. Typically, the distance is measured from the point where the dog left the dock, to where the dog tails break the water. The current world record holder for distance in Dock Diving is a whippet named Sounders who managed an impressive 36ft and 11 inches jump!

Competitions also include divisions to place dogs with similar sizes and abilities together, so that you can be certain that your dog will compete against comparable competitors! There are facilities and events all around the country, so if you think it something your dog might be interested in, check out this link to find one closest to you!

Try It Out!

We sat down and talked with Settie, a Sportsman’s Pride Ambassador, who has qualified for regionals in September of 2023, and we asked her how she got Lucie into Dock Diving and some of her insights into the sport!

So how did you get started in Dock Diving?

“It was sort of an accident! I had taken her to a dog park that had a dock with a pond in it. Lucie took to the dock immediately and would fling herself off the dock into the water! She looked like she was having so much fun. Eventually, I ended up finding out about a dog dock diving event locally that was taking place that following Saturday. So, the day before it started, I called up the competition, and got in contact with one of the trainers to see if Lucie could try it out and see how it went. Lucie took to it right away, and I ended up connecting with my current coach, and have been competing ever since. It’s mostly for Lucie, cause if she didn’t enjoy participating in the events so much, we wouldn’t be doing it! But it has made her one of the happiest I’ve ever seen in her whole life, and so here we are now competing in the Northwestern Regionals in September!”

Do you think any dog can do it?

“As long as they enjoy it! If a dog doesn’t want to dive, or if they don’t like the water, you’re just not going to see the same results you would see from a dog who loves water. A good example is my two pups! Lucie absolutely loves diving, she loves practice! We’ve been on a practice routine, and now Lucie gets excited on Wednesdays because she knows we will be going to practice that day! My other dog does not enjoy the water as much, but his confidence has improved tremendously.”

What was the biggest factor in your success with Lucie?

“Getting a coach was the biggest help to getting to the point I am at today! Getting on a routine and setting personal goals and achieving them has helped to continuously improve on our results! It’s just like how you would treat any athlete in any sport. Practice makes perfect! I jog with Lucie during down days, and obviously her diet is extremely important, and Sportsman’s Pride has helped keep Lucie’s energy levels up so that she can keep training!”

With your whole experience, in your third year of competing, what has been your biggest take-away from this sport?

“The biggest take-away I’ve gotten is just how strong the bond grew between me and Lucie. Of course, most of the work is done by the dog, but it is also crucial for the owner to be in sync with their dog. There’s been a few times where I could tell that the jump was affected by how I threw her toy, and the timing of it as well. It’s vital for the handler, and the pup to be in sync! So, practice not only helps the pup’s performance, but it helps with mine as well! We become a team! Both of us relying on each other to do their part! And when everything comes together, the practicing, the training, the enthusiasm, and then you see her beat her personal best! Well, there’s nothing like it! And the satisfaction doesn’t only come from me! You can clearly tell that Lucie is happy too! And as long as she loves doing this sport, I will keep participating, cause in the end that is ultimately what this has all been about for me, to keep Lucie happy.”