Dock Dogs

What competitive sports are out there for your dog to participate in? Does your dog like water? Does your dog like to fetch? If so, you may want to consider training your dog to be involved in Dock Dogs.

What is it?

Dock Dogs is an aquatic sport for your canine friend. The category I have witnessed several times is the Big Air competition. The handler throws a toy off a dock towards a long pool of water. The dog jumps off the dock to try to catch or retrieve the toy. The dogs are judged on how far they jump. They measure the distance from the end of the deck to where the dog’s tail hits the water.

Who can participate?

This is open to dogs as young as 6 months old and handlers as young as 7 years of age.You would think the bigger the dog the farther they would go. However, as I witnessed, that is not necessarily the case. Some of the large dogs may only jump 5 feet while a smaller dog can top that. A medium size dog might go quite far. Regardless, the dogs all appear to be enjoying the competition win or lose.

Other Events

I have only witnessed Big Air events, but Dock Dogs also has other competitions. They also have an Extreme Vertical event. Extreme Vertical is about how high upward the dog can launch to grab a bumper. A third event is the Speed Retrieve. This event is timed. The dog has to run, jump, and swim to the end of a pool to retrieve a bumper that is suspended over the water.

Does your dog love the water? Do they want to play fetch with you endlessly? Why not up the game? Involve them in Dock Dogs. Even if you don’t have a dog the events are a joy to watch.