Dog Pond
Flying Dogs A special pond to host "dock diving" by Landon Malave, LCM Landscape
A
regulation dog-jumping pond — what even is that? I certainly knew nothing about until I happened upon this opportunity by chance. My neighbor who sold us our German Shepherd posted on social media that she had ordered an above-ground pool so that she could offer dog jumping to her boarding clients and possibly host dog-jumping competitions. When I saw the post, my mind immediately wandered back to my childhood and growing up with an above-ground pool, which taught me a couple things. First of all, the first time the dog touches that liner, it's all going to be over. (I learned the hard way.) Secondly, the client likely was going to have to replace the liner every September/October 2021
couple of years for one reason or another. So, I sent her a message to paint a picture of how I might go about making something work best for her. I was also very curious, so I looked up a few videos and photos of “dog jumping” (also known as dock diving). Basically, dogs run down a long runway and dock before jumping into a pool. The jumping distance is then measured and ranked. Sometimes the dog is thrown a toy; sometimes they reach for a toy that is suspended over the dock. Needless to say, this was something I never dreamed I would one day help create.
A Paw-sible Pond? After going over my concerns, we started to talk about building a pond instead of a pool. She wanted to make sure that it would be regulation so that she could hold events, which meant the POND Trade Magazine 13
