Splash!
Dock Diving
Christy Doherty • Spot Magazine
As
one of the fastest-growing canine sports in the world, dock diving is making a big splash with dogs and humans alike. Enthusiasts in the Northwest are fortunate that Hillsboro is home to an indoor dock diving facility.
In dock-diving events, dogs run the length of a dock and leap as far as possible into the water, competing for distance, height, or — in timed events — for speed. Human competitors throw a prized toy just out of reach, motivating dogs to keep their momentum and launch into the pool at the best-possible angle. The sport offers variations on the diving theme. For example, an inthe-air retrieve event, the coveted dog toy is suspended four feet above the water to start, moving higher as dogs complete each level. With its growing popularity, the sport is drawing a wider variety of breeds. “About 10 years ago, it was pretty much all Labs, but then the other breeds started to try it. Right now Whippets kind of rule the sport,” Kunkle explained.
Photo Credit: Landon Treanor
When Spot Magazine attended a February dock diving event, a Whippet named Sounders jumped so far he touched the back of the pool — a little over 33.5 feet. The impressive dive matched his world-record jump in December’s National competition. It’s an equal-opportunity sport. Whether low-slung lap dog or tall Russian Wolfhound, in this game, size really doesn’t matter, and the mix of breeds is endless. The sport’s organizing body, North America Diving Dogs (NADD), divides dogs into two size divisions — those 16 inches or taller at the withers, and those shorter. There are also divisions like novice, junior, senior, master and elite within each height category. 4 Spot Magazine | April / May 2019
Photo Credit: Amaya Frutkoff
The facility makes year-round practice and competition both possible and fun. “The dream of opening a combination rehab and indoor dock diving facility became real almost four years ago,” explains Diane Kunkle, certified Canine Rehab Practitioner, who co-owns Paws Aquatics Water Sports and Rehab with Julie Thomas.
Getting Their Paws Wet Dogs benefit from the equalizing effect of water, making the sport accessible to all sizes and ages. “All they need is a strong toy drive and a love for swimming,” Kunkle enthused. “We have two labs who still compete at age 14.” Kunkle says new dogs get a slow introduction to the sport. “We start them off the side deck, only 8 inches off the water, before moving them to the dock,” she explained.
“All they need is a strong toy drive and a love for swimming” —Diane Kunkle Jenn Zimmerly-Offinga of Hillsboro competes with Motive, a Boston Terrier whose food drive outpaces her interest in toys. The pair manage a compromise. “For Motive, it’s all about food,” Zimmerly-Offinga laughs. “She doesn’t work for free. Food IS her reward, and there’s no food allowed on the dock. We have to go flying right back to the crate, because she needs a paycheck. Some dogs are volunteers; some need a paycheck. Motive needs an edible paycheck.” Her first diving dog, Hoodlum, was the 2015 NADD Senior Lapdog National Champion, inspiring many Boston Terriers and other “littles” to
