The Making of a Dock Diving Dog

GRCH AmCH/CanCH Livewire’s Flash Drive V Raydachs BCAT SWN RATOX CGC TKN FDC DJ

(Bred by Shirley Ray and Sandra Alexander)

In past years I would attend the AKC National Shows in Orlando, Florida with regularity. It is an exciting series of shows with numerous vendors and large entries including the top dogs in the nation. Usually, I would wander over to the area where the National Dock Diving competition was being held (mostly because it was near the food court!) I was amazed at the dogs who were frantically barking for their turn to dive and the enthusiasm of their handlers but, somehow, I never saw myself as a participant in that sport. After all, my dachshunds would avoid, at all costs, walking through a puddle on a rainy day, much less plunge from a diving dock that is two feet above the water!

Fast forward to my relocation to Johnson City, Tennessee where I discovered a cornucopia of dog sports in which to participate! I became a regular at a local training center where I started training my boy “Flash” in agility, scent work, fast cat, and obedience. Late in the fall of 2019, my trainer invited me to join her at a local dock diving facility that had newly opened to see if we could get our dogs to swim. That was my introduction to “Never A Dull Moment Farm” in Jonesborough, TN. The owner, Mary M. Sparks always has new dogs start their swimming lessons with a life jacket. I suited Flash up and walked down the ramp into the chilly water to try to entice him to join me with some treats. He did readily but it took some time to get his balance with the flotation of the jacket. Once he conquered that...he was unstoppable! He swam and swam, tail wagging like a flagging rudder and, it was even difficult to get him out of the pool! I was pretty excited but thought that was as far as we would go in that sport.

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THE MAKING OF A DACHS DOCK DIVING DOG

continued from page 23 Winter came and the pool was closed. Once the pool warmed up in the spring, I was joined by a friend who had a Cocker Spaniel who also liked to swim but we decided that maybe we should attempt to try to get our dogs to dive. So, we met once a week and progressed to having our dogs run eagerly down a ramp that leads into the water and they would then launch themselves into the water off the ramp! So, how could we progress from this point to having them jump two feet off the water from the diving dock? I racked my brain and decided that we needed a tool of progression. I already owned a popular manufactured raised dog bed with a mesh top that was exactly the width of the ramp. I added legs to it with PVC pipe, longer on one end, so that the new “platform” was parallel with the water, We could then slowly raise the vertical height off of the water by inching it up along the ramp as the dogs became confident with jumping off of it at lower levels! We added a layer of artificial turf on top to simulate the diving dock. We incrementally raised the platform by inches. Within two practice sessions, they were both diving 16 inches above water level! With that height achieved, we decided to move over to the actual diving dock and, with only slight hesitation, they both transitioned readily! There was no stopping either of them at that point and, we, as owners enthusiastically entered them in the next dock diving event which, incidentally, was two weeks later! We could not believe it! Our dogs had become fervent divers who totally embraced this new performance sport. In his first weekend of competition, Flash achieved his Dock Junior title and qualified for the Regional competition in North Carolina at the end of October 2020! At this time, he is ranked as one of the top 5 dachshunds in the sport! I am still trying to figure out the best strategy to increase distance with Flash! He is not much of a retriever, but you are required to throw a toy with each dive. The toy does not have to be brought back, and, most times he doesn't, because he is spending his time doing a “victory lap”around the circumference of the pool much to the amusement of the gallery! He has 4 minutes to complete his dives before our time runs out. I can usually tempt him out of the pool with false promises of “cookies”, which I do give him in practice but which are not allowed in competition. At this point, he greatest distance is only achieved by his motivation to fly off of the dock!

Whenever a dog accomplishes a “personal best” during his distance dive, the handler jumps into the pool with the dog as a celebration! We have had a couple personal bests, but on his first, I was captured on camera...hugging and loving this boy who always gives me his best, no matter what we do....Love ya Flash Man!!!!