We had a great walk yesterday around a beautiful lake and stopped at couple of beach type areas where Vince and Echo could swim. Came across this neat dock. It was fully enclosed except for about a 4 ft. span at the end. This was too perfect not to play with the dock diving thing.

The first jump was not pretty. Vince was too far back when he kind of dived in head first and caught his back legs on the edge of the dock. He went right under and I was just about to jump in when his head popped up and he power swam to get the stick. I checked him over and there were no ill effects.

The second jump, he ran back down the on ramp and swam out to get it. This made me think I’d completely scared him and knew I did it all wrong. We sat back and thought about the logistics of it all and figured he needed to either get a run or be right at the edge. Tried both and these were the results.

The dock.
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv210/wolfpup2227/BananaandIsobelle091-1.jpg

First owwy jump.
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv210/wolfpup2227/BananaandIsobelle096.jpg

The running owwy jump.
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv210/wolfpup2227/BananaandIsobelle097.jpg

The landing…
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv210/wolfpup2227/BananaandIsobelle098.jpg

He always got the stick
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv210/wolfpup2227/BananaandIsobelle089.jpg

We got a successful take off on the fourth try.
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv210/wolfpup2227/BananaandIsobelle094.jpg

I think he ended up having a lot of fun in the end and I’m glad we carried on; however, I know nothing about dock diving – if anyone has any observations, criticisms, tip or tricks… Vince would probably really appreciate it, should we come across another temptation like this.

Looks good!
I started Nico at the edge so she got used to jumping from the very edge of the dock. It also helped me get my timing right with the bumper so that she was going after it in mid-air and jumping up and out rather than straigh down to the water.

After we had the basics down we slowly started working our way back so she could get a running start. The hardest part was keeping her from creeping after I put her in a stay. This was a common problem with even the most seasoned competitors!

We had so much fun with it, but she did get hurt slipping off of a wet dock and pulled her hip. She healed up ok but that was the end of our competing days.

Just make sure the dock is grippy enough so they don't slide as it gets wetter.

Looks like fun was had by all! WHERE is that gorgeous lake???

That makes a lot sense. I had him in the sit/stay, threw it and then released him. So maybe should have tossed it and quickly let him go while it was in the air. I will try that next time.

As yes... he had a real scratchy, non-traction stumble on the run. It was not a grippy surface at all... probably not the best dock.

Thanks Jennifer, I could see this being a lot of fun if done properly.

I taught Nico that when in the dock, the motion of my arm was her release. So a release on the dock is a different thing than a release on land. That also helped me get a more explosive start out of her.

My method to get her to stay put without loosing her drive was to put her in a down, walk to the end of the dock, put her in a sit and as my arm went up to throw she would bullet down the dock as fast as she could.

I would get the occasionally belly crawl forward, but it was less than when she was in a sit.

Looking good. I love dogs that love the water. I have not had much luck in that department in a while.

That area you are in looks beautiful!

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

WHERE is that gorgeous lake???

This would be in the vast wilderness of the extension to your country up north. It's about an hour from our home. Great little lake called Isobelle. We spent about 4 hours there, the boys really did have a great day, despite Vince's somewhat bruised shins.

Jennifer, are you able to describe what the landing in the water should look like? Are their back feet supposed to hit first or is it supposed to be kind of a belly flop?

From what I remember ideally the hind end goes in a little bit first, since they are jumping up and not just out.

I would be fine with a belly flop too though, I just wouldn't want the head to go in first.

The head going in first is not something I never want to see again, for sure.

He got the belly flop pretty good on the last one. I guess its probably just a matter of them gaining experience with the motions. The high toss and early release sound like great starting points to get them in the right form.