Holy smokes! I guess I'm the last person on earth to discover how fun and beneficial the sport of dock diving is for a dog and its handler.

Our mal, Bailey, turned 8 years old in November and you can see her starting to slow down a bit due to some arthritis in one of her knees and what the vet says was some minor issues with hip dysplasia. With normal activities it hasn't been much of a problem but if we really push her with strenuous exercise (agility, long hard hikes, etc) she will go for a few days unable to put weight on her back left leg. Presently controlling it with rest and vetprofen. Stairs are also a problem. Surgery is being considered.

That said, we recently discovered that one of our local dog behaviorists/trainers opened up a dock diving facility. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention the name here or seem like I'm pushing it so I'll only respond to PMs if anyone wants to hear more about it. Anyway, before all this, Bailey has never swam, never been in the water other than to splash in a few mountain streams or a kiddie pool in our back yard. At this place, we were able to teach her to get in the water, swim in a very controlled setting with a life vest, and eventually run and jump from an almost regulation sized dock after a toy. Other than agility, I never saw an activity that our dog had so much fun with and worked so hard at. At first, I thought the act of climbing up a ramp out of the water would be too strenuous for her but between that and the exercise she gets from swimming for our 30 minute sessions has given her a new lease on life. As hard as she is working at this, there have been no ill effects on her hips and legs. In fact, she has been in better shape with no hints of lameness now for the past three months we have been doing this. She now is diving and swimming without the life vest and actually cries with anticipation when we approach the facility. We go about every two weeks now and we all love it. We're even thinking of joining a dock diving league and maybe some tournaments if she gets her technique down.

Just thought I'd share in case anyone is interested in trying it. Great exercise for your dog and it's a blast!

Oh, Happy Holidays, everyone!

We put up a Dock Diving pool here at Leerburg this spring. We have people from all over the area bringing their older dogs just to swim. We have someone in the pool to help the dogs get up the ramp (my 13 year old Tyra has some problems getting up the ramp) and to introduce them to the water. It's been a big hit around here

Glad to hear that Bailey is feeling great! Tyra got her Dock Novice title this summer at 13

Kelly, you're too amazing for me. You're so busy, but you still find time for all those activities with your dogs. Just wonderful! I had such a good laugh,when I read that you also swim with your biests. They can't be as rotten, as you wrote!
The fotos are so sweet!

Greg, that's a super story. Yes, I'm absolutely convinced that swimming is one of the greatest sports for dogs who have problems with their joints. (apart from this for humans also!). I've been a swimmer and scuba diver for almost a lifetime. I've grown up with water since about two years old. But here we have no possibilities like you for such a sport with dogs. that's why we built our own swimming pool.

My two Pits (Slippie and Socks) are not great water fans. They swim well, but it takes some time to get them in. (Without forcing of course.) Once in, Slippie has the perfect stile of swimming. Socks is still hanging down a bit with her rear end, but apart from this she swims beside me like a heeler. She makes wonderful about turns better than on land, spins and twists on cue without problem.
When it comes to jumps, she only hesitates a bit, but this will be better with more practice. Slippie is more scared. She goes down on her knees and whines for some time. But suddenly she get's the courage and jumps (again without the least jerk or something like this) and then she seems to be proud like a child to have taken the risk.
My Lab-mix, Bruxinha, has no problems at all. She swims and jumps without the least fear. I've heard that Labs are more waterdogs than Pits. I have no experience with this..
Even Charlie, my brain damaged former stray, swims well. But with his problems of orientation, he panics, when he wants to go out. He swims against the walls and then of course has no chance. I'm always with him to show him the way to the stairs where he can go out. I think, this is the most necessary thing for him to train at the moment.

Good luck with your Phelp!

 Quote: Kelly

Tyra got her Dock Novice title this summer at 13

That awesome, Kelly. This will be my inspiration for Bailey to compete.

I wish Bailey had a chance to swim at an earlier age. Sounds like your dogs are having fun in your pool, Christina. Great exercise.

I wish I had a video of Bailey's first sessions. Try to picture a dog wearing a life vest going after a toy in the water trying to do the Butterfly stroke. If not for the vest, she probably would have sunk like a rock. She was trying more to run across the top of the water rather than swim through it. After about 6 sessions, she is finally swimming naturally and doing real well. Now I have to get her focused on the toy and my toss instead of just charging into the water and then expecting the toy to be there.

Greg and Kelly, outstanding on the doc diving!

That's one of the very few things I tried with my old dog Thunder that he sucked at.

He would swim for ever to retrieve whatever I threw and with a running starts off of land.

For whatever reason that small drop off of a dock wasn't his cup of tea.

He willingly repelled with me off a 50 ft tower, loaded willingly onto a running helicopter, loaded willingly into numerous different boats, herded stock, climbed ladders on his own, you name it but no dock diving. Go figure.

Kelly, congrats for Tyras title! Awesome at 13! Sorry, forgot to write this in my last comment.

Greg, pity you don't have a video from Baileys first swimming lesson. I would have loved to see this. Amazing that she learned swimming so rapidly. Charlie made such "running"-exercises too in the beginning, I had to carry him at least ten short sessions until he realized how to swim.
I too toss toys into the water and let them retrieve. It's great fun. With Slippie unfortunately I can't. She doesn't pick up any toy not even on land. At the seaside Socks amuses people with her jumping over the approaching waves.

Bob, your Thunder must have been a special talent! Would have loved to watch his acrobatics. How did you teach him to climb a ladder? My dogs only put their frontlegs on the highest step they can reach, but I don't succeed to make them lift their hind paws on to the ladder. I thought they'd learn it by free shaping. But until now none of them had the idea to lift a hind leg on to it. I tried then to show it to them by putting one of their legs with my hand on to the lowest step, but as soon as I bend myself down they come immediately down too. It's hopeless.

Maybe I should try it with the "Do as I do"-game. (from the link, Lori recently gave us.), climbing myself the ladder a 100 times to give them the idea.

He and a JRT I had were naturals at it.

They just seemed to know how from the get go.

The JRT in particular was a huge pia with it.

First time he came up a ladder was when myself and a couple of buddies put new shingles on my old garage roof. He basically followed us up the ladder with no second though.

When I told him no he just turned around and jumped off.

We quickly learned to pull the ladder up behind us.

He would even climb up to my sons tree house. The "ladder" was the typical boards nailed into the tree.

Trouble was he couldn't physically climb down so he would just bail out of the window of the tree house.

Couldn't stop him because of his penchant for chasing squirrels and he would even go up a climbing rose trellis to get on the garage roof.

I just learned to keep a fresh pile of landscaping mulch under his landing zones.

I just love those crazy little bassids!

Helping a dog become aware of their back legs would be the first thing I would do if I were trying to teach them how to climb a ladder.

Some have to work at it and some just do it.

They all have a very good rear end awarness from exercises on different touchpads and other platforms, from backing up also long stairs Two of them go on to a placeboard backwards and from there on to a rather high banc.
I'm asking myself if they perhaps mightclimb up up the ladder for one or two steps backwards,perhaps this could remind them of what they are already familiar with. Would possibly give them the idea to use their hind legs there too. And maybe later on they might also transfer it to using the hind legs when climbing forwards. Or do you think I could do any harm, if I'd just try it without any forcing and not longer than 1-2 min. sessions?
Or is this all bloody nonsense?

Time spent with our dogs in never "bloody nonsense".

Have you tried luring them up a ladder?

Possible make a ladder with wider steps similar to the old wooden ones but less pitch to it.

I've did lure them up the ladder, but they only climbed with the front feet as high as they could. To put a hind foot on to the lowest step I hoped would enter their mind somewhen. But it doesn't seem to happen. It is a normal household ladder with wide steps and not very high. They can reach up to the second last step. Perhaps I should just go on in mini-lessons and of course jackpot generously, if it happens.
Well it is not really important, if the big illumination doesn't come, but would be nice.

By the way with "bloody nonsense" I didn't mean the time I'm spending, but that perhaps I'm figuring out the dumbest ways to try that stuff.