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What's Up Water Dog?

Grimm's learning to dock dive, because why not just have all the fun?

So, my particular brand of mental health struggles include these really manic periods where I get hyper focused on things that I've deemed fun and therefore necessary. I have apparently decided that making Grimm do all of the things is my current obsession. He doesn't seem to mind, which I'm grateful for. The same day I registered for our six weeks of obedience classes, I signed us up for a three hour dock diving seminar. Grimm likes water, always has, and he's making it very clear to me that he needs an outlet for his boundless energy. It just made dock diving a natural choice. I also appreciate the fact that, from what I've seen so far (which isn't much), dock diving seems to be a pretty beginner friendly sport. I understand the idea: dog run, dog jump, we measure where base of tail hits, dog gets title after doing X amount of jumps in a certain distance range.


Naturally, from the seminar we dove head first (like what I did there) into try its at the next event.


The Seminar:

It might seem kind of silly to take a day off of work to go to a dock diving seminar, but when the three hour seminar is $125 versus $60 per 30 minute private lesson, you make it happen.

There were ten dogs enrolled in the seminar, which was seemed like a good amount when we started. We spent the first maybe ten minutes talking about what NADD is, some of the rules of dock diving, and a bit of the structure of a trial. After that, each pup got five minutes with the trainer and their handler to practice in the pool. It was nice to see varying levels amongst the teams. Some dogs were ready to go off of the full dock, some off of the small dock, and others (like us) spent their day going off of the ramp. The second time around each dog got ten minutes in the pool to keep practicing. We wrapped up with a little Q&A session before we all hit the road. My only "complaint" is that because there were ten dogs, it felt like we didn't get much time on the dock and spent most of our time waiting around and watching the other teams. I don't think that was really time wasted in our case, because Grimm and I got to see how other teams did things.


In Grimm's first session, we spent five minutes working on the idea that he has to use all four legs to keep himself afloat. Turns our he isn't super sure how to keep his fluffy auss from sinking. We got him into the water a couple of times and he caught on pretty quickly where the ramp was to get in and out. To help him out, we decided to have him try on a life jacket for his next attempt. He wasn't overly interested in getting the toy the first session, but he'd come to get me out of the water, which I must say was pretty darn cute.


For the second pool session of the day, we wrangled Grimm into a life jacket that was a hair too small for him, and then practiced actually going after a toy from the ramp for ten minutes. The trainer and I agreed that a properly fitting life jacket would be a good investment for him so he learns to swim properly instead of flailing around like a goofball. I was really happy with him. He did a great job understanding that the goal is to grab the toy and get back to the ramp.

We didn't try anything off of dock during the seminar, but I'm hopeful we'll be able to try that soon. I'd really like to see us go back for more seminars, and maybe even a few private classes this summer. Grimm was definitely interested in the pool. So much so, he climbed into my lap so he could see it better when he wasn't the one swimming. In the meantime, we'll work on building his confidence up to really go after the toys and hopefully find one that he really likes and is willing to dive in for. I already got him his own life jacket, so we're ready to go back for more.




Our First Try Its:

April 21-23 there was a dock diving event at the training facility we went to, which meant I had to go check it out. I loaded Grimm up early Saturday morning, met halfway with my sister, doubled back to the house because I forgot his life jacket, and then made our way to the event.


All I knew about a try it was:

  • Six minutes on the dock with your dog

  • You can get into the pool with your dog

  • They aren't guaranteed to have try its at every event

We showed up and I went to the table to see about signing up. At this event, a try it was $10, and they we able to squeeze us in between rounds of jumps. I started off with one since the guess was that we wouldn't be able to get into the pool for another hour and a half. It's Florida, it's hot, and I wasn't sure how much waiting Grimm was going to tolerate.

He was a trooper. We set up a tent with fans, chairs, water, a cooler, and treats, and just hung out. Grimm's on the more positive side of reactive, in the sense that he's barking and losing his ever-loving mind because he wants to play, not because he's scared or aggressive. It probably took him about 20 minutes to realize that I wasn't going to let him go run around and play with everyone or any of the other dogs. He started to settle down enough to stop barking and drink water, but never quite settled enough to take treats or eat. And that's okay, just being outside for hours with tons of other dogs and people around and randomly being asked to go swimming was a pretty big ask. We ended up doing two try its on Saturday, and I was really happy with both.


Our first try it was the one where we got really lucky. The people timing us were trying to put up a tent over the back part of the dock, so I think we might have gotten an extra minute or two. My sister and I took Grimm onto the dock and right to the ramp. He knew exactly what to do and started to go into the water before me. We got him to a point where he would wait on the top of the ramp for my sister to throw the toy and then he'd swim into the pool towards me to get it. He went straight back to the ramp each time, which is exactly what I wanted. And then my sister decided to take him to the small dock (I call it the baby dock) because it's lower to the water and shorter for those dogs who might not be super comfortable yet. We had high hopes, but he refused to do it and we ended up back on the ramp for the last minute or so. Our second try it was a repeat of the first, we tried the small dock after we got him hyped up, but he refused again. We went back to the ramp and worked on his stay command at the top while we threw the toy. For our second try it, I didn't get into the pool at all.


I can't be too disappointed with him refusing the small dock. It was only his second and third time (respectively) ever seeing the dock, and his first time ever being at a dog sport event. Overall, he was great and did what I expected of him. Even better, he seemed to really have fun and we learned he really likes to go after this particular toy.


Lessons Learned:

I had a lot of fun going to the seminar and the event, and feel like both were really positive experiences for Grimm and me. I brought a lot more stuff with us than I really needed, and of course forgot the life vest like a dummy and had to go back for it. We'll keep going and trying and learning more each time. In fact, the same day this post goes live we'll be participating in a fun splash day at our training facility, which I didn't plan but I love it anyway.


My biggest takeaways were:

  • Get there early. This gets you a better parking/tent spot so you can see more. Bonus if you can get a spot where you can sit in your car between jumps because Florida is hot and AC is great.

  • Make a list of what you need. Then stick to the list.

  • Outdoor events are more "loud dog friendly". Grimm barks... a lot and with gusto. Inside it is absolutely deafening, but at an outdoor event no one really batted an eye at it. We weren't the only group with a loudmouth dog, and I appreciated that.

  • Invest in good fans. Mine are cheap little battery powered ones from Walmart. I need to invest in better fans like Ryobi or Milwaukee or something like that. Tons of people use them and hang them in their cars or from their crates.

  • Invest in a reflective tarp. Again, it's Florida, it's hot. Fluffy black dogs don't generally like hot. I could put it over our tent or our car, and I think that would be really helpful.

  • Embrace the culture and have fun. I saw dogs I'd seen the last time I went to an event (without Grimm) and it was cool that they remembered us and we remembered them. People cheered for Grimm during his try its, and it just really made the experience more fun for all of us. Just embrace the community, because based on my experiences, they're ready to embrace you as a newbie.


Our Dock Diving Goals:

I don't have any huge, grandiose goals for dock diving. I want to keep doing it as long as Grimm keeps enjoying it. Of course I'd like to see him get to a point where he's jumping off the dock, but baby steps. The facility we're going to offers a monthly membership that I'm thinking we'll explore this summer when I have the time to devote to it. For $75 a month you get a bunch of perks: 4 hours a week of members only pool time, 1 included training session for the month, a discount on products, and other things that I've totally forgotten. I think it would be worth it when I'm off work in June and July.

In a dream world, I'd like to see Grimm get some titles in Dock Diving, but if all we ever do are try its, I'm okay with that too. For Grimm, the overarching goal is simple: give him a "job" to do that he loves. He has a lot of energy, and without an outlet for that energy he can be a bit of a handful. I'm really enjoying the idea of making dock diving his "job" in the spring and summer, with running being his "job" in the fall and winter.


As always, thanks for reading this tail and here's to many more!

Danielle & Grimm


Some Helpful Links:

If you're interested in dock diving, I thought I'd include a few links to help you get started.

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