Dock Diving
Dock diving — AKC files it under "Diving Dogs" — is a jumping sport on a regulation dock about 36 to 40 feet long and 7.5 to 8 feet wide, set 2 feet above a deep pool. The handler stages the dog at the back of the dock, throws or sets a floating toy, and releases. The dog sprints, launches off the dock edge, and lands in the water. Three disciplines split the sport: Distance jumping (measured from dock edge to the point where the base of the tail breaks the water), Air Retrieve (the dog grabs a bumper hung two feet above the dock surface — about four feet above the water — at increasing distances from the dock), and Hydro Dash (a timed swim-and-retrieve to a suspended bumper at the far end of the pool). Dogs work off-leash on the dock and in the pool and are leashed everywhere else under both NADD and DockDogs rules.