By LaRayne Topp

    Contestants really dive into this sport. They reach out for the prize, striving to be the winner – the longest, highest or fastest athlete in the competition, or perhaps a combination of all three. Bird dogs, hounds or even what could be considered mutts, when given a chance to compete, can show themselves to be the best of the four-legged, canines around. They’ll go to any length to plunge into first place in canine aquatics competition, one of the fastest growing sports on four legs.
    Diving Dogs or Dock Diving, a relatively new sport in Nebraska, sees dogs of all breeds in competition. In this sport, dogs are encouraged to run the length of a dock and leap into an adjacent pool of water, competing for either height or distance. The sport also offers physical therapy benefits for aging dogs or dogs suffering from pain and inflammation.
    For the past nine years, canine aquatics competitions have taken place at the Missouri River Outdoor Expo at Ponca State Park. One of 100 interactive activities attracted by the yearly event, it joins outdoor endeavors such as archery and tomahawk throwing, shooting sports and bladesmithing, fishing and kayaking, obstacle course scaling and rock climbing, Monarch butterfly tagging and women’s axe hurling.
    With tens of thousands on hand for the Expo each year, many of them families, Dock Diving was a perfect fit in the Expo, according to Jeff Fields, coordinating well with other events in which dogs swiftly go after frisbees and flyballs. Fields is the Parks Division Administrator for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, overseeing 78 park areas statewide.
    Over the years, SplashDogs® and DockDogs® have been invited to set up a competition stage at the Expo. Whether Spaniels or Labs, Foxhounds or Pointers, competitors take part, although in the beginning years, Labrador Retrievers were the waterfowl hunting, duck dogs to shine in the sport.
    Here’s how it works. A 40-foot dock is situated next to a large, inflatable pool of water. Dogs wait on this dock along with their handler, a dock on which they will race along and jump into the water to retrieve a throw toy tossed into the water, motivating dogs into rapid momentum and the best launch angle possible.
    DockDogs® sets up competition in four different disciplines. Big Air is a long jump in which the distance is judged from the end of the dock, where the dog takes off, to where the tail end of the dog breaks the water’s surface.
    The second event is high jump for the dogs, known as the Extreme Vertical. The dog jumps up into the air over the water to grab a bumper toy extended out eight feet from the end of the dock. Beginning with a height of four foot six inches, the bumper toy is lifted in two-inch increments as competition progresses.
    The third event is called the Speed Retrieve, a timed contest. A bumper toy is suspended at the far end of the pool with a starting indicator light above it. Once the light turns green, the dog is released by its handler and the time clock stops when the dog has pulled the toy from a Speed Retrieve bracket.
    And then there’s the Iron Dog Challenge which incorporates the best run in all three of the DockDogs® disciplines, recognizing the boldest, best and most daring dogs.
Similar events set up throughout the Midwest qualify canine competitors and their handlers for national titles.
    DockDogs® competitions also take place at the Junior Livestock Show in Wisner, Nebraska, similar to events in Minnesota, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado, South Dakota and Ohio, to name a few states from the country’s mid-section.
    Amidst food vendors, pens for sheep, goats, dairy and beef cattle, pony rides and chainsaw wood carvers, DockDogs® sets up its dock and pool for competition. Handlers’ dog pens rest in shady spots provided by wide-reaching cottonwood trees nearby.
    Canines with names like Donkey, Chips, Rooster, Rambo and even a poodle with the handle of Downtown Henry have been among the contestants, some of them world champions in DockDogs® competitions, and world record setters in Dueling Dogs, a type of drag racing for dogs.
    “There are lots of events in Minnesota, and some in the west,” explained participant Tom Dropik of Minnesota. “The East Coast is saturated with them.”
    Dropik has taken part in duck dog competitions since watching the sport on ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games, knowing he owned a dog that loved the water. Dropik went on to become a top innovator in the sport of Dock Jumping, developing training techniques and education standards for the new sport.
    During competitions, a DockDogs® announcer reads reaction times and overall distances, as spectators round the event on sun-baked bleachers. These spectators include not only those who want to learn more about Canine Aquatics or compete against each other but also those who breed dogs to sell to rival contenders.
    According to Dropik, these include dogs with high energy and drive, dogs that are lean and strong. Contestants that really dive into the sport—those that jump high and swim far.