Rhonna Dias is certain of the sanguine obsession that will occur
after the first trip to a dock diving competition: You will become
addicted. She even has a disclaimer posted on her Doggone Dirty
Dock Dogs website:
”
Participating will result in an addiction and desire to be with
your dog and travel all over the country to watch your dog jump off
of a dock!
”
Rhonna Dias is certain of the sanguine obsession that will occur after the first trip to a dock diving competition: You will become addicted. She even has a disclaimer posted on her Doggone Dirty Dock Dogs website: “Participating will result in an addiction and desire to be with your dog and travel all over the country to watch your dog jump off of a dock!”
It’s all too true, said Laurie Frazer, a recent dock diving addict and founder of BowWow Adoptions in San Martin. “After the first trip, I went every weekend for the next five weekends. Their tails can’t wag hard enough,” Frazer said about her three dock divers: Emmett a German shepherd, and two black Labradors Bruce and Feather.
Starting Saturday, the local dock diving club started by Dias will host its second competition this month at the new diving site to celebrate Halloween, rain or shine. As Frazer puts it, dogs’ coats are water-proof, no matter if it’s falling from the sky or it’s in a pool.
Officially coined the Doggone Dirty Dock Diving Halloween Splash Dock Jumping Competition, registration opens at 8:30 a.m. both days with the first jumps set for 10 a.m. at the dock-jumping site 756 Jarvis Lane in Hollister.
Dias, the owner of Doggone Dirty dog grooming in Hollister, formed the local dock diving chapter and rents out the dock and pool to club members and other dock diving enthusiasts. The event will be a sanctioned dock diving competition with the dog enthusiast company, Splash Dogs, organizing and overseeing the competition.
The sport for dogs is scored based on the distance and height of a dog’s jump off a 40-foot dock into an equally large body of water. Each dog gets two jumps per wave or splash and the longest jump is the official score.
“They run like a jet taking off and run as hard as they can until they become airborne,” Frazer said.
The world record for biggest air (distance) in an outdoor pool is 28 feet, 10 inches by a dog named Country in 2005 and the world record for a vertical height is 7 feet, 11 inches by a dog named Brox in 2009, according to dockdogs.com, the official website of the sport.
Dock jumping has grown in popularity in Hollister since the dock site opened Labor Day weekend. In the United States, the televised DockDog competitions have attracted more ESPN viewers than the X-Games, according to some reports.
On Saturday, the competition will have six different heats, or splashes, before the finals Sunday. The top 24 dogs will be in the finals Sunday, and the top 12 dogs will compete in the “Pro Finals.”
Frazer will bring her three dogs to the competition with high hopes that Feather – her best jumper – might bring home a ribbon.
“We just have a ball,” Frazer said of the dog-lovers at the dock. “Most of us are 30 or 40 (years old) but we’re 8 that day. We splash and play in the water. It’s a great place to go with your dog,” she said.
For novice dock divers, Frazer recommends owners take a dip in the water to help calm your dog before a jump. She said it helps the dogs when they are being encouraged from the water below.
“It’s harder for them to jump into a clear blue pool. They can’t assess the depth of the water. It’s scary, so you want to be there, ‘Come to me. I’m your mom,’ so they overcome that fear,” Frazer said. “I had no idea they would jump off the dock and love it as much as they do.”
Registration is $20 per competition, which can be paid at the dock. Dog owners can also pay $20 to practice beforehand.
Earlier this year, a Hollister dog set a record at the Sonoma County Fair with a jump of 7 feet, 10 inches – one of the furthest leaps to date in the U.S. Pyro, a Dutch shepherd, and his owner Ashley Rietsors are members of the Doggone Dirty Dock Diving team.
“Some people train their dogs for it, others don’t,” Rietsors said at the competition in August. “They just have to have a dog that loves to jump and swim.”
For more information go to doggonedirtydockdiving.com.
