Back on the Dock: Getting Moose Ready for Our First Dock Diving Trial

I was genuinely curious about what would happen when Moose got back on the dock.

He had done dock diving classes before, but a year is a long break. One of my biggest questions was whether he would remember that yes, he really could launch himself off the end of a dock into a swimming pool.

For some dogs, that first jump can be difficult because the water is so clear that they have trouble seeing the surface. Asking a dog to confidently leap off the edge into what may not look like much of anything is actually a pretty big request.

Apparently, nobody needed to explain any of this to Moose.

He went right in.

There was no hesitation and definitely no moment where he looked back at me questioning my life choices. He saw the pool, saw the toy, and was completely ready to get back to business.

Within the first few jumps, one of my concerns disappeared completely.

Moose remembered dock diving just fine.

Once it became obvious that Moose wasn't worried about jumping, the lesson shifted toward making his jumps better.

This was exactly why I wanted an instructor instead of trying to figure everything out on my own. I'm still very inexperienced with dock diving. I can throw a toy into a pool, obviously, but there is a difference between getting the toy into the water and putting it in the right place at the right time to encourage a better jump.

The instructor at Paws To Swim was able to watch us, adjust what I was doing, and give me advice that I simply wouldn't have figured out by repeatedly throwing a toy and hoping one of us eventually became more talented.

I went into the lesson wondering if Moose remembered how to dock dive.

About five minutes in, I realized Moose was fine.

If there was one problem with the lesson, it was convincing Moose that dock diving should occasionally include not dock diving.

He was a crazy dog on the dock.

He wanted the toy. He wanted the pool. He wanted to jump. And as far as he was concerned, the appropriate number of repetitions was all of them.

When I tried to give him a break, Moose made his feelings known.

Loudly.

There was barking. There was yelling at me. There was a very clear message that I was wasting valuable pool time by standing around doing absolutely nothing.

Even toward the end of the lesson, when I knew he had to be getting tired, Moose was still ready to go again.

Apparently, "leave them wanting more" is unnecessary when your dog already wants approximately 400% more.

It was also really fun to see because there was absolutely no question about whether he still enjoyed dock diving after a year away.

He loves it.

This lesson also reminded me why I enjoy finding dog activities when we're traveling.

Sometimes our trips are specifically for dog sports. Other times we're already going somewhere and I start looking around to see whether there is a class, lesson, hiking trail, or something else we can do with the dogs while we're there.

It gives us another way to experience a place together.

And honestly, Moose is usually pretty happy with my vacation planning when it involves running, jumping, swimming, or doing pretty much anything that can be described as "a job."

This time it worked out especially well because the lesson was fun on its own, but it also had a purpose. We have our first dog dock diving competition coming up, and I wanted us to walk into that trial having done more preparation than, "Well, he jumped off a dock last year."

The bar was not particularly high.

But we cleared it.

September will be Moose's first actual dock diving trial.

We've done classes, but we've never competed, which makes this a completely new title journey for us. There are no previous qualifying jumps to remember, no dock diving titles to enter, and no old records for me to reconstruct.

We're starting at zero.

And I'm actually really excited about that.

I've started plenty of dog sports before, but I wasn't always great about keeping records from the beginning. Usually I relied on memory until there was enough progress that memory became a questionable strategy.

This time I'm doing it differently.

When Moose gets his first qualifying dock diving jump, I'll add it to his Happy Dog League Title Tracker. Then we'll add the next one and the next one and see where this adventure takes us.

For once, the record will start at exactly the same time as the journey.

One of the reasons I'm especially interested to see how this goes is that dock diving title tracking is different from the agility progress I'm used to following.

With agility, I'm currently thinking about things like Qs, points, QQs, MACH progress, and AKC Agility Nationals. Dock diving gives us something completely new to chase.

If Moose enjoys the trial anywhere near as much as he enjoyed this lesson, I have a feeling this won't be our last one.

That's also the dangerous thing about trying new dog sports.

You tell yourself you're just going to try it.

Then your dog loves it.

Then you find another trial.

Then suddenly you're looking up dock diving titles and figuring out what you need next.

I have seen this movie before.

I definitely left the lesson feeling more prepared.

Did I leave thinking we're going to walk into our first trial as experienced dock diving professionals?

Absolutely not.

This is still very much a "we'll see what happens" situation.

But that's part of the fun.

Moose remembered the dock. He was confident jumping into the pool. I learned more about how to help him with my toy placement and timing. Most importantly, he spent the entire lesson making it extremely clear that he would like to do much, much more of this.

That's enough for me.

We got to do something fun together while traveling, Moose got to rediscover a sport he clearly loves, and I got some real help before our first trial.

Now we get to see what September brings.

And based on Moose's behavior at the lesson, I suspect his opinion will be something along the lines of: