ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Does your dog like to jump into the water? Ever thought that it might actually turn into something more serious? St. Petersburg resident Jennifer Mary did.
Last September, Jennifer Marty took her dog Chase’s love for jumping into the water one step further and introduced him to dock diving.
“We knew he liked the water. We spend a lot of time at the beautiful parks in St. Pete, letting him run in the water, jumping off boats and docks, so we knew he liked to swim,” the pet owner said.
Chase, a 1-and-a-half year old whippet, is one of more than 45,000 dogs in the U.S. and Canada that compete every year in NADD, North American Diving Dogs.
Angelica Steinker of Courtesy Canine in Lutz has worked with NADD for 20 years. She owned the first competition pool in the state of Florida and the largest dog dock jumping pool in the Sunshine State.
Steinker holds up to eight events a year here. Dogs from all over the country come to compete.
“I love hosting these events because the organization, North American Diving Dogs is open to all dogs, and more importantly, they don’t have the dogs compete against each other. They’re competing against themselves,” she said.
The breed of dog doesn’t matter, and if your dog loves to jump in the water, they might be made for this.
For Jennifer and Chase, the sport has brought them even closer. (Spectrum Sports 360)
For Marty and Chase, the sport has brought them even closer.
“It definitely gives us something that we can both do together, and the fact that, you know, we can work on getting better is an added bonus,” she said.
In Chase’s first official event last month, he jumped 18 feet, a personal best, earning both rookies a ribbon. And as far as a career in the sport?
Marty says as long as Chase is having fun, that’s all that matters. It’s not about the awards — it’s about spending quality time with your best friend.
