Waynesboro, GA (WJBF)- It’s summer time with those hot summer temperatures. Humans aren’t the only ones who need to beat the heat.
Dock diving. It’s an up and coming sport in the canine world. Ol’ Red Kennels in Waynesboro celebrated 4th of July weekend with their first Ultimate Air Dogs competition.
“We started on Friday. We’ve had a pretty small turn out but we’re having fun,” said organizer and trainer Fawn Kovach.
It’s a dog’s life on this hot, summer day in the bird dog capital. Canine’s jumping off docks to see who’s the best, fetching for their toy.
“But there’s actually different divisions. So a dog that’s jumping less than nine feet is not competing against a dog that’s jumping twenty-two feet. But you don’t expect a lab to be able to jump the same as a great dane,” said Kovach.
More than 15 dogs competed in the event. Some dogs are veteran jumpers. For others, it was their first time.
Ashton Misiak is a dog owner whose dog competed in the weekend long competition.
“We’re still in the process of training him, but to do the jumps and obstacle course and stuff, he was kind of a natural at it. He just likes to do it,” said Misiak.
Organizers want to stress that the safety of the animals comes first.
“But it’s all on the dogs’ time. It’s not something you can really force and you shouldn’t. Just let them do it in their own time. Have fun with the dog. That’s what it’s all about. It’s mainly having fun with your dog,” said Kovach.
Ol’ Red Kennels is a doggie daycare. They do everything from obedience training, to grooming and train potential dock diver dogs. They said it’s not your typical kennel.
“My job description mainly is literally to make every dog here feel like it’s their home away from home. They’re getting love, they’re getting toys, they’re getting playtime. They’re not just locked up all day,” said Bamby Clark, a kennel employee.
Ol’ Red Kennels hopes to hold 5 or 6 of these events every year and that dock diving will become more popular in the CSRA soon.
For more information on how you can enter your dog in a dock diving competition, or for when the next one will be, you can visit Ol’ Red Kennels Facebook page.
