Dock-diving competitions were featured at the county fair last week, and I couldn’t get enough. The dogs—so eager to leap, so graceful as they soared through the air, hitting the water with a tremendous splash, and swimming strongly to the toy/lure. Their handlers—serving more as hype men/personal assistants than bosses issuing orders as they escorted the canine athletes to the launching platform, cheered them on, and helped them from the water and wiped them down with towels after their performances. The relationships between them were so heart-warming to see.
Years ago, I had high hopes for participating in this sport with my now-9-year-old dog, Woody. After all, he’s wildly athletic, highly toy-driven, can leap high over my head, and loves to swim! He’d be a natural, I thought!
But it turned out that my high-jumping, strong-swimming dog absolutely hates getting water in his ears! So much so that if you throw his favorite ball into a river or lake, he will race enthusiastically toward the water, and, as he reaches the edge, will always stop and then carefully wade in before he starts strongly swimming toward the toy. And if a wave or splash from another dog causes him to get water in his ears, he will quit the pursuit of his toy and start shaking his head hard as he swims for shore—which only makes more water get in his ears. Leaping into the water is out of the question for Woody; absolutely nothing could compel him to do it.
(Yes, I tried buying a “swimming cap” or swim snood for him—a soft neoprene wrap that is fastened with a Velcro-like material and covers the dog’s ears, keeping water out; he hated it more than getting water in his ears, and would refuse to walk, much less fetch or swim, when he had it on. Most dogs who love swimming or fetching will accept the snood so they can fetch and swim; not my sensitive boy. While this is a great solution for dogs who get ear infections from swimming, it didn’t work for Woody.)
So, years ago, even though it seemed like I had the perfect dog for that sport, and we live near any number of bodies of water where we could practice, I had to give up on the hope of ever participating with him in dock diving. And honestly, that’s fine; it’s not like I bought a puppy with the express hope of competing in dock-diving events.
But lots of people do buy puppies with the express hope of participating in specific activities, from sports such as agility and Ring Sport, to team-based work such as search and rescue or therapy dog visits. And not all the dogs who are selected for these activities turn out to be suitable candidates for those activities! Then what?
Ideally, those owners are able to pivot and find new activities to share with their dogs, because there is nothing sadder than seeing a dog being coerced to participate in an activity that he doesn’t enjoy. One hopes that a trainer or friend will gently suggest a different sport or activity to the dog’s owner, or that the owner sees the joy leaking out of their dog and gets a clue. But it’s difficult to pull the plug on a big investment of time and training and equipment—and even in the social relationships that sport enthusiasts have made with their fellow competitors! If one of your friends has a dog who is clearly not enjoying the work or sport he’s being asked to do, make sure you offer your friend a lot of support for respecting their dog enough to accept the dog’s preference. A forced performance is just sad to see.
