Dogs are incredible athletes and jumping comes naturally to most of them. Not only do they jump off docks, they jump to clear obstacles and they jump express themselves. They jump when they’re happy. They jump when they’re excited. They jump when they’re curious. Jumping builds a dogs confidence and gives them an overall feeling of strength and energy

Proper training assures the dog will be the best jumper the dog can be. Weather the goal is to entertain friends or win Gold at the World Championships, proper training will assure the dog achieves that goal.

Because it is so natural for a dog to jump it’s easy to sit back and watch a dog jump, take in the beauty of the stretch, the soar, and the splash, that it’s easy to over see the fact the dog may have stutter stepped. The dog jumped a good distance from the end of the dock. The dog jumped somewhat flat where vertical would have carried the dog further.

A properly trained dog knows to use full strides through out the run of the dock, knows to jump from the end of the dock, and obtain just enough lift off the end as to obtain a distance that was never thought possible.

The following are the current SportMutt Dock Jumping Training Education/Certification Standards. These standards provide a training focus, and represent a minimum competency for each level of certification.

The foundation of our certification standards is based upon the concepts of “levels of understanding”  and "levels of performance". As certification is a level of understanding from the handler and a level of performance from the dog.
 

BASIC

BASIC Certification provides the handler with an overview of the sport of Dock Jumping, a brief history of the sport, and an introduction to the value of training Dock Jumping. The handler will understand the value of Handler/Dog interaction, the benefits of Basic Obedience, proper water introduction, and an understanding of Dock Jumping environments. To achieve this level of certification, basic dock work will be applied so the dog will learn to jump off a dock with confidence.

intermediate

INTERMEDIATE Certification provides the handler with an overview of the benefits of Strength and Conditioning as it pertains to Dock Jumping. The handler will understand Speed and Height and the different handling techniques as they apply to different disciplines. To achieve this level of certification, the dog must show an increase in understanding the Handler expectations and display an increase in Confidence on the dock.

ADVANCED

ADVANCED Certification provides the handler with an overview on Behavioral Traits, Understanding Genetics,  and Understanding nutrition and its effects on performance. The Handler will learn how to prepare for competitive environments, being around other dogs, distractions, and stress on the dog. The Handler will learn to benefit from size, sex, and age. To achieve this level of certification, the dog must learn how to put it all together for each discipline and achieve competitive scores at top levels.

Junior

JUNIOR Certification is a special certificate that goes to young handlers (under the age of 15) that express a true love for the sport and have shown that they have what it takes to interact with all different type of dogs. They have shown that they have the ability to interact with people with a strong desire to help them progress in the sport.