“Jet,” the 7-year-old Doberman Pinscher had a late start to Dock Diving, but that doesn’t make him any less impressive in the water. His owner, Laura Zhu, of Topanga, CA, says it took the Doberman three years to learn how to swim, but it didn’t stop them.
Now, Jet’s competing among the best of the best at the 2024 AKC Diving Dogs Challenge in Glendale, AZ. The event, which takes place on February 24 and 25, will be a weekend well spent at the docks. Despite only getting his start in diving in 2022, Jet is among the top Dobermans for the sport in the National Association of Diving Dogs (NADD).
Diving Wasn’t Love at First Sight for Jet
Zhu and Jet hadn’t really heard of dock diving when she was looking at dog sports to get into. She’d seen a friend compete in the sport first and thought that it looked like so much fun in all aspects. “I didn’t even know this was a sport, and it was just so much fun, from the competitions to the community that surrounded the sport,” Zhu says. “It was something that I seriously wanted to do, but at the time, Jet didn’t even know how to swim.”
For the next three years, Zhu and Jet worked on getting him acclimated to water. Dobermans aren’t known for being water-loving dogs, so part of it was the breed’s temperament. Together, they went to lakes on paddle boards, went rafting down rivers, learned to canoe, and practiced in the pool with pool noodles. “I wanted to make it so fun for him,” she says. “Over those three years, his confidence started to build.”
Never Too Late to Start
Zhu says there were surely times when she thought that dock diving might not be the right sport for her dog. But seeing how much he loves it now, it’s clear that Jet just needed a little convincing. “I kind of just let him go at his own pace. I never forced him,” Zhu says. “I just had this determination that if I could teach him how fun water can be, I knew that he’d have fun doing it.”
And she was right, but it wasn’t instant. He’d get used to one pool, but then they’d go to another competition with a different pool, and he would refuse to go in. There were a lot of zero-scores in their early competition days because he’d time out after a while.
Top of His Class
At the time of the 2024 AKC Diving Dogs Challenge, they’d only been competing for two years, but that didn’t stop Jet from making a name for their team. “Once he got the hang of it, he was like, ‘Okay, now I’m going to be the best,'” Zhu laughs. She didn’t expect him to be as good as he was. Jet is her first purebred dog and her first Doberman. Mainly, she’d intended doing Dock Diving together to be a hobby: a way to have fun, build their relationship, and make memories together. “He’s just excelled at this sport beyond my expectations,” she says.
During his first season in 2022, he made it all the way to the NAAD National Championship, where he tied for first place. In the following year, he held the No. 1 spot for Dobermans for the 2023 diving season.
“I always say Jet was born to fly. I mean, it’s in his name,” Zhu says. She notes that Dobermans like having a job to do, and she’s trained him to hone in on that instinct to get the toy. Jet’s mastered the ability to tune everything out and focus, which has helped him excel in the sport.
An Incredible Bond Through Dog Sports
What started as a hobby for Zhu has enveloped her with more than memories with her dog. In the two years they’ve been competing, she’s found a genuine community through the sport. “We’ve made so many lifelong friends doing this,” she says. “So many people support us and cheer us on.”
She says she’s also found an incredible bond with Jet through this sport. “It’s a huge testament to the bond that you share,” she says. “You [spend] so much time together, you travel across the United States to do this, and you spend every weekend, hours and hours out there, every competition, and it’s just incredible.”
Zhu has high hopes for the 2024 Diving Dogs Challenge, mainly for Jet to achieve a 23-foot Air Retrieve. “It would just be incredible to show the world his athleticism,” she says.
The AKC Diving Dogs Challenge participants making a splash! The AKC Diving Dogs Challenge is taking place February 24-25 in Glendale, AZ. Stay tuned for ESPN broadcast information!