07/02/2025
Thoughts of Dock: I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me
Coming back from a competition this weekend, I somehow managed to misplace my dog's anti-inflamatory medication. So this morning, about an hour after breakfast, I started an active search for it. One of the places I looked was inside the coat closet where I also keep the dogs' food and treats. As soon as I opened that door, Spork raced to put himself onto his place on the dog couch in "dog jail." Why? Because outside of regular mealtimes, Spork has associated me opening that door with me asking him to go to his place in dog jail and giving him a treat as a reward before I leave the house.
It's hard to overstate just how observant dogs can be of human behavioral patterns. This is actually a basic survival instinct linked to the way that their wolf ancestors domesticated themselves by observing and taking advantage of the rhythms of mealtimes at Stone Age encampments.
As we refine our dock diving handler skills, constancy can be our best friend or our worst enemy! Our dogs take cues from everything we do on the dock: how we walk to the front, where we hold the toy, where we place our feet, what we say to release the dog. In general, consistency in those patterns will help your dog also achieve consistency in performance.
Sometimes, though, your dog's ability to anticipate what's going to happen next based on your behavioral patterns can become a liability. Dogs who jump with DockDogs (where can only have one handler on the dock) who struggle to stay in position until you release them: often they cue off a subtle change you make to your grip on the bumper or where you put your feet. I watched a friend do some practice jumps at an event a few weeks ago and noticed that her dog held his stay at the back of the dock pretty well until the final seconds when reached the end of the dock and got ready to throw. I noticed that it was precisely the moment when she grabbed the railing to turn toward the pool that he'd prematurely start creeping forward. In a situation like this, if you have a chance to practice, practice being unpredictable. Flap your arms. Sing a little song and do a little dance. In my friend's case, maybe try grabbing the railing and then doing something other than turning toward the dock and bending down to throw. Keep your dog guessing until you're ready for them to make that powerful leap forward from the exact position you set them at.
Similarly, if you have a dog that's reluctant to get out of the pool after their jump, trick them into thinking that you are executing the "get back on the dock to jump again" behavior pattern 🎉🎉🎉 rather than the "climb out, get leashed up and go back in line or back to the crate" 😭😭😭 behavior pattern by opening the gate from the ramp to the dock and stepping back on the turf like you're waiting to give them another go.
Every dog is a little different in terms of their motivators and how many steps in advance they can read this little chess game. But if you're struggling with inconsistent performance from your dog, you might try being a little more consistent in your entire sequence once you step on the dock. And if you're struggling with your dog consistently doing something you'd rather they not do, try changing things up to short-circuit that behavioral loop.
(We had a great time at Delmarva Dock Dog's inaugural event out in Wyoming, DE! My lesson slots for July are filling up fast, so be sure to sign up through You Can Book Me so we can get you started on the road to success at the many competition events that are coming up this summer and fall. You can find the link in the About tab)
