By Brenna Fender

Photo by Hillary Fuentes

Three-year-old Australian Labradoodle, Zac, made a big splash at a recent Courteous Canine North American Diving Dogs competition. On Saturday, he began jumping at 4′ and went to 5′, and on Sunday he started at 4’8″ and it went to 5′ again! It was a very impressive performance by a young dog.

Zac is owned by Tampa resident Suzy Giunta, who says that Zac has been a lover of the pool since he was 8 weeks old. “Zac’s favorite activity is definitely any activity involving water and a toy,” Giunta says.

Zac had an early introduction to water sports. A dog day care employee that Giunta used for Zac’s older brother, Buster, recommended that they try a dock jumping class at Courteous Canine. “Buster loved the water and took to the dock like a natural,” Giunta says. “Then Zac came along and we introduced him to the pool at 8 weeks old. He is a complete nut for the water! He always has his eye on the bumper and we cannot keep him out of the water,” she added.

With such success off the dock, we asked Giunta if she had some advice for s of potential dock jumping dogs. She says, “Get your dogs in the pool, practice, be safe, have fun, and make new friends, fur and human!”

If you would like to try dock jumping with your pup, try a class at Courteous Canine (www.courteouscanine.com/group-class-main-campus/#dock) and visit the next dock jumping competition to be held at the facility in October 2016 (https://northamericadivingdogs.com/events/courteous-canine-oct-2016/).