It was a hard day for Tucker, the 7-year-old shelter pup that came with his owner, Shannon Hall-Nutting of Arundel, June 14 to the DockDogs canine water sports and dock-jumping event in Scarborough. Tucker, an accomplished amateur dock-jumper at the lake near Hall-Nutting’s home, went completely underwater on his first leap of the day. Being totally submerged freaked him out, and on Tucker’s second and third trips to the 40-foot elevated dock, he refused to jump into the pool of Scarborough drinking water, no matter how enticing his toy looked bobbing in the water below.

“He’s a little nervous now,” Hall-Nutting said. This was Tucker’s first big performance sport event. Still, Tucker and Hall-Nutting had fun and they’ll be back to compete next year.

These two aren’t the only ones who are excited for DockDogs to return to Maine. Bob Dewire, DockDogs event manager and jack-of-all-trades—he cleans up messes and cajoles reticent dogs by throwing their toys up in the air—said that the organization’s first trip to the Pine Tree State was a great success. “We feel like rock stars because the hospitality has been second to none,” he said.

DockDogs and the Kennel Shop, which hosted this year’s event, will team up to bring the popular performance sport to Maine again next year. DockDogs’ reputation as a family-friendly outdoor sport has been growing since its inception in 2000 as part of ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games. It was conceived as a “filler” event, but quickly attracted droves of crowds and participants, and then became its own entity in 2002.

These days, the DockDogs company operation books more than 100 events per year in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Participants travel within a 500-mile radius to attend each event—some of the folks in Scarborough traveled from as far away as Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each event has something of a festive atmosphere.

Many people camp at the same site or stay at the same pet-friendly hotels; at the events, those who traveled long distances often set up tents to create a tailgate atmosphere. In Scarborough, where the event coincided with the Kennel Shop’s anniversary, pet owners benefited from huge sales in the store itself, and free samples that were passed around by pet food representatives.

“It’s like a big party,” said Angie Jones, who came from Andover, Pennsylvania, with her 7-year-old chocolate Lab, Nestle. Jones, who has attended DockDogs events since 2004, said that the “level of competition has increased” as more people catch on to the fun of the sport.

In addition to the Big Air long-jumping competition—the Big Air world record is 28 feet, 10 inches, measured at the butt, not the nose, there are Extreme Vertical (world record, 8 feet) and Speed Retrieve (fastest time, 4.25 seconds) competitions at each event as well. The records in Scarborough were, for Big Air, 23 feet; for Extreme Vertical, 4 feet; for Speed Retrieve, 6.542 seconds.

None of the top scorers were from Maine, but an Augusta dog named Boomer and his handler, Selena Garside, placed first in the amateur Big Air competition, with an 18-foot jump. Ruger, a black Lab from Limerick, snagged third place in the Speed Retrieve competition with a 7.42-second time.

It’s easy to see why the dock-jumping extravaganza is so well-loved. “Big air” events are easy to train for, and accessible, in that there are no age or breed requirements. According to Dewire, everything from Chihuahuas to Great Danes has leapt as a DockDog, including one three-legged canine and a blind dog.

One of the few DockDogs rules is that fetch toys must be dead—a rule that was established after a man in Arkansas tried to use a live raccoon as a lure. The best training tips are simply to increase the jump distance incrementally, and to train the dog to hit the “optimal launch zone”—the very edge of the dock, toes wrapped around it—to achieve the best speed-angle combination.

But it’s less about science than about fun.

“Anybody can come and enjoy themselves,” Dewire said. “There’s nothing better than a day with your dog.”

Especially a day with your dog that includes meeting other canine enthusiasts; watching as dogs of all ages gracefully launch into the air, then land in the water with a splash; and witnessing the excitement of junior handlers (ages 7 to 15) like 10-year-old Emilia Cervantes of Adamstown, Pennsylvania.

On the dock, Emilia was composed as she dangled the throw toy in front of Fudge, her 2-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Emilia tossed it in, and Fudge jumped a respectable 13 feet, 5 inches. Emilia was waiting for him at the top of the ramp to offer hugs and encouragement as he climbed out of the water. “It’s fun,” she said, “and I can spend time with my dog.”

With a few skittish exceptions, the dogs enjoy themselves, too.

At DockDogs events, pups meet new playmates and get to show off in front of the crowd. One happy performer was 2-1/2-year-old Shannon, a Golden Retriever from Chicopee, Massachusetts, the excited winner of the Kennel Shop Anniversary event. She jumped 22 feet, 9 inches—and all she wanted for a reward was to chomp away at her tennis ball, while her owner, Tom Shea, patted her head.

Her owners discovered Shannon’s talent at their lake home near Lake Ontario, where Shannon, even as a puppy, would jump “farther and farther” from their dock, Shea said. “We think this is her thing to do,” he said. And of her retrieval skills, he boasts, “She’s a better shortstop than some of the Red Sox.”

For more information go online to to dockdogs.com.