Each dog will make three jumps from a dock into the water. Laser sighting determines the distance of each jump, measured at the point at which the dog's hind quarters enter the water. The longest of three jumps will be the dog's official distance. The dog with the longest jump wins. The event is one of the simplest and yet most exciting at the ESPN Great Outdoors Games.
Handlers pitch a dummy decoy into the water.
They are hoping their dog locks in on that dummy so they can retrieve it. When the command is given the dog races down the dock and makes its jump. Amazingly, the top dogs in the competition will eclipse the 20 foot mark. Now that's hang time. Something about the jump and that big splash into the water really gets the crowd going.