I've only been to one dock diving event (and it was just practice, not a competition at all) and they let us jump off the ramp first, which he took to right away. Also, the water was pretty cold this day (and it was windy outside) and I could tell Jax got a bit chilly, so I think that's why he was hesitant to jump in on the last time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUD4ZNDubaI
He's a BIG swimmer at my dads inground pool, and jumps off the side all the time,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMV2VrK2Q7k
so I KNOW I can eventually get him to jump off the dock. I think the added height of the dock scares him. But it took him a full summer to start jumping off the side of my dad's pool, too, so I know it'll just take some time.
But yeah, I would just do it on the ramp first. I keep wanting to go to more practices (we have a facility close by) as they do them every Thurs. but something always comes up (bad weather, something else going on, etc).
But so far, I'm really loving dock diving. Everyone is just so friendly, and it's so laid back. I was worried about being embarrased, lol, but nobody cared at all. The fact that he jumped off the ramp at least made me happy though.
I can definitely see this being 'our' sport, and it's mainly just for fun. I don't expect him to win big or get huge jumps, but it's just sooo fun, to see all the dogs loving water. It's really a blast.