Valley K9's make a splash at Pembark in Pembroke, Ont.

The dog days of summer have arrived in Pembroke.

PemBARK, a two-day dog dock jumping competition and festival, is being held in Riverside Park this weekend. Hosted by the city of Pembroke and Brockville-based business Canine Watersports Canada, the festival features local pet vendors and a main attraction of dogs jumping into a 45-foot long pool.

"The dogs, we take them up and try to jump them as far as we can, and it's all about fun," Canine Watersports Canada owner Mark Larocque said. "If the dog likes water and has toy drive then it's perfect for the sport."

Dogs of all breeds, sizes, and ages can compete in four categories consisting of variations and combinations of furthest jump, fastest swim, and best catch.

"If they like to play fetch and they like the water or are taught to like the water, they can play," says dog trainer Mary Spurrell.

Spurrell owns Avalon Ranch, a dog training business that specifically teaches the sport of canine dock jumping.

"It's a sport that's not too hard on their joints," says Spurrell, who collaborates with Canine Watersports Canada. "So they get to run a little bit on a flat surface, and when they jump and land it's in water."

Dogs of all experience are invited to jump from the dock into the water during the two day event.

"We've seen it all," says Larocque. "Right from Great Danes to Jack Russells. Actually we had a wiener dog jumping off here today."

Blair Holierhoek had his one-year-old yellow lab Duke take home a ribbon in the long jump category Saturday.

"He's been doing this since he was six months old, and actually six months is the youngest they can go on a dock."

This summer, Duke and his family from Lansdowne, Ont. will compete in eight competitions. It is a sport that Holierhoek says he stumbled into.

"You know, honestly jumping just my chocolate lab at the family cottage years ago," he says "And we drove by one of these festivals and we saw the pool, and that was 15 years ago."

While not every pooch can take home a ribbon, some just come out to work on their doggy paddles.

"Whether they jump two feet or 30 feet it just makes people smile," says Larocque.