Paws Fest draws crowds to Marietta for DockDogs competition

Dogs launched off the dock at The Avenue West Cobb with the kind of speed and hang time that made Paws Fest an easy share for anyone who loves a high-drive canine. Spectators in Marietta watched teams tear down the runway and explode into the pool, with jumps stretching more than 14 feet and the kind of athletic finish that turns a backyard pastime into a crowd-pleasing sport.

The two-day festival ran May 16 and 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1664 Carlson Lane SW in Marietta, Georgia 30064, and it was free to attend. The Avenue West Cobb billed it as a pet-friendly celebration with breaks throughout the day for dogs and people, while the broader setup gave families more than just a place to watch dock diving. Shopping, live music, vendors, kids’ activities, food, and pet products all folded into the event, making it as much a neighborhood outing as a competition stop.

At the center of the weekend was DockDogs, the organization behind Big Air, Extreme Vertical, and Speed Retrieve. DockDogs says the sport was born in 2000 as a nationally recognized competition built on objective standards, and Big Air remains its original and most popular discipline. In Big Air, dogs get up to 40 feet of dock runway before they leap, with distance measured from the end of the dock to where the tail set breaks the water’s surface. Speed Retrieve, introduced in 2008, gives each team 60 seconds to get into the water and complete the retrieve.

The Marietta stop also mattered beyond the spectacle. DockDogs event listings placed Paws Fest in the National Sportsmen’s Series, which means handlers were competing in a structured circuit rather than a one-off demonstration. Danielle Kronlein said the gathering began as a pure dock-diving showcase and grew after attendees wanted more to do, a shift that helps explain why the event now draws dog lovers from across West Cobb and works so well as a family-friendly day out.

That mix of competition and community gave Paws Fest its pull. The dogs brought the flash, but the vendors, food, music, and kid-friendly extras gave people a reason to stay, browse, and come back while the next round of athletes lined up at the dock.