It’s a new highlight of the Kitsap County Fair. And it’s called X-Treme Air Dogs.

The canine sport includes several divisions and is aimed at showing off just how far and how high dogs can jump. The competition will be featured at the Kitsap County Fair each day, with training events in the morning and competition in the afternoon. And the best part about it is anyone can bring their dog out to try it.

“We call it the ‘Give it a Try,’ ” said Mike Allen, the show’s producer. “This is something that’s open to anyone and there’s training available. And then there’s the competition categories for novice and all the way up to XPro, which is the top category.”

An athlete, Allen, who played football and baseball for Oregon State University, began his competitive promotion career working with world-class lumberjacks. In some of those shows, dogs performed and it was the suggestion of someone at ESPN that Allen promote dog competitions. He started doing so 13 years ago.

According to the X-Treme AirDogs website, anyone with a dog and a ball can compete. X-Treme Air is a team dock jumping sport. Teams are made up of one dog and one handler. Handlers are allowed to throw a single, floatable toy into the water for their dog to chase. Each dog gets two attempts. Dogs can use the entire area of the dock (six-foot high and 40-foot long) before jumping into the water. Dogs are electronically judged on their distance from the edge of the dock to where the base of their tail enters the water.

Events include the X-Treme Vertical, which is a high jump off the dock and X-Treme Retrieve which is a timed event where dogs retrieve an object thrown into the water by their handler and return to the dock. Top dogs can jump around 27 feet in the long jump and 29 feet in the high jump. The dogs land in a pool that holds 27,000 gallons of water.

The sport has grown by leaps and bounds since it began in 2003. There are winter and summer competitions and there are hundreds of competitors throughout the U.S., according to Allen. The season ends with the Series Championships which are televised on ESPN.

His promotion team travels the west coast throughout the summer months performing at county fairs. On average, 45 to 125 competitors come out to events like the performances at the Kitsap County Fair.

“This is our first time in Kitsap County,” Allen said. “The area is a hotbed of my competitors. I’m anticipating anywhere from 75 to 125 dogs and handlers coming out to compete.”

Although he had competed with his labs before, he’s not a competitor now. Instead he’s the emcee and running the show.

While some people may think it’s all for entertainment, others know it’s a serious competition.

“This sport is just growing all the time,” Allen said. “There’s just something about being out there and competing with your four-legged children that people really like.”

To find out more, go to www.x-Tremeairdogs.com, or check out their Facebook page. If you’re planning on bringing your dog out, check the fair schedule for times and dates when the “Give it a Try” will be available.