Dressed in a Superman suit, 4-year-old Australian shepherd Dexter soared through the air on Saturday before making a splash at The Andersons general store in Maumee.

Dexter jumped more than 20 feet before hitting the water, making him a serious contender in The Andersons’ ninth annual Ultimate Air Dogs event over the weekend. Only two years into the sport of dock jumping, in which dogs compete to jump the farthest distance they can off a dock before landing into a 22,000-gallon pool, Dexter has upgraded his gear from a life vest to the superhero get-up.

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“His biggest claim to fame is the cape,” owner Shelbie Briggs of Sylvania said. “That’s what gives him the extra inches.”

Nearly 100 dogs, and their accompanying humans, competed in the two-day event Saturday and Sunday.

Ultimate Air Dogs was created in 2005 as a dock jumping club in Michigan by former Detroit Tigers pitcher Milt Wilcox and his son, Brian Wilcox. It has since ballooned into a series of events across the United States and Canada, said Brian Butler, an Ultimate Air Dogs event coordinator and the announcer for The Andersons’ event.

While Labrador retrievers and Belgian malinoises do consistently well in the sport, other breeds surprise. Ultimate Air Dogs secretary Dianne Strayer said that although small breeds may appear to be underdogs, they frequently outjump larger pooches.

Woody the Flying Chili Dog, a 4-year-old dachshund belonging to Toledo resident Debra Woodrow, competed in his first dock jumping competition at The Andersons this weekend, landing at the top of the novice category.

Ms. Woodrow suspects Woody, at 15 pounds, was one of the smallest dogs in his competition group over the weekend.

Though small, Woody leaped more than 8 feet into the water, using his tail as a rudder for the post-jump swim back to the exit ramp.

“I would never expect this from him, really,” Ms. Woodrow said. “We realize we’ve got something special.”

Style and technique varied widely across the event. Some dogs flailed about before hitting the water, while others curved their bodies into streamlined arcs.

Four-time Ultimate Air Dogs champion Storie, a 5-year-old Labrador retriever, returned to Maumee from West Milton, where she resides with her owners J.D. and Ronalee McKnight. She wore a neon-striped swimsuit so she could stand out among the other black labs, J.D. McKnight said.

Storie, who has held multiple distance records with Ultimate Air Dogs and the American Kennel Club, competes in 20 to 25 events a year. Last year, the McKnights drove more than 30,000 miles to these competitions with Storie.

She trains 15 hours a week, mostly through running and Frisbee-catching, J.D. McKnight said. The McKnights lack a pool in which to practice, so most of Storie’s dock training is at her competitive events.

A star on both the former Late Show with David Letterman and the Today Show, Storie consistently jumps distances of about 30 feet, following a bright orange toy into the water.

“She just loves to jump,” J.D. McKnight said. “She’s a very focused, driven dog.”

Other dogs stick around for the fun. Colton, a 3-year-old golden retriever whose leap reaches more than 16 feet, is drawn to the water, owner Debbie Laviolette of Holland said.

“He’s too fluffy and heavy to be competitive,” she said.

While many dogs are given incentive to fly by a favorite toy tossed into the water, others leap into the pool for the sheer joy of it, Ms. Strayer said.

Gina Johnston, the owner of Swamp Dogs K9 Academy in Perrysburg, said the timing and throw of the toy are crucial. On top of that, a dog needs to be truly comfortable in deep water, she said.

Maumee resident Barb Bumcrots sat on the sidelines on Saturday with her new 9-month-old dog Reba. Too young and green to compete, Reba is still working on her swimming skills.

Ms. Bumcrots, who has previously competed with a golden retriever duo called the Golden Girls, was drawn to the event because of the family-friendly, close atmosphere, she said.

“It’s addicting,” she said. “Everyone cheers everyone on.”

Contact Michelle Liu at mliu@theblade.com or on Twitter @mchelleliu.

First Published July 11, 2016, 4:00 a.m.