diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 132b3a7..5c1df71 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Imports:
     utils,
     graphics,
     grDevices,
+    plyr,
     dplyr,
     RColorBrewer,
     KernSmooth,
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ Collate:
     'coord_proj.r'
     'formatters.r'
     'fortify.r'
+    'position-dodgev.R'
     'geom2plotly.r'
     'geom_ash.r'
     'geom_bkde.r'
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 4e7d079..5ca87ff 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ export(GeomXSpline2)
 export(GeomXspline)
 export(Kb)
 export(Mb)
+export(PositionDodgev)
 export(StatAsh)
 export(StatBkde)
 export(StatBkde2d)
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ export(geom_stateface)
 export(geom_ubar)
 export(geom_xspline)
 export(load_stateface)
+export(position_dodgev)
 export(show_stateface)
 export(stat_ash)
 export(stat_bkde)
diff --git a/R/geom_dumbbell.R b/R/geom_dumbbell.R
index 4996a0c..09d56bf 100644
--- a/R/geom_dumbbell.R
+++ b/R/geom_dumbbell.R
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 #' @param colour_xend the colour of the end point
 #' @param dot_guide if \code{TRUE}, a leading dotted line will be placed before the left-most dumbbell point
 #' @param dot_guide_size,dot_guide_colour singe-value aesthetics for \code{dot_guide}
+#' @param position Position adjustment, either as a string, or the result of a
+#'   call to a position adjustment function.
 #' @inheritParams ggplot2::layer
 #' @export
 #' @examples
@@ -34,19 +36,34 @@
 #'   labs(x=NULL, y=NULL, title="ggplot2 geom_dumbbell with dot guide") +
 #'   theme_minimal() +
 #'   theme(panel.grid.major.x=element_line(size=0.05))
+#'
+#' ## with vertical dodging
+#' df2 <- data.frame(trt = c(LETTERS[1:5], "D"),
+#'                  l = c(20, 40, 10, 30, 50, 40),
+#'                  r = c(70, 50, 30, 60, 80, 70))
+#'
+#' ggplot(df2, aes(y=trt, x=l, xend=r)) +
+#'   geom_dumbbell(size=3, color="#e3e2e1",
+#'                 colour_x = "#5b8124", colour_xend = "#bad744",
+#'                 dot_guide=TRUE, dot_guide_size=0.25,
+#'                 position=position_dodgev(height=0.4)) +
+#'   labs(x=NULL, y=NULL, title="ggplot2 geom_dumbbell with dot guide") +
+#'   theme_minimal() +
+#'   theme(panel.grid.major.x=element_line(size=0.05))
 geom_dumbbell <- function(mapping = NULL, data = NULL, ...,
                           colour_x = NULL, size_x = NULL,
                           colour_xend = NULL, size_xend = NULL,
                           dot_guide = FALSE, dot_guide_size = NULL,
                           dot_guide_colour = NULL,
-                          na.rm = FALSE, show.legend = NA, inherit.aes = TRUE) {
+                          na.rm = FALSE, show.legend = NA, inherit.aes = TRUE,
+                          position = "identity") {
 
   layer(
     data = data,
     mapping = mapping,
     stat = "identity",
     geom = GeomDumbbell,
-    position = "identity",
+    position = position,
     show.legend = show.legend,
     inherit.aes = inherit.aes,
     params = list(
diff --git a/R/position-dodgev.R b/R/position-dodgev.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d62821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/position-dodgev.R
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+#' Vertically dodge position
+#' @rdname position-dodgev
+#' @author @@ggstance authors
+#' @note position-dodgev(): unmodified from lionel-/ggstance/R/position-dodgev.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+#' @export
+position_dodgev <- function(height = NULL) {
+  ggplot2::ggproto(NULL, PositionDodgev, height = height)
+}
+
+#' @rdname position-dodgev
+#' @author @@ggstance authors
+#' @note PositionDodgev(): based on from lionel-/ggstance/R/position-dodgev.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+#' @format NULL
+#' @usage NULL
+#' @export
+PositionDodgev <- ggplot2::ggproto("PositionDodgev", ggplot2::Position,
+                                   required_aes = "y",
+                                   height = NULL,
+                                   setup_params = function(self, data) {
+                                     if (is.null(data$ymin) && is.null(data$ymax) && is.null(self$height)) {
+                                       warning("Height not defined. Set with `position_dodgev(height = ?)`",
+                                               call. = FALSE)
+                                     }
+                                     list(height = self$height)
+                                   },
+
+                                   compute_panel = function(data, params, scales) {
+                                     collidev(data, params$height, "position_dodgev", pos_dodgev, check.height = FALSE)
+                                   }
+)
+
+#' @rdname position-dodgev
+#' @author @@ggstance authors
+#' @note pos_dodgev(): unmodified from lionel-/ggstance/R/position-dodgev.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+pos_dodgev <- function(df, height) {
+  n <- length(unique(df$group))
+  if (n == 1) return(df)
+
+  if (!all(c("ymin", "ymax") %in% names(df))) {
+    df$ymin <- df$y
+    df$ymax <- df$y
+  }
+
+  d_height <- max(df$ymax - df$ymin)
+
+  # df <- data.frame(n = c(2:5, 10, 26), div = c(4, 3, 2.666666,  2.5, 2.2, 2.1))
+  # ggplot(df, aes(n, div)) + geom_point()
+
+  # Have a new group index from 1 to number of groups.
+  # This might be needed if the group numbers in this set don't include all of 1:n
+  groupidx <- match(df$group, sort(unique(df$group)))
+
+  # Find the center for each group, then use that to calculate ymin and lmax
+  df$y <- df$y + height * ((groupidx - 0.5) / n - .5)
+  df$ymin <- df$y - d_height / n / 2
+  df$ymax <- df$y + d_height / n / 2
+
+  df
+}
+
+#' @rdname position-dodgev
+#' @author @@ggstance authors
+#' @note collidev(): based on lionel-/ggstance/R/position.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+collidev <- function(data, height = NULL, name, strategy, ..., check.height = TRUE, reverse = FALSE) {
+  # Determine height
+  if (!is.null(height)) {
+    # Width set manually
+    if (!(all(c("ymin", "ymax") %in% names(data)))) {
+      data$ymin <- data$y - height / 2
+      data$ymax <- data$y + height / 2
+    }
+  } else {
+    if (!(all(c("ymin", "ymax") %in% names(data)))) {
+      data$ymin <- data$y
+      data$ymax <- data$y
+    }
+
+    # Width determined from data, must be floating point constant
+    heights <- unique(data$ymax - data$ymin)
+    heights <- heights[!is.na(heights)]
+
+    #   # Suppress warning message since it's not reliable
+    #     if (!zero_range(range(heights))) {
+    #       warning(name, " requires constant height: output may be incorrect",
+    #         call. = FALSE)
+    #     }
+    height <- heights[1]
+  }
+
+  # Reorder by x position, then on group. The default stacking order reverses
+  # the group in order to match the legend order.
+  if (reverse) {
+    data <- data[order(data$ymin, data$group), ]
+  } else {
+    data <- data[order(data$ymin, -data$group), ]
+  }
+
+
+  # Check for overlap
+  intervals <- as.numeric(t(unique(data[c("ymin", "ymax")])))
+  intervals <- intervals[!is.na(intervals)]
+
+  if (length(unique(intervals)) > 1 & any(diff(scale(intervals)) < -1e-6)) {
+    warning(name, " requires non-overlapping y intervals", call. = FALSE)
+    # This is where the algorithm from [L. Wilkinson. Dot plots.
+    # The American Statistician, 1999.] should be used
+  }
+
+  data$group <- seq_len(nrow(data)) ## reset grouping
+
+  if (!is.null(data$xmax)) {
+    plyr::ddply(data, "ymin", strategy, ..., height = height)
+  } else if (!is.null(data$x)) {
+    data$xmax <- data$x
+    data <- plyr::ddply(data, "ymin", strategy, ..., height = height)
+    data$x <- data$xmax
+    data$yend <- data$y ## ALLOW FOR A YEND COLUMN
+    data
+  } else {
+    stop("Neither x nor xmax defined")
+  }
+}
diff --git a/man/geom_dumbbell.Rd b/man/geom_dumbbell.Rd
index f081c85..bc8b36a 100644
--- a/man/geom_dumbbell.Rd
+++ b/man/geom_dumbbell.Rd
@@ -7,27 +7,28 @@
 geom_dumbbell(mapping = NULL, data = NULL, ..., colour_x = NULL,
   size_x = NULL, colour_xend = NULL, size_xend = NULL,
   dot_guide = FALSE, dot_guide_size = NULL, dot_guide_colour = NULL,
-  na.rm = FALSE, show.legend = NA, inherit.aes = TRUE)
+  na.rm = FALSE, show.legend = NA, inherit.aes = TRUE,
+  position = "identity")
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{mapping}{Set of aesthetic mappings created by \code{\link[=aes]{aes()}} or
-\code{\link[=aes_]{aes_()}}. If specified and \code{inherit.aes = TRUE} (the
+\item{mapping}{Set of aesthetic mappings created by \code{\link{aes}} or
+\code{\link{aes_}}. If specified and \code{inherit.aes = TRUE} (the
 default), it is combined with the default mapping at the top level of the
 plot. You must supply \code{mapping} if there is no plot mapping.}
 
 \item{data}{The data to be displayed in this layer. There are three
-options:
+   options:
 
-If \code{NULL}, the default, the data is inherited from the plot
-data as specified in the call to \code{\link[=ggplot]{ggplot()}}.
+   If \code{NULL}, the default, the data is inherited from the plot
+   data as specified in the call to \code{\link{ggplot}}.
 
-A \code{data.frame}, or other object, will override the plot
-data. All objects will be fortified to produce a data frame. See
-\code{\link[=fortify]{fortify()}} for which variables will be created.
+   A \code{data.frame}, or other object, will override the plot
+   data. All objects will be fortified to produce a data frame. See
+   \code{\link{fortify}} for which variables will be created.
 
-A \code{function} will be called with a single argument,
-the plot data. The return value must be a \code{data.frame.}, and
-will be used as the layer data.}
+   A \code{function} will be called with a single argument,
+   the plot data. The return value must be a \code{data.frame.}, and
+   will be used as the layer data.}
 
 \item{...}{other arguments passed on to \code{\link{layer}}. These are
 often aesthetics, used to set an aesthetic to a fixed value, like
@@ -51,14 +52,15 @@ a warning.  If \code{TRUE} silently removes missing values.}
 
 \item{show.legend}{logical. Should this layer be included in the legends?
 \code{NA}, the default, includes if any aesthetics are mapped.
-\code{FALSE} never includes, and \code{TRUE} always includes.
-It can also be a named logical vector to finely select the aesthetics to
-display.}
+\code{FALSE} never includes, and \code{TRUE} always includes.}
 
 \item{inherit.aes}{If \code{FALSE}, overrides the default aesthetics,
 rather than combining with them. This is most useful for helper functions
 that define both data and aesthetics and shouldn't inherit behaviour from
-the default plot specification, e.g. \code{\link[=borders]{borders()}}.}
+the default plot specification, e.g. \code{\link{borders}}.}
+
+\item{position}{Position adjustment, either as a string, or the result of a
+call to a position adjustment function.}
 }
 \description{
 The dumbbell geom is used to create dumbbell charts.
@@ -84,4 +86,18 @@ ggplot(df, aes(y=trt, x=l, xend=r)) +
   labs(x=NULL, y=NULL, title="ggplot2 geom_dumbbell with dot guide") +
   theme_minimal() +
   theme(panel.grid.major.x=element_line(size=0.05))
+
+## with vertical dodging
+df2 <- data.frame(trt = c(LETTERS[1:5], "D"),
+                 l = c(20, 40, 10, 30, 50, 40),
+                 r = c(70, 50, 30, 60, 80, 70))
+
+ggplot(df2, aes(y=trt, x=l, xend=r)) +
+  geom_dumbbell(size=3, color="#e3e2e1",
+                colour_x = "#5b8124", colour_xend = "#bad744",
+                dot_guide=TRUE, dot_guide_size=0.25,
+                position=position_dodgev(height=0.4)) +
+  labs(x=NULL, y=NULL, title="ggplot2 geom_dumbbell with dot guide") +
+  theme_minimal() +
+  theme(panel.grid.major.x=element_line(size=0.05))
 }
diff --git a/man/position-dodgev.Rd b/man/position-dodgev.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b5adcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/position-dodgev.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/position-dodgev.R
+\docType{data}
+\name{position_dodgev}
+\alias{position_dodgev}
+\alias{PositionDodgev}
+\alias{pos_dodgev}
+\alias{collidev}
+\title{Vertically dodge position}
+\usage{
+position_dodgev(height = NULL)
+
+pos_dodgev(df, height)
+
+collidev(data, height = NULL, name, strategy, ..., check.height = TRUE,
+  reverse = FALSE)
+}
+\description{
+Vertically dodge position
+}
+\note{
+position-dodgev(): unmodified from lionel-/ggstance/R/position-dodgev.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+
+PositionDodgev(): based on from lionel-/ggstance/R/position-dodgev.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+
+pos_dodgev(): unmodified from lionel-/ggstance/R/position-dodgev.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+
+collidev(): based on lionel-/ggstance/R/position.R 73f521384ae8ea277db5f7d5a2854004aa18f947
+}
+\author{
+@ggstance authors
+
+@ggstance authors
+
+@ggstance authors
+
+@ggstance authors
+}
+\keyword{datasets}
diff --git a/vignettes/ggalt_examples.Rmd b/vignettes/ggalt_examples.Rmd
index 202a8a1..09fc44f 100644
--- a/vignettes/ggalt_examples.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/ggalt_examples.Rmd
@@ -263,3 +263,21 @@ ggplot(df, aes(y=trt, x=l, xend=r)) +
   theme(panel.grid.major.x=element_line(size=0.05)) +
   theme(panel.grid.major.y=element_blank())
 ```
+
+with optional vertical dodging
+
+```{r dumbbellv, message=FALSE, fig.width=7, fig.height=2.5}
+df2 <- data.frame(trt = c(LETTERS[1:5], "D"),
+                  l = c(20, 40, 10, 30, 50, 40),
+                  r = c(70, 50, 30, 60, 80, 70))
+
+ggplot(df2, aes(y=trt, x=l, xend=r)) +
+  geom_dumbbell(size=3, color="#e3e2e1",
+                colour_x = "#5b8124", colour_xend = "#bad744",
+                dot_guide=TRUE, dot_guide_size=0.25,
+                position=position_dodgev(height=0.8)) +
+  labs(x=NULL, y=NULL, title="ggplot2 geom_dumbbell with dot guide") +
+  theme_minimal() +
+  theme(panel.grid.major.x=element_line(size=0.05))
+```
+