I autohide the Dock, to get back screen space. I also remove all apps from the Dock. I only ever see the Dock to check which apps are running. Tweak the transition speed or remove it.
Remove animation: defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -int 0;killall Dock
Fast animation speed: defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.12;killall Dock