I didn't invent it myself, you can see example at [0] or googling 'pg_dump ssh tunnel'.

[0] https://coderwall.com/p/bmv0nw/dump-postgres-databases-throu...

For copying a directory tree from host1 to host2 preserving user / permissions and compressing on the fly to reduce network usage i use:

# from host1:

cd $DIRECTORY && tar -jcf - . | ssh host2 "cd DESTINATION_DIR && tar jxvf - "