Check out some of Bailey's moves, in action! I'll be posting new videos as often as I can.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Ashley Whippet World Championship in Chicago - September 5 & 6
Bailey and I witnessed one of the most impressive displays of Disc Dogging skills at the Ashley Whippet World Championships held in Chicago. Two full days of the BEST disc doggers in the world putting on their best performances, one after the other. It was an honor that they even let Bailey and I get out there and have a little fun amongst all the greatness.
Here is a video of Bailey and I doing our thing, and just having a little fun.
Todd and Big Air Bella won this talent packed World Championship. Here's their routine:
This is Bailey and I doing a freestyle routine for the Skyhoundz Local in Huntington Beach. This was 3 day after Bailey had his incisor removed after sneezing and snapping the tooth on the cement (Yes, OUCH!). It's amazing he did so well because I realized, after the routine, that he was REALLY in pain. He was in so much pain that he refused to play in the second round, which is a big deal knowing how much he loves this stuff. Poor lil guy. But he was back in action a week later, having a grand ol' time.
2008 Quadruped Long Distance Championship - Denver
The Quadruped, part of the Colorado Canine Challenge weekend in Denver, pits the big arms in the country up against one another.
My first appearance in this competition was in 2007 where Bailey and I grabbed a VERY unexpected 3rd place (3rd place comes with a very cool wood carved disc trophy). Furthest throw in this competition was 67.5 yards. (Uncorked a few 90 yard tosses in practice)
I'm very proud to say that Bailey and I followed up our 3rd place finish with a 2nd place finish in the 2008 Quadruped (Also earning us another wood carved trophy disc). Furthest throw in this competition was 67 yards. (Let loose a couple 75 yard tosses in practice, but even those would not have beaten John's 77 yard finals throwdown!)
Ashley Whippet Invitational World Championships - 2008
Bailey and I put together a decent freestyle round, but it was still a little too slow and low energy to beat the best of the best. We grabbed 20th place on Day #1 of the Ashley Whippet Invitational World Championships. The top 15 teams moved on to Day #2, Sunday, at Knott's Berry Farm. I think if we hit our triple trick, our last trick we may have had a shot.
Last year we also grabbed 20th, but our best result was in 2006 where we made the cut to the finals and soared to 18th place (they allowed 18 teams into the final day that year).
So I'm not too proud of this, but here is a video of me in a Honda Commercial for San Diego, a part I sort of stole from Bailey.
How did I get this gig? Well, Bailey was hired as 1 of 2 dogs cast for a Honda Commercial. They cast two dogs so they would have a backup in case one of the dogs didn't perform that day, and so they could have a choice between different looking dogs. It just so happened that a darker dog looked better with the ocean and sky background, so Bailey wasn't used in the commercial. He still got paid, just wasn't used. The funny thing here is that throwing a disc to a dog isn't necessarily as easy as it sounds. The actor the cast to throw the disc to the dog just couldn't understand how that should be done. I tried talking him through it, but he just wasn't getting it. So the next thing that happens is the director walks up and asks, "Do you have any shorts with you?". Just by chance, I had a pair in the car. And Blam, there I was, in the commercial. At first they offered to pay me less than they were going to pay Bailey. I said, "Hey, I should get at least as much as you were going to pay my dog!" They said, ok... :-)
This is a little ad Mark put together to promote the 2008 Crusty Classic in Livermore, CA. You'll notice Bailey and I near the beginning. The picture is from the 2007 Crusty Classic in Lancaster, CA.
Well, Bailey and I almost made it on the show "Greatest American Dog".
We actually participated in a Pilot for ABC in VERY SIMILAR show called America's Top Dog the year before (End of 2006). The Pilot involved teams living together and participating in challenges with their dogs. We had an immunity challenge of a Calendar Photo Shoot where the best layout, as judged by the producers, did not have to participate in the elimination challenge. Thankfully we did not win so we could participate in the VERY cool elimination challenge.
The dogs ranged in size from Great Dane to a lil weiner dog, and the humans were just as varied.
The elimination challenge involved a REAL LIFE maze for the dogs complete with water pits, spanning platforms with vertical pylons, pits filled with plastic balls, underground tunnels, waterfalls to be run through, mirror rooms filled with meaty bones to distract, and smoke filled slanted tunnels to climb threw. And the human counterpart for each team stands on a raised platform to overlook the whole affair and give directions to the dog as he/she runs through the maze.
To make this easily long story short, Bailey ran through the maze soo fast we had to go back later and film him in the maze as I made him look confused by telling him to stop, and backup in certain areas of the maze. No other dog got through the maze in less than 5 minutes, Bailey was through in about 15 seconds. Suffice to say, he won the challenge. :-)
Unfortunately, even after being promised on MANY occasions to the contrary, I was never provided with any pictures from the shoot or a copy of the pilot. In fact, I have NEVER even been able to see the pilot (which, again, I was told many times would not be a problem). Now they don't respond to any communication at all. The production company is/was called Renegade 83.
Here is one of the promos CBS used to promote The Greatest American Dog. We are near the begininning, Bailey is doing a backflip.
Bailey has been coming with me to UCLA quite a bit lately. It's great having him by my side everyday! Here are a couple of videos of Bailey's skill as a goalie. It's amazing how quick he is. Sometimes he literally stands 1 foot away and still snatches the ball out of the air!
Here's a another look at one of his more amazing saves. Might be a little dark, but I think it still looks pretty darn amazing!
Bailey and I at the Ashley Whippet Invitational (AWI) Qualifier. This event was held in Scottsdale, Arizona the day before the AWI World Championship took place at the same location. There were amazing competitor teams from all over the globe. Bailey and I had a great day and finished 6th overall!
Here are the three round that did it for us.
Distance:
We scored 16 points! The most you can get per throw is 3.5 points. The maximum number of throws for most competitors is 5 throws for a maximum score of 17.5. So 16 wasn't too shabby!
Freestyle Round 1:
This was our first freestyle round that edged us into the finals.
Freestyle Round 2:
This was our finals freestyle round, which I think is better than our first, but wasn't good enough to move us out of 6th place.
Bailey jumped 14 feet 6 inches. His best jump in competition to date is 17 feet. We're trying a new technique for the future, hopefully I can get him into the 20 foot range.
Bailey and I pulled off one of our better freestyle performances in the USDDN Western Regional in Del Mar California. The event was part of Wags for Wishes where proceeds are donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. Our performance earned us an invitation to the World Championships.
Bailey and I competed in the Purina's Incredible Dog Challenge in 2005. Unfortunately we did not qualify to compete in the finals, but we did get invited to participate in the "Swim Race". You only really get a glimpse of Bailey, but hey, it's a moment of fame baby! You can spot us swimming in two of the shots. When the race first starts, we're one of the first in the water. Then when the race is almost over you can spot us a the team in DEAD LAST way behind everybody. Bailey had never seen me in the water and turned around and immediately swam back to shore. He could not recognize me as a legless Joel. I had to literally walk out of the water before he realized it was me. Then I led him in the water and we began our long lap of LAST PLACE. :-)
Bailey and I were 1 of 12 teams worldwide to be invited to Madison Wisconsin to participate in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games Disc Drive event. The Disc Drive event is essentially a long distance frisbee competition where the dog cannot cross the start line until the frisbee is released.
This is Bailey's moment on the 2004 ESPN Great Outdoor Games. This is where Bailey is competing in the second round. Great shots of him, and the announcers give him lots of praise. Unfortunately the announcers are not so nice to me. :-(
The rest are more clips from the 2004 Great outdoor Games that Bailey appeared in.
1) The announcers describing the event and a first round summary. You get to see a short clip of Bailey catching a frisbee.
2) Summarizing the competition up to the second round and you'll see Bailey in a little tribute to Alex Stein (The father of Disc Dogging).
3) This is just a little compilation of ALL Bailey's appearances in the Great Outdoor Games.
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