E:60 – Meet Spitfire, ‘the Michael Jordan of Dogs’

my mom and I was thinking of ways to keep them in shape when there's bad weather does that happens a lot in Washington so we got the treadmill and I could be doing homework and walking dogs like killing two birds with one stone if you've never seen a dog on a treadmill it's probably because you've never met a dog like Spitfire he's a seven-year-old whippet from Olympia Washington and his friends call him Spiti he loves to sleep a lot bark at squirrels and pretend he's this really big tough guy even when he's not of course Spitfire is a good boy but he's unlike any other dog on the planet and the reason why is this are you ready ready ready ready ready go go go [Music] he's like the Michael Jordan of docx typing Tom Brady Tiger Woods LeBron James I mean he's kind of like Babe Ruth no one can touch it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] stay ready get its pinnacle Spitfire is owned trained and cared for by a 15 year old high school sophomore named Sidney Mackey pretty average teenager I would say she's a little bit shy when you first meet her but if you talk to her about a dog her dog her eyes will light up and and she will become much more social after that Sydney has a natural ability with dogs and he spent farm knows that and he knows that she's there to do whatever he needs and dress her we're very close I've grown up with him and he's grown up with me my life would just be totally different without him [Music] Spitfire joined the Mackey family on January 17th 2013 traveling all the way from a breeder in Massachusetts he had these big eyes and said the super expressive face his original puppy name was kite he was named because of the markings on the back of his neck he had a little diamond with a little string attaching to a little oval underneath it looking back on that photo it's like oh it's kind of like you could call it a prophecy or something Spitfire it seemed was a dog destined to fly all he needed was a runway dr. Bing is having your dog run off of a dock and jump into water and retrieve the toy since its humble beginnings two decades ago the sport of dog diving now sees 10,000 dogs competing annually spanning a dozen countries around the world there are three main disciplines this is jumping high jumping and speed with trees [Music] we became aware of dark diving from our friend and she was telling us you should come try it out you know what's really fun and my mom's like okay it sounds fun let's just go down for some practice [Music] with that 11 year old Sydney and three year-old Spitfire went out to try dock diving for the very first time he just looked at his toy and looked at Sydney and just went going right into it on top of his toy he wasn't shy or scared or reserved about it he just bombed into the water right away and with just hold on because this is gonna be fun like that dog is going to take you places that you would have never imagined it was the dawn of a new era the age of team Syd fire [Music] [Applause] [Music] the dominance was unprecedented in a three year span doc diving's new conquers smashed an incredible 21 World Records it's kind of stressful leaving school for a week but it's pretty cool to go up and beat all the adults and to watch him and you realize he's still in the air he's still in the air he looks like a bullet he's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime dog Spitfire can reach up to 30 miles per hour on the dog his personal best in hijack eight feet six inches and in distance events he routinely soars over 30 feet I didn't know what to think is almost like a excuse my language but a holy moment what is I didn't realize dogs could go that far every time he does really well he's extra proud of himself he'll be like walking around with his tail up flaunting his toy to everybody maybe it's with my level of excitement that gets him going but I feel like he knows a little bit in this sport Spitfire is canine royalty and off the dock he is treated as such [Music] Speedy's meals consist of only the finest proteins and natural supplements he receives regular massages so what we're doing is a cool-down - bodywork on him like an athlete you know and after particularly tough stretches of competition spitfyre books an appointment for acupuncture my routine depends on what he needs to stay healthy he means a lot to me and you know I want to make sure that he's he's okay for spitfyre in Sydney all the preparation all the training leads here doc diving's granddaddy of them all welcome to the 2018 North America diving dawg national championships I guess it's kind of like the Super Bowl this is the largest single diving dog event ever held over a thousand dogs competing this weekend in all the various divisions one of those dogs Spitfires nemesis is archrival a young pup named Sounders in the air retrieve distance finals Sounders makes a grab 25 feet so Spiti needs to hit a 26 screw you see your squirrel you want to use her squirrel yeah you want to get it all right let's go get it for some reason whenever it's like a now-or-never a moment he always does his best [Music] [Applause] of course Ewok this is Spitfire paint the goat for nothing with a grab of spitty and Sydney are national champs for a second straight year there's always going to be big jumping dogs I'm not taking anything away from Spiti that it's an amazing dog it's more the team and the person behind it that I think is going to have somebody else sitting here talking to you in 10 or 15 years about the legend of Sydney and Spitfire he knows who's asking him to do something he's gonna give it as all when she asked him because he loves her [Music] you know I'd love for people to remember him for his versatility and also you know him just being a loving couch potato I want him to be remembered for not just his athletic ability but also us as a team and you know him is just a great companion [Music]

Channel: ESPN

Views: 6,754,010

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Id: zh76f7oHjYE

Length: 12min 10sec (730 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 12 2020