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Skidboot

© Joy Butler

If you're driving seven miles west of Quinlan, Texas on Hwy 276, this sign may cause you to wonder just what is a Skidboot. He's Quinlan's own $25,000 Grand Prize winner of Animal Planet's Pet Star and the smartest dog Jay Leno has ever seen! He's the star on the rise in this sleepy little east Texas town.

A panel of celebrity judges and an enthusiastic audience scored Skidboot's performance highest over hundreds of other outstanding pet presentations over the season including, but not limited to, acrobatic dogs, musical pigs, dancing horses, basketball playing rats, a motorcycle riding lizard, and a chimp in a cowboy skit. David Hartwig, Skidboot's human, claims that the Queensland Blue Heeler mix has never been trained. He just shows him what to do and he does it.

Why this mutt of mixed heritage, hailing from a small Texas barnyard, and victim of many country mishaps, is so gifted is anybody's guess. Something different is certainly going on with this team. Throughout the routine the usual doggy commands and cues are not demonstrated, only everyday language. David, with his country boy charm, talks to the dog in everyday tones and he seems to understand every word. Their performance on Pet Star proved just that. David dropped to all fours and contorted into various maneuvers which Skidboot mirrored with lightning speed. When David lifted his right hand, Skidboot lifted the corresponding paw. When David rolled over, Skidboot rolled over.

When told to sneak up on his toy, Skidboot followed orders accurately and without hesitation. At David's prompting, "Ease up on it...no, that's too far, take one step back...ok, now take one step forward. Now when I say 'three' you get it, but don't you get it until I say three," the canine genius listened carefully and obeyed with a human quality. Even as David went through a string of numbers and tried to trip him up with tone, Skidboot never lost focus. He didn't pounce on the toy until David said "three". At one point David told him to go over and touch Mario and the dog leaped up and ran to the Pet Star host and touched his foot.

Skidboot and his human are not strangers to television. David has shown off Skidboot's amazing abilities on The Late Show, Crook and Chase, Inside Edition, Pets Are People Too, and in an educational film called For All Mankind. They also perform at the State Fair of Texas, rodeos and schools. June 23rd through June 26th they will be at the National Plastics Exposition in Chicago, July 4th and 5th at the 46th Annual Jaycee Pro Rodeo in Kansas City, Missouri and October 13th at the Australian Cattle Dog Club of America National Specialties in Belton, Texas. Skidboot is a dog you just have to see to believe and you can see him in action at these places or purchase his video available on the website.