Dock diving dog finds dream job
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Tee came to the Mission Valley Animal Shelter as a young Belgian Malinois mix who loved to jump. Her standing vertical leap was six feet, and MVAS staff had to put a roof on her kennel to keep her corralled. She wasn’t friendly towards other dogs.
Not only was Tee a natural jumper, but “she had incredible focus,” said Jill Simpson, MVAS Executive Director. “(Tee) would just ignore the other dogs if there was a ball or a Frisbee was involved.”
Simpson saw Tee’s potential and knew the dog had to go to someone who would continue the Frisbee and ball work, even just for fun. She began searching the Internet, looking for Frisbee groups and got “sorry-I-can’t-help” messages from shelter and rescue organizations in California and Colorado.
Simpson listed Tee on Montana Pets, looking for dog “disc” people. “I was looking for a club, actually,” Simpson said.
Finally a friend in Red Lodge suggested Melissa, a woman who runs a border collie rescue in Twin Cities, Minn. The lady wanted a video of Tee with a Frisbee, so the shelter workers took a video of Tee twisting and leaping into the air to catch the flying disc.
The woman responded, saying Tee’s video was fantastic. Then she asked if Tee liked water. Simpson said she knew then what the woman had in mind. Dock diving is a canine sport held in a swimming pool, where the dog jumps off a dock into the water after “what the dog goes for — a hunting lure or a toy or a Frisbee,” Simpson said.
So Simpson took Tee to Flathead Lake. By the third throw, Simpson knew she had “just unleashed a dock diving dog.”
Fate intervened then; the lady from Minnesota would be in Red Lodge, and Simpson could drop Tee off on her way to Billings.
Ten days later, Tee competed in her first dock diving, agility and Frisbee tournament in Wisconsin. Entered in the novice division, Tee performed so well they had to move her to the junior division.
“That dog flew,” Simpson said. “You can tell (Tee) is in seventh heaven. She’s doing what she wants to do.”
Tee is being fostered in Minnesota, and her foster parent will adopt her out to one of the scores of people who are interested. Tee needs a family who will keep up with the disc and dock diving, who are experienced dog owners with a fully fenced yard but no children, since Tee is so intense.
The MVAS tries to match each dog and cat with a person who fits, personality and activity wise, according to Jill Simpson, executive director.
“Our application even says application/matchmaking,” Simpson said.
She also said sometimes people get mad at her, but she’ll tell them she isn’t denying them a dog but just that particular dog. It may be personalities, activity level or even living quarters.
“It’s not just a case of getting (the animals) out, it’s getting them to the right people,” Simpson said. “It isn’t a six-month commitment, it’s potentially a 16-year commitment,” she added.
