It’s always great when owners can share a hobby with their dog but how many people take their dog skydiving? Otis the Pug loves to jump out of planes with his owner, Will DaSilva, in California.
According to DaSilva, he and Otis have been on over 60 jumps together.
Otis has been making the jumps ever since he was a puppy. His owner says, “Otis is living the ultimate dream.”
Is it safe for Otis? DaSilva says he takes every precaution for his Pug. DaSilva is an accomplished skydiver and parachute rigger. He works at Lodi Parachute Center so Otis has been around planes and parachuting all his life. DaSilva had Otis’s gear specially made.
“He talked to a parachute rigger who made a custom-fit harness for Otis, basically a papoose that hung loose around his chest, bought a pair of ‘doggles,’ goggles for dogs, and took the pug up for the low-altitude plunge he called a ‘hop and pop’ maneuver,” according to the Sacramento Bee.
DaSilva said, “He’s totally aware of what’s happening when he free falls. Just like any first-time skydiver he gets all excited about it and gets nervous at the door. Once he’s out though he’s just having a ball like a dog with its head out of the car window.”
He said, “Otis grew up around the airport since he was a pup chasing airplanes and running to the landing area.”
There must be something about Pugs and skydiving. You can also see Bugsy the Pug on YouTube. He dives from 10,000 feet in the air!
Those Pugs really know how to have fun, don’t they!
But Otis and Bugsy aren’t the only skydiving dogs. The military teaches dogs to skydive, too. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2715542/posts The dogs learn to dive both on their own and in tandem with their handlers.
Granted, skydiving is a little out of the ordinary for most dogs and their owners, but it just goes to show that dogs often love to do whatever their owners enjoy doing. So, what kind of things do you like to do with your dog? Is your dog interested in your hobbies? Does he like to “help” you when you do things? Maybe he has the attitude that wherever you go, that’s where he should be – even if it’s jumping out of a plane.
No matter what kind of hobbies people have, it’s a good bet that someone has probably tried to do them with a dog. Tell us about your hobbies and what you like to do with your dog. Are you and your dog wild and crazy?
Author: Carlotta Cooper
Carlotta Cooper is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about dogs. She is a contributing editor for a national dog magazine. She has written two books about dogs: Canine Cuisine: 101 Natural Dog Food & Treat Recipes to Make Your Dog Healthy and Happy (Back-To-Basics) and How to Listen to Your Dog: The Complete Guide to Communicating with Man’s Best Friend . She has five fun dogs of her own.
