West Virginia University - Monticola Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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OKLAHOMA BOUND JAMES G. HARLOW

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HERE TO STAY. . . by Frank Lovece We ' ve heard the story a hundred times ■ make good against impossible odds. a boy and his dog Taylor and Toadie make stories come true. They ' re mythic quality, these two. yet as anyone who has seen them perform during the Mountaineer football season can testify, the Frisbee Dog is for real. Together, Taylor Runner and eight-year-old Toadie romp through the pre-game air, psyching out the crowds with virtuoso displays of frisbee fetch. Their seemingly impromptu performances have become a tradition at WVU, as well as a feature at Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirate games. They made a rainy debut in 1974 at the Mountaineer Week game against Kentucky, and all told, Toadie has been retrieving airborne f risbees for five years. People ask me how long it took to train her, says Taylor, usually avoidant of such words as train or master. I say it took HER five years to teach me how to throw! It fascinated me at first, says the 25-year-old Taylor, but I never thought it unusual for Toadie, because she ' s always been an intelligent dog. She picked it up on her own. His and Toadie ' s first performance was, he recalls, a shaky experience. I was probably nervous because I was wondering how Toadie would feel, and whether I would throw the frisbee well enough. Thousands of cheering fans later, Taylor knew he had a natural show dog. Toadie gets off on it; she really knows the crowd gets excited. Taylor speaks with pardonable pride when referring to his mutt (Toadie is half collie, half German Shepherd); the two have been written up in such newspapers as THE WASHINGTON POST and the PITTSBURGH PRESS, among others. The unusual name Toadie had come about through sheer chance. The dog had been named by Taylor ' s sister after the comedienne, Totie Fields, and Taylor unknowingly would slur the letters. Even so, recalls Taylor, a Wheeling native, we were doing a game at Three Rivers Stadium last year, and the scoreboard read, Welcome, Toby! The relationship between the two is a close one. Toadie, says Taylor, is a dog-friend, just like a real good buddy. Toadie traveled with Taylor across the country and Taylor found the dog likes mountain climbing and hiking. Taylor plans to return next season but he said Toadie is not getting any younger. Even so, Taylor wants to entertain with Toadie, the Frisbee dog, as long as they both can. 25