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“Jump, The Ultimate Dog Show,” trained dogs that have become staples of Las Vegas extravaganzas, sporting events, and half-time shows, is bringing non-stop action to all three days of the San Benito County Fair.
Billed as the “X-Games for dogs,” perhaps the most remarkable thing about these performers is their origin story: almost all have been rescued from lonely lives in animal shelters and now perform for audiences across the United States and around the globe.
Lou “Mack” McCammon, the owner of Cool Dog Productions, has been working with trained dogs since 1982 after giving up a full-time job as a framing contractor.
“I saw a Frisbee dog competition in Davis, California,” he said. “There were about 50,000 people there, and it looked pretty cool. I thought I would get a dog and try it.”
The winning dog was Feet, an Australian shepherd. McCammon decided that was the breed he needed to find if he was going to be successful. After a lengthy search, he settled on a puppy he found in Sacramento.
“As he was growing up,” he said, “he had this insane drive for chasing, tugging, night and day, 24/7. He was obsessed. I named him ‘Scooter, the Wonder Dog,’ and as he got older, he started looking like that dog that won the competition.”
McCammon began an intense training routine at 4 a.m., with his truck’s headlights as the only light until the sun rose. When he entered Scooter in his first competition, Feet was also there.
“I told his owner, you’re by inspiration,” he said. “And Scooter won hands-down. He was only about six or seven months old, and suddenly, he was the talk of the competition.”
McCammon entered Scooter in the Ashley Whippet Invitationals, one of the sport’s major competitions, and took first place there as well. That led to a chance to do a halftime show for the (then) San Diego Chargers.
“I was hooked,” he said. “I was getting all these calls and making more money than working full-time as a framer.”
McCammon and Scooter won a regional championship next but fell short of the world championship. But he remained popular on the circuit.
“I started traveling in a big dog show as a variety act,” he said, “and we did a lot of fairs. The next year, we won the world championship and did it again the year after that.”
His next stop was a two-year residency in Las Vegas as the open act for the Tournament of Kings Medieval joust at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. He picked up Kirby, another Australian shepherd, and formed a tandem act with Scooter. McCammon began working with Purina on a marketing program called the Incredible Dog Challenge and soon was responsible for seven other teams.
“After ten years, I ventured off on my own,” he said. “I had a really big show, and I was the only one doing a lot of what we did. We’re going to do some of it here at the fair: Frisbee tricks, novelty tricks, head-to-head, around the barrel, weave pole racing.”
Along the way, McCammon started adding rescue dogs to his troupe after discovering that abandoned dogs were perfect matches for his performances.
“Most of the time, they are there just because they have so much energy,” he said. “We take that energy and use it for what we train them for. And it typically works out well.”
McCammon encourages people to visit the shelters and carefully research the dogs they find there.
“The good thing about shelters is that most dogs there are not puppies anymore,” he said. “You already know what you’re getting. Get on the internet and do your homework. There’s a lot of good shelters, and there’s a lot of good dogs there.”
Kathy Puthoff, who has been with Hollister’s Pet Friends and Rescue for seven years, said that about 50 dogs a year come through the shelter, which is only designed to hold eight at a time.
“A lot of the dogs we get were taken on as a pup and not taken care of properly,” she said. “They might have been kept in a yard, and nobody spent time with them. Everybody wants a puppy, but when they get bigger, people will bring them to the shelter.”
The dogs at Pet Friends are selected from those at the Hollister Animal Shelter and given time to adjust to their new settings before placement is attempted.
“They all come to us with stress and issues,” Puthoff said. “We need them to settle down before we can get an idea of their personalities.”
Regardless of any issues, Pet Friends does not give up on the dogs they select for placement.
“We never put them down,” she said. “We just keep trying to find the right place for them. We’ve had some for as long as two years but eventually found them a home.”
McCammon said he visits shelters as he travels, always looking for some special dog to add to his troupe.
“When you rescue a dog,” he said, “it is almost as if they know you have given them a second chance. They give you unconditional love, and they become the best partners.”
“Jump, The Ultimate Dog Show” will be performed on Oct. 4 (at 2:00, 3:30, and 5:00 p.m.), Oct. 5 (at 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.) and Oct. 6 (at 12:00, 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.). Cool Dog Productions can be found on YouTube and Facebook. Pet Friends and Rescue is located at 2975 Buena Vista Road in Hollister and can be reached at 831-634-1191.
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