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Shelter dog competes at Farm Fair
DockDogs® events are scheduled through the fair, to be held July 30 through Aug. 2 at the Harford County Equestrian Center on Tollgate Road. As a tiny pup, Midas had a broken leg when he arrived at the Harford County Humane Society. Kris Nesbitt of Conowingo adopted Midas in December of 2005, shortly after Midas’ cast was removed. “I saw him first on the Internet and somebody was holding him and he had his cast and I thought, ‘He’s coming home with me’,” Nesbitt said. “I like underdogs. I’m not the type of person who needs to tell people I’ve got a purebred. As long as the dog and I get along, that’s all that matters to me.” Midas was placed in foster care to convalesce. The Nesbitts were invited to the home to meet Midas. Nesbitt said, “When I pulled up, he came running out, hobbling and jumping on me. That was it.” Midas now weighs in at a strapping 101 pounds and loves his practices for DockDogs® competitions. The Farm Fair event was his first. “Midas is fanatical about the water. If you throw it short, he will submerge himself completely to get it and come to the top. I didn’t train him to do it, he just does it,” he said. Midas has another trick Farm Fair visitors might catch. Nesbitt claims Midas smiles. “We’ll ride in the truck to the store and when I park people will ask me, ‘Hey, did you know your dog just smiled at me?’” Nesbitt said. The adoption has been so successful, Nesbitt adopted another shelter dog, this one from It’s a Ruff Life in Cecil County, for his wife, Wendy. Nittnay, also a yellow lab mix, was rescued from Kentucky. DockDogs® is an independent governing and sanctioning body for regional, national and international dock jumping performance sport for dogs. The grassroots sport traces its roots to the 2000 ESPN Great Outdoor Games, during which Big Air Dogs – a filler event – became a crowd favorite. Organizers say the sport is gaining in popularity because “people like to do something with their dog that doesn’t require loads of time and training” and “anyone with a dog and a fetch toy can participate.” To learn more, go to www.dockdogs.com. The Humane Society of Harford County, Inc., is a non-profit, 501 c 3 charitable organization dedicated to the welfare and well-being of Harford County’s animals. Through the organization’s Web site at www.harfordshelter.org, visitors can read about animals available for adoption, read and place pet memorials, learn how to volunteer and support the shelter and more. Call 410-836-1090 for more information.
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Listen for woofs and splashes along with the moos, clucks, oinks, quacks and whinnies at Harford County’s Farm Fair this weekend. Midas, a yellow lab adopted from the 