Skydiving Dog

[bill2 0]

and of course somebody is protesting this.
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Animal lovers are howling over a skydiving Florida dog.




The parachuting Dachshund — known as Brutus the Skydiving Dog — is to perform at this weekend's Air and Space Show at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

"What we feel is this is cruelty to animals," said Shirley Cram, shelter director and treasurer for the Volunteers for Inter-valley Animals. "It's exploiting the dog. It certainly isn't fun for that dog to jump out of that plane."

Brutus' skydiving partner disagrees.

"He gets all excited when I'm getting my gear ready," said Ron Sirull of Delray Beach, Fla., contending Brutus enjoys his aerial activities. He added, "He's totally up for it."

Sirull said his dog's veterinarian has signed off the activity being safe for Brutus.

"There's always a misconception that Brutus jumps by himself," said Sirull, adding the dog is tucked into a special pouch affixed to his owner's chest.

Brutus also dons custom-made goggles for what Sirull calls his "fleafall." While Sirull has 1,000 jumps, Brutus has logged 100.

"That's equal to 700 jumps in dog years," said Sirull.

[weegegirl 2]

I think I might actually agree with the animal rights people here. I've thought about this in the past, when a student suggested taking his own dog for a skydive. I spoke out that it was dead wrong. I guess it sounds like this dog DOES enjoy it. The whole thing is questionable. I guess I'd have to see it for myself.

[goose491 0]

While I can see that many dogs would absolutely DREAD this, I say the the skydiver who owns the dog likely knows best. I can tell if my dog is happy or not happy.. Screw the 'Animal Lovers'.

Those who say "it certainly isn't fun for that dog to jump out of that plane" should spend a little time and watch before they speak as I assume they have not.

I know a friend who designed and built an elaborate SCUBA suit for his Golden Lab including a large glass dome which fits over her head. She loves walking on the bottom of the lake. She's been to 60ft for over half an hour!

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[happythoughts 0]

Attached is a pic of Robin Wilcox and his dog Pud.
Pud used to ride around the convention on the gas tank of Robin's scooter.
A short clip of them skydiving was used in "Cutaway" in the collage sequence in the beginning of the film.

[Spy38W 0]

I have seen that dog jump a few times, and can honestly say that I think he enjoys it.

--
Hook high, flare on time

[weegegirl 2]

I have to say that that picture IS adorable. I'm open minded. Maybe I was a bit wrong at first to think that this was not a good idea at all. I agree with he who said the owner knows best. I am one of those awful animal lovers. I just want them all to be happy. You know? That dog looks happy. So therefor, I guess it's okay in my book. Thanks for sharing and shedding some light.

[Push 0]

They are probably claiming that it's not fun for the dog cause it wouldn't be fun for them. Just transferring their own fear to a situation they can deal with.
Damn, a skydiving dog would be cool. We have two dogs at our DZ. One is called Sabre, probably after the canopy. He doesn't skydive though, he just steals peoples burgers
If gerbils skydive, why not dogs?

[happythoughts 0]

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They are probably claiming that it's not fun for the dog cause it wouldn't be fun for them. Just transferring their own fear to a situation they can deal with.

A lot of the complainers just want to get their organization name in the paper.
More contributions. Whining is a business too.
I don't know how you tell if a dog is happy. Mine never wanted to discuss it.
If they claim to know, maybe we don't need to listen to them as carefully.

[goose491 0]

The dog in the pic is jumping from a helicopter!!! I would disagree with anyone who wanted to take their dog on a jump from still-air unless they already knew the dog loves the sport...

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Damn, a skydiving dog would be cool. We have two dogs at our DZ. One is called Sabre...

Hey man, you must jump at Skydive Toronto?! NEVER try to save your burger if Saber is trying to steal it... Brads burgers are good but not worth the loss of your hand lol

Good to see another STI jumper in the forums

Nick

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Brisco 0]

Both of my dogs pretty much let me know what they like and don't like. If I say the word "ride", the get all excited and run to the car. If I say the word "bath", they run and hide. Pretty obvious to me!!! Just a couple of weekends ago I took both dogs to the beach - and both let me know in no uncertain terms that they didn't like the ocean water - and one of them is a Golden Retriever! And I already know better than to even suggest skydiving to either one of them!! lol

Brisco

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

[Push 0]

You can't ask the dog, but a good owner will know whether the dog likes it or not. People that went as far as to get a custom harness for their mans-best-friend probably really care, and also know the animal well. Well enough to tell when it's so scared it's about to have heart failure.
Besides, you know how dogs love to stick their heads out of the windows of moving cars? Always makes me nervous when I'm driving by
Not disagreeing, just venting. People don't know anything about the sport, don't want to learn, but are telling the participants what to do.

[Push 0]

Nick? Don't tell me you were there last sunday on the overcast day, cussing at the weather. I'm Eugene. Me and Anton are there pretty much every weekend.

[christoofar 0]

In all seriousness, the freefall portion of the skydiving is cruel to the dog, mostly because they are EXTREMELY sensetive listeners, and the high howling wind hurts their ears.

I would not mind it at all to see an owner hop-and-pop with their dog, I bet the dog LOVES the canopy ride almost as much as dogs love sticking their heads outside car windows!

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[happythoughts 0]

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Besides, you know how dogs love to stick their heads out of the windows of moving cars? Always makes me nervous when I'm driving by

Yeah. So why does it piss them off if you blow in their face? Or is it just my breath?
My dog fav dog trick was "dead dog". Instead of "lie down", we would act like we were shooting him and say "dead dog" and he would lie down. A friend comes over and I ask "Would you rather be Mike or a dead dog?" He falls over dead. My friends says "Hey...ask him again."
Every time I ask my dogs opinion, he seems to ignore me, but sends me an email later. That's courteous I think.

[billvon 3,090]

>In all seriousness, the freefall portion of the skydiving is cruel to the
> dog, mostly because they are EXTREMELY sensetive listeners, and
> the high howling wind hurts their ears.

As entire breeds of dogs were bred to stand next to hunters with shotguns, I have a hard time believing that freefall noise is more damaging to them than to humans.

[christoofar 0]

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>In all seriousness, the freefall portion of the skydiving is cruel to the
> dog, mostly because they are EXTREMELY sensetive listeners, and
> the high howling wind hurts their ears.

As entire breeds of dogs were bred to stand next to hunters with shotguns, I have a hard time believing that freefall noise is more damaging to them than to humans.

bill, let's tape an airhorn to your ear and blow it for 30 seconds and tell me that's not cruel.

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[goose491 0]

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Nick? Don't tell me you were there last sunday on the overcast day, cussing at the weather. I'm Eugene. Me and Anton are there pretty much every weekend.

No, I haven't been in about a month! (holding back tears) Money, weather, and 'other' plans (perhaps other should be repalced by others) have kept me from going. Perhaps this weekend though. Gotta get some in before the snow.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[goose491 0]

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In all seriousness, the freefall portion of the skydiving is cruel to the dog, mostly because they are EXTREMELY sensetive listeners, and the high howling wind hurts their ears.

I would not mind it at all to see an owner hop-and-pop with their dog, I bet the dog LOVES the canopy ride almost as much as dogs love sticking their heads outside car windows!

When was the last time YOU stuck your head out the window of a speeding car (I do it all the time

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Push 0]

This weekend promises to be crappy again I may come up on Sunday, at least to get a few more supervised packs done, if anyone's gonna be there. Maybe meet you there.

[pilotdave 0]

watch the videos and tell me that dog isnt having the time of his life:

ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public/misc/doggy1.mpg
ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public/misc/doggy2.mpg

(about 2 megs each). That dog is loving it.

Dave

[goose491 0]

Those links did not work for me

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[airann 1]

Couple of things here- Brutis has a contract for his jumps, rental car, overnight stay in hotel and (dont quote me on this but $1500 a jump). I once saw the actual contract. Also, he is completely covered in a T-shirt. His owner falls butt down to avoid too much air on the dog. Also the guy did several jumps with Brutis in one day to raise money for some local animal shelter. He has been "approved" to skydive by an animal agency. I cant remember one. In my opinion this is a commercial thing. Maybe the owner/dog started out doing whatever, but now they open race tracks and show up for events.

PUD was the original and so was Robin. In my opinion they skydived for the love of the sport. Nothing else. I have video that Dead Mike took and its wonderful to see them both jumping on a trampoline. You can plainly see that PUD is devoted to Robin.

I have been talking about taking a dog out ever since I started jumping. It has to be the right dog in combination with trust and a lot of training. I have experimented with several breeds and it takes a lot of work and patience -and- a rigger who will make a rig. I asked 3 and got HELL NO, then I told them it was not for the Great Dane. But still, you need a vet to give the ok first before any riggers around here would work with me on his rig.

Before I broke stuff in my leg, Flea Flyer was on level #3. 1)Intro to DZ (& CReW dogs!!!), 2)Intro to Plane, 3)Intro to Prop Blast and door. I wasnt sure of Flea then but he was 3-4 months old (see picture). The key I believe is an early start. He would have worked out I think with alot of training. I even thought out a plan for his cutaway if I was going in. Basically it was a drogue. But it was complicated.

My Great Dane was raised in the prop blast, however the breed was wrong. But he got petted while we all waited on our loads. And children hung from his tail and everything else. A DZ is a good place to socialize a dog. But that doesnt make him a skydiver.

A skydiving dog doesnt come around too often, neither does a guy like Robin Wilcox. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I certainly always wanted to see his rig, (PUD's)

I am still working on a new guy that arrived on Sun evening and its iffy but the Dachshund / Chihuahua might work out. Certainly the Shih Tzu is too heavy and Flea missed his chance as both are too old. 10 months = Olav ZipsTer and Flea is 1 year.

This taken from Wreck Dot. You can search there and read more on the Original Real Skydiving Dog and its one of a kind owner, Robin Wilcox of Dallas.

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1997/09/21 The most unique guy I know in skydiving was Robin Wilcox. Robin was recently killed in a landing accident. His skydiving antics are only one of the many reasons this incredible man will be remembered.

Robin had a dog named Pud (the slang for a type of main parachute deployment devise). Pud is small and extremely people oriented. Robin and Pud had made over 60 jumps together in tandem prior to Robin's accident. They had been featured on several skydiving related publications and were known by jumpers everywhere they went.

Robin and Pud had several habits they thought were normal - we thought were cool. Pud would often ride on the hood of master's truck while cruising down the driveway of whatever drop zone they were at. A pretty neat site to see a guy's dog as a hood orniment! They also did duo on Robin's moter scooter with Pud riding hind legs on Robin's lap and front paws on the handlebars.

Robin also experimented with landing rollar blades (not with Pud) and was the only guy I know to ride a uni-cycle in freefall, land with it, relaease the parachute, and ride away on the uni-cycle!!

To say they were an awesome team is an understatement. And Robin must come from good blood. A few weeks after his death, his father came to our drop zone and made a tandem skydive with Rabbitt, one of Robin's good friends while his mother came to watch. We were honored.

If there is a skydiver I know worthy of print, it is Robin. Just jump on the newsgroup and ask for stories of Robin and Pud. You'll have more great
stuff than you can handle.

Ask about who Robin was and what people thought of him and you will never get through all the loving mail.

Chuck Akers -SKYDIVE USA -"for the sport"

More on Robin and Pud-

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Sky-diving photographer killed doing job he loved
06/16/97
By Andy Kehoe / The Dallas Morning News

Robin Wilcox liked living on the edge - riding motorcycles, flying airplanes, climbing water towers, family members say. And the Dallas man managed to turn one of those daredevil hobbies, sky diving, into a career. He would routinely jump out of
airplanes - often with his dog, Pudd - to take photos and videos of sky divers.

He was working with Skydive Chicago near Ottawa, Ill., 80 miles southwest of Chicago, on Thursday when something went wrong during a routine jump and photo assignment.

Mr. Wilcox's chute opened, but "he was just coming in too fast," said his father, Jack H. Wilcox Sr. of Huntsville, Texas. "There was a malfunction of some sort, and nothing could slow him down."

He landed hard, puncturing his lungs, breaking both legs and one of his arms and incurring severe internal bleeding, his father said.

Robin Wilcox died a few hours later at a Peoria, Ill., hospital. He was 44. Pudd was not with him on the jump.

A memorial service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Life Community Church in Sunnyvale.

And on June 28, local sky divers will meet at Skydive Dallas in the Grayson County town of Whitewright for an aerial tribute to Mr. Wilcox. They will dive from a plane, assemble in a traditional midair formation and scatter his son's ashes.

Pudd also will make the jump, family members said.

Jack Wilcox said his son, a licensed pilot, had been sky diving about 15 years and had made almost 3,000 jumps.

"This was his enjoyment that blossomed into a job," the father said. "He would get hired by different people, mostly by word-of-mouth. And it's a very good business.

"He just got hooked on it, like some people get hooked on playing golf or tennis."

Robin Wilcox began his sky-diving photo career several years ago with Skydive Dallas.

He worked with a camera mounted on his helmet, his father said, documenting first-time divers and special occasions. He traveled the United States in his job and had several of his pictures published in
magazines.

Robin Wilcox also won acclaim for his sky-diving tandem routine with Pudd the Wonder Dog, a Benji look-alike whom Mr. Wilcox adopted as a stray.

Their act was approved by both the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Federal Aviation Administration, Jack Wilcox said, and was written up in numerous magazines.

"It was mostly for entertainment and fun," Jack Wilcox said. "He wanted to have something unique."

In addition to his father, Robin Wilcox is survived by his mother, Irene Wilcox of Huntsville, and three brothers, Danny Wilcox of Dallas and Jack "Jackie" Wilcox and Tony Wilcox, both of Mesquite.

One in a million. I wish I could have met this man.

Well, as we can see both animals were approved to skydive by various organizations.

~AirAnn~

[TheBile 0]

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If gerbils skydive, why not dogs?

Right on, Dude !

Gerb

I stir feelings in others they themselves don't understand. KA'CHOW !

[happythoughts 0]

Great post. Met him at Quincy. Pudd was riding around on the front of his scooter. You meet the greatest people in this sport. Thanks again for the post.

[ernokaikkonen 0]

>watch the videos and tell me that dog isnt having the time of his life:

Those were great! The dog's just chilling it in the burble of the jumper, scoping out the video guy flying around them... absolutely hilarious.