A Real Go-Getter : Dog Displays Fetching Form in Practice for Frisbee Finals

Owen Boy is a ham, a border collie who plays to the audience.

Toss him a Frisbee, and he doesn’t just catch it--he’ll twirl 360 degrees and nab it on the rebound. Ask him for a Coke at home in Anaheim, and he’ll nudge open the refrigerator, grab a can in his mouth and bring it to you. Make a gunfire noise, and he’ll play dead--even at a full-speed gallop.

On Sept. 16, Owen’s showdogship will be put to the test at the Friskies Canine Frisbee Disc World Finals in Washington, D.C., with 13 other dogs and owners who will compete as teams at the 21st annual competition. Oh, sure, Soaring Sam of Covina is the one to beat, a two-time world champ who locks in on a flying disc with the precision of a heat-seeking missile.

But Owen, a 3-year-old first-time world championship competitor who noses his person awake at 6 a.m. to go play Frisbee, is the one to watch, says his owner, Pon Saradeth, 33.

“You play Frisbee with him, you make his day,” Saradeth said. “That’s what he lives for--to play Frisbee.”

Owen can’t stop playing. Leave him alone, and he’ll grab a rubber ball, toss it into the air with his nose and then catch it. Leave him alone too long, and he’ll grab a Frisbee and bring it to you, his golden eyes begging.

Give him applause, and his turns are that much sharper, his jumps a little higher.

“He likes the crowd, the noise,” Saradeth said. “He just likes to show off.”

Saradeth, a hairstylist, is the same way. He has watched Soaring Sam, an 8-year-old Australian sheep dog, in his glory days, with the two-page People magazine photo layout and the appearance on David Letterman’s “Late Show.”

“Fascinating,” Saradeth said of the public’s fascination with dog Frisbee. “I wanna be there, you know?”

Soaring Sam’s owner, 32-year-old Gary Suzuki of Covina, conceded that Saradeth is an up-and-coming competitor.

“If he’s on,” Suzuki said, “he can be the one [to win]. He’s definitely got the skills, and his dog has the athletic ability.”

Saradeth and his dog practice from 45 to 90 minutes each day for the championship title and top prize of a $1,000 savings bond. The dogs are judged on showmanship, leaping ability, degree of difficulty and execution.

On a recent day at Sycamore Park, the two practiced under a punishing midday sun. Owen’s ear perked up the minute he saw Saradeth pull five white Frisbees from his gym bag. Saradeth plucked a few blades of grass and let them fly, to test the wind. Owen crouched, his eyes never off the Frisbees, his tail still.

Owen sprinted after each throw, trying to catch the Frisbee in midair; Saradeth tried for throws of 40 yards or more. After each throw, Owen retrieved the Frisbee and then circled his owner. A herding instinct--get the job done, go back for more.

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Saradeth is still finalizing their free-flight routine for competition--a 90-second choreographed performance to music. The routine is a snappy, crowd-pleasing series of maneuvers. In one move, the two face each other while Owen mimics his owner: Saradeth rolls right; the dog rolls right. Saradeth crawls; the dog crawls. In another, Owen leaps over Saradeth’s back to catch a Frisbee.

Owen first learned to track Frisbees by watching Saradeth pull the discs on a rope via a makeshift pulley from tree to tree. Then he mastered the tricky butterfly maneuver, in which he catches a spinning Frisbee in his mouth. Then he practiced catching 30 Frisbees in 30 seconds. Now, said Saradeth, they’re ready for the world championship.

“I’m not worried about it,” Saradeth said. “I know we’ll do well.”