Top dog in flying disc fetching

Article by: KRISTIN TILLOTSON , Star Tribune
Updated: October 4, 2010 - 3:48 PM

Local dog catches a mouthful -- and a Guinness World Record.

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Rose has an issue with letting go, and it's won her an international title.

Like many high-energy mutts, this five-year-old Labrador retriever/border collie mix loves a good game of Frisbee. Unlike the rest, she can catch and hold onto up to seven tossed discs -- thrown separately -- without dropping a one.

Rose's owner, Ed Watson of northeast Minneapolis, sent a video clip to the compilers of the Guinness Book of World Records last year, then traveled to Toronto last fall for a field test to prove Rose's unusual talent to the judges.

Man and dog are now pictured in the recently published 2011 edition of the popular reference book, keeper of records mundane and bizarre.

While Rose was opening her mouth wide, Watson had to keep his shut. He knew more than a year ago that Rose had won but couldn't talk about it until the new book was published in September.

A friend who got Rose as a puppy at the Animal Humane Society gave her to Watson five years ago after seeing how the two had bonded.

She is the first dog that Watson, 43, a personal trainer, has had.

Rose's personality is a combo of "the frenetic energy of a border collie and the goofy loyalty of a lab," he said.

He got the idea of bringing several discs along on their park excursions after he noticed that she managed to hold onto two. He said that her training was "really more just playing; it's just what she likes to do."

No matter the weather, Rose gets her flying disc fix 365 days a year. Her specialty move is a one-legged leaping pirouette as she turns to catch a flying saucer she's gotten ahead of.

"She doesn't like to let go when she's got a lot of them," Watson said, recalling that the first time she was able to keep her jaws clamped around seven Frisbees, she refused to drop them for a re-throw and hopped into the car with all seven still in her mouth. "I like to think she knew what she'd accomplished."

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046

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