Tad Bowen is rolling out the green carpet.
Bowen, 50, of Cranesville, Erie County, will set up a football-field's worth of Astroturf on West Station Square Drive tomorrow for three performances of America's Best Frisbee Dogs during the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta.
The Frisbee-hawking hounds have performed at the regatta for much of this decade, but nary a year passes that Bowen doesn't hear, "How'd you get them to do that?"
"I thought maybe the enthusiasm would die out, but it hasn't," said Bowen, whose brother and aunt live in the Pittsburgh area. "It's like watching a wide receiver make a great play on a football. These dogs make spectacular catches and spectacular leaps."
So much so that trainers can't start the pooches pouncing until they are 1 year old. Otherwise, the dogs could seriously hurt themselves, Bowen said.
And to think getting Fido to roll over is a monumental task at home. Bowen's dogs will sprint 50 yards and leap off his back to track down flying saucers.
Training takes months, sometimes years, and requires plenty of patience, praise and play-drive, said Bowen and partner Bill Camp, 58, of Cassopolis, Mich., who established America's Best Frisbee Dogs.
"If your dog will fetch a tennis ball or squeaky toy, he will probably fetch a Frisbee," said Camp, whose dogs have performed at Steelers games and will again this fall. "I tell people (interested in training) to go to a dog pound and find the dog that's trying to jump out of the pen.
"You've got to have an athletic dog."
Additional Information:
America's Best Frisbee Dogs
Showtimes: 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. tomorrow
Where: West Station Square Drive, Station Square
