Four-legged Frisbee fun on furlough for Douglas’ Fourth


Butch the black lab holds a disc in his mouth for his owner, Eric Scott, during the Super Dog Frisbee Contest in Douglas on July 4, 2016. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
Butch the black Lab holds a disc in his mouth for his owner, Eric Scott, during the Super Dog Frisbee Contest in Douglas on July 4, 2016. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

For the first time in years, dogs and their two-legged friends won’t be able to compete in Gastineau Humane Society’s annual Super Dog Frisbee contest in Douglas on the Fourth of July.

Gastineau Humane Society’s deputy director Samantha Blankenship said the contest has been a staple for at least 10 years.

The society says it has discontinued the event because of volunteer and staffing issues, and it wants to focus on other events.

The event had some special meaning for a black Lab named Butch and his handlers, who placed in the last two Fourth of July contests.

Bob Costas once said that what makes the Olympics transcend sports were the athletes’ stories, and they don’t have to be champions.

Butch, a 7-year-old black Lab, sort of has one of those stories.

“We adopted Butch when he was 4 years old. And at the time, he weighed 108 pounds,” his owner Eric Scott said. “In the first year that we had him, he lost about 40 pounds.”

Forty pounds! Scott said the weight came off as he and his wife, Brandy, took Butch along on runs and hikes and bike rides, and by watching his diet.

“Then it turned out he still had a lot of puppy left in him,” Scott said. “Went from hardly being able to really jump off his two front paws to being able to go four paws up in the air and grab the Frisbee while it’s flying.”

At Butch’s first Super Dog Frisbee contest in 2015, he and Eric won.

Brandy Scott remembers Butch wearing a bright yellow bandana that day.

“For the rest of the day, everyone recognized him because of his yellow bandana,” she said. “He was kind of a small town celebrity for the rest of the day on Douglas. People recognized him as we walked up and down got food and congratulated him, so that was really neat.”

By July 4, 2016, the defending champ had gotten a little older, and the competition was a little stiffer.

A hundred spectators or so ringed the infield of a baseball diamond for the contest.

Butch’s competitors were a motley bunch. There was a sheltie that earned bonus points for returning the disc and shaking hands with its owner, and a poodle who was docked points because it wouldn’t return the disc.

When it’s their turn, Eric and Butch trot over to home plate.

With each throw of the floppy disc, Butch takes off across the infield. And each time, as the gap in between the disc and dog closes, the crowd collectively and vicariously rumbles in a crescendo of tension that erupts into a vicarious gush of “Woos!” and applause.

Butch looks solid.

“Good boy, good boy,” Eric tells Butch when he returns the disc.

After the last toss, the judges sound off.

From left to right, judges Kevin Bornemann, Kristie Ely and Ethan Hubbard raise signs to award points in the Super Dog Frisbee Contest in Douglas on July 4, 2016.
From left to right, judges Kevin Bornemann,
Kristie Ely and Ethan Hubbard raise signs to award points in the Super Dog Frisbee Contest in Douglas on July 4, 2016. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

“He did awesome!”
“He did great! Super excited about it.”
“Two jumps, all four legs off!”
“I know, and then that last one, he had to reach it? I mean, that was impressive. Way to go buddy.”

But, there’s another competitor. A final contestant is announced over a bullhorn: “Lota, with (his) owner, Scott. Scott and Lota, ready?”

Lota is a 3-year-old yellow Lab, and even before the first toss, it’s clear he’s in a league of his own athletically. Lota is so eager, he literally leaps up to eye height with his owner, Scott Forbes.

And Forbes doesn’t hold back when he throws the disc. He really lets it rip, and Lota is a crowd-pleaser.

A small child yells, “He won!”

And the kid was right. Lota easily takes first place with the judges. Butch gets third.

These days, Butch is still a healthy 70 pounds, but at 7-and-a-half years old, he’s getting grayer in the muzzle.

Eric Scott said it’s a bummer there won’t be a Frisbee contest this year.

This Fourth, Butch will be overseeing a pancake feed at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center and may walk in a parade wearing some University of Alaska Southeast schwag.

Blankenship said the contest could come back in the future.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

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