Cathy Luchetti - Skidboot The Smartest Dog In The World

Skidboot

Skidboot

The Smartest

DOG

In The World

A True Story written by Cathy Luchetti

Based on the Screenplay by Joel Carpenter & Guillermo Machado

SKIDBOOT . Copyright 2013 by Naretev Publishing

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed "Attention: Permissions Coordinator," at the address below.

Naretev Publishing

2113 Wells Branch Pkwy

Suite 6700

Austin, Texas 78728

Cover artwork by Naretev Publishing

Cover design by Vlad Berea

Skidboot Photos Courtesy of Bob Ritchie and The Hartwig Family.

Reformatted for digital publication by www.eBookAdaptations.com

Publisher's Note: This story is based on Actual Events and although it is a work of nonfiction, some of the names, characters, places, and incidents have been fictionalized for privacy reasons. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Ordering Information:

Skidboot may be purchased for educational, business or promotional use. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others.

For more information contact the "Skidboot Sales Department" at the address above or by emailing Team Skidboot at

Copyright 2013 Naretev Publishing

All rights reserved.

ISBN-10: 0989417727

ISBN-13: 978-0-9894177-2-3

CONTENTS

In memory of my brother, Francis Colligan, who called me up a few years ago and said, Cathy, have you ever heard of a dog called Skidboot?

Author's Note: The warp and woof of Skidboot's life is true to factbut with a tweak or two. Chronology gives way to story, with the belief that a good narrative often creates its own detours. Many situations are conceived as possibilities within the story's context. Names are altered for the sake of privacy. Some good citizens of Quinlan, Texas might be fuddled by these changes, but consider this creative nonfiction, Texas style.

"I had long been of the opinion that dogs are much cleverer than men. I also believed that they could talk, and that only a certain obstinacy kept them from doing so."

Nikolai Gogol, ""Memoirs of a Madman"

"God gives you a dog, you do the responsible thing. He gives you an extra smart dog, you go where that leads you."

David Hartwig

FOREWORD

by

Dr. Steven "Bo" Keeley, Worldwide Veterinarian,

Commodities Consultant, World champion racquetball star, and author of

'Executive Hobo, Riding the American Dream'

I grew up sneaking kibble from dog dishes before becoming a veterinarian and consider my taste in canine books highly trained. This book is gourmet. A blend, not a mix because that wouldn't be authentic. This book recalls John McCormick's Fields and Pastures, James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small, and certainly Louis L'Amour's great story telling, along with a dash of scientific spice. Skidboot is the smartest dog in the world, a fictionalized biography that will have you scratching the kennels for pups that might grow up or be like the protagonist, and searching the bookshelves for more Cathy Luchetti animal stories and true westerns. Skidboot the real dog and Skidboot, the biography based on the screenplay, are destined to follow Lassie and Rin Tin Tin straight past Snoopy into the hearts of every reader and become the next mischievous, loveable and, yes, most intelligent, advisor to humankind.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to David Hartwig for freely sharing his story, for his candid reminiscences as well as many colorful, probing, psychological insights. To Joel and Guillermo, whose lively screenplay provided the roadmap, and to my son Zachary Luchetti, for editing advice and his ever-creative phrasing. Thanks to my husband, Peter Hadreas, for his loving support and excellent advice. And to Rebecca and Myles Colligan, niece and nephew. And to Veterinarian Steve Keeley, for his doggone helpful insights.

PROLOGUE

"Skidboot?" Oprah flashed her huge smile. The dog put out his paw. Oprah looked terrific in lavender while Skidboot's green kerchief wasn't bad. Dressing a dog for national television made David Hartwig uneasy, but so did everything else on this Tuesday morning on the Oprah show. Here he was anyway, nerves or not, and so was his dog. Better just get through it.

Reporters called his dog "Zen like," which might or might not be true. Skidboot had lockfire concentration and right now, he was frozen into pointer position, one paw curled up, nose straight, staring at the toy.

"What's he doing, David?" Oprah beamed another of her crowd-pleasing smiles.

"He's sneaking up on his toy." David choked back the word "ma'am" and smiled instead. "It may sound simple but he's got his own style." On command, Skidboot advanced in panther mode, belly low, stalking, eyes fixed, barely moving, not a muscle out of place. Inch by inch, he drew closer.

"Now stop."

The dog froze, eyes pinpoints.

By now everyone who tuned in knew that Skidboot was waiting for the count of three to magically break free and claim his toy.

"One two six seven fourteen twenty nine."

You could feel the frustration.

"...seventeen forty five- twelve..."

There were about 9 million more numeric combinations he could cite, but Hartwig could feel the crowd's anxiety as they watched the dog, frozen as a popsicle. They were anxious because they wanted the dog to do well, to not move, and to not screw up. They didn't trust that an animal could obey for this length of time. Hartwig looked bored with it all until softly, like an oversight, he slipped in "three."

Skidboot collapsed onto the toy. Oprah drew in her breath and clapped while five hundred people roared. David Hartwig stood there, stunned again, for the hundredth time, that he was on live television leading his Blue Heeler through his paces. Just a few weeks ago in a taxi heading down Fifth Avenue in New York, he told the cabbie that he was a simple man who lived in a double wide on a small ranch in a pit stop in Texas and had no idea what he was doing here. The cab driver nodded sympathetically but wasn't convinced. They were headed for NBC after all. Really?

The question that the cabbie didn't ask was bound to come up.

Oprah was the next one to ask it.

"David, how did you and Skidboot get started with all this?"

Slowly, as if on cue, Skidboot turned around and stared at David, almost as if Oprah had asked him the question. He stared long and hard, as if searching the man's face for an answer, and finding something familiar there, something that felt like what he wanted, Skidboot relaxed. And in that moment when the tension flowed out, everyone swears that the dog smiled.

David Hartwig was used to this and so was Skidboot. They looked at each other. It had been one heck of journey, and longer than a hound's tooth.

CHAPTER ONE

Heeler History

The Blue Heeler dropped her litter behind a granite outcropping in the Australian outback. She was agile, muscular, rank as a wolf. She turned and tongue-slapped her puppies into the world, grooming them with every lick, calming the tiny hearts that raced with excitement. The world made them squirm--Grass! Sky! Wind!--but her tongue relaxed them, helped them secrete more digestive juices to better absorb food, while their bodies rocked in a healing sea of neurochemicals. These chemicals are not much different than those the pharmaceutical world buys and sells: beta-endorphins, oxytocins and more. Soon she pushed them aside and stood up, shaking her pelt. Her tail hung at a slight curve. Her feet were round with short toes. Her skull was broad with wide-set ears, but her coat marked her as a Heeler, generally known as an Australian cattle dog. She wore a smooth, dense coat of frosty grey and black, oddly speckled with blue. She glanced down at the pups and almost sneered. Poor things. They were solid white. It would be months before their beautiful speckled coats grew in.