Named after the Dodge Dakota pickup truck, this 18 pound Miniature Silver Phantom Poodle causes quite a stir any time he comes out to play Flyball. Why? Because High Speed Low Drag Dakota is as tough a competitor as any and, well, he’s a Poodle. There just aren’t that many Poodles tearing up the race lanes in Flyball. To make things even more interesting, his owner/handler is a man.

Jimmy Carter grew up with a Miniature Poodle who lived to be 20 years old; the Poodle died a month before Jimmy went into the Navy. It made perfect sense, then, that he would want another one when he got hooked on Flyball. Jimmy’s Mom, Linda, the owner of Dependable Paws Flyball club in Sarasota, Florida, runs Casey, a Toy Poodle, that is currently the #1 NAFA™ and #1 U-FLI™ Toy Poodle. Watching Casey, and his background with Poodles while growing up, made Jimmy want one when he decided to start playing Flyball.

Dakota was born in Oregon and came to Florida from Orista Poodles by way of Feather & Fur Van Lines at the tender age of 11 weeks. Dakota comes from a long line of American and International Champions, but it wasn’t the pedigree that got them, it was the look in his eye that made the Carters select him.

“The “look” is not something we can put into words,” Linda said. “But when we see it, we recognize it.” According to Linda, a dog trainer, the look implies intelligence, versatility, and athleticism and a will to do whatever is asked.

Poodles were originally bred as water retrievers. Dakota was a breeze to train and caught on very quickly. He began his training in September 2002 and earned a spot on the team for his first tournament in early February 2003. According to his adoring fans, he has total ball focus, is left-pawed and has an awesome box turn.

“Dakota was born to play Flyball,” Jimmy said. “He runs on auto pilot. I just turn him loose and he’s gone.” According to Jimmy, Dakota will run for any one, in any position, any time, anywhere, in singles, pairs or on a team. “He’s a good training dog for people who want to learn how to play Flyball.”

Jimmy admires Dakota’s consistency most of all. “He varies the least amount out of all of our dogs,” he said. “If he’s not running a consistent 4.6 – 4.7 all day long, it’s because I’ve messed up, not him.”

But don’t let his robotic demeanor mislead you. At six months old Dakota could leap five feet straight up into the air and take a tennis ball out of Jimmy’s hand at shoulder height. He said his nickname was Pogo Puppy because of the height of his stunning acrobatic jumps.

“Dakota does two things,” Jimmy explained. “He kicks back in his rocking chair and watches the Animal Planet or he’s playing Flyball. Those are really the only two things he likes to do. He’s a couch potato with an amazing ball drive.”

In his second tournament at the young age of 13 months, he earned the distinction of being the 1st Miniature Poodle in NAFA history to earn over 1165 points in a single tournament. In just nine short months of racing, he earned his NAFA Flyball Master title. But the accomplishment that really stands out the most is being the team’s height dog and leading his team into earning the distinction of being the first-ever 2006 U-FLI National Flyball Division 5 Champions and winning against some of the nation’s best teams. And in doing so, his team clocked a New Personal Best Team Time of 18.717 seconds, Dakota clocked a New Personal Best U-FLI Time of 4.532 seconds and 99% of Dakota’s times were in the 4-second range.

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