Genius Inspired Dog Names

On Christmas Eve 1992, a farrier named David Hartwig was working on horses at a barn in Texas when he saw a litter of small puppies. The young pups had been born to a stray dog that had shown up at the barn. David had not gotten his wife a present for Christmas so he thought that a puppy would be the perfect choice for a holiday gift. He looked closely at the puppies and picked one out. After David left the barn and was headed home when he started to second guess his choice. He turned the auto around and drove back to the barn. At the barn, he picked out a puppy that was standing away from the other dogs. Something just caught his eye about the pup. 

David named the youngster, 'Skidboot' after a protective boot horses wear on their hind legs during barrel racing. Skidboot took to ranch life easily. He was a natural. David said in an interview about Skidboot,  “He did his job. He did it perfectly and I didn’t have to teach him.”

During Skidboot's first year of life, he was always getting into trouble. David even considered giving the pup away. However, he decided to take Skidboot on the road with him while he worked as a farrier. The duo developed a deep relationship. 

Skidboot was like a sponge who learned anything and everything. David said,  “Well, I never did like to call it tricks. He didn’t do a trick, he just did what I said. I never did count, he was still trying to learn new things till his dying day. He was obsessive about trying to please me. He was constantly trying to be a human being. He just liked the challenge. You know that “sneaking up on the ball and backing away” thing he became famous for? I don’t think a lot of people understood what that was about. That was about me trying to tell him what to do and then trying to trick him to see if he could keep from getting messed up. His goal was not so much to do what I said, but to prove to me I couldn’t trick him. He loved to be challenged.”

When the dog was ten years old, he appeared on an episode of Animal Planet’s Pet Star and won the top spot. Skidboot would often perform on television shows, online, and at local events such as fairs. On March 25, 2007, the passed away at the age of 14.