“It’s like owning a kangaroo!” said Howard Seim IV of Fort Collins about what it’s like living with Endo, the amazing jumping dog.
Endo, a 6-year-old black Labrador, loves to jump. He charmed the internet in December when a video of his pogo-stick-like jumping garnered more than a hundred thousand views on YouTube and Facebook and was shared by both national and international news organizations.
The Seim family said Endo has been this way all his life: he was bred for field trials, competitive events for hunting dogs. Endo (or Fat Tire’s Final Folly, as he would have been known as a show dog) has genes that made him thin, energetic and athletic, said his “mother,” Martha Seim.
“It’s something he’s always done,” Martha said. “(He does it with) pretty much anyone. Our meter readers. The FedEx guy. In fact, they now throw treats out of their cars, even when they’re not stopping by our house.”
Endo’s claim to fame came as a result of his apparently overjoyed reaction to being at Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins, where his “father,” Howard Seim III, has been a professor of small animal surgery at CSU for 35 years. Howard III said he has only seen one other dog jump like Endo: Endo’s sister, Bonnie.
“But, only two out of the eight (siblings) did it,” Howard III said.
But, while Bonnie was successfully trained to avoid jumping, the most that the Seims have been able to instill into Endo is to jump up, not out — sometimes, Martha said. Endo’s siblings compete in the field trials they were bred for, and are therefore very well trained, Howard III said.
“They’re competitive,” Howard III said. “Endo, well — take off the ‘com’ and what do you get? Petitive. He’s a pet.”
The Veterinary Teaching Hospital is Endo’s regular vet, but recent visits have been to address a problem with one of his ears, as well as a tumor on his front leg. Nevertheless, Endo’s stayed his peppy self.
Howard III and Howard IV said they have a fond memory of taking Endo on a hike in the backcountry to Zimmerman Lake, where a foot or two of packed snow on the ground didn’t stop Endo from his usual leaping — in a vest and four booties, too.
“He’s just excited,” Howard III said. “That’s his form of saying, ‘I’m excited to go.'”
Martha said some friends have emailed the viral video to them, excited to have recognized the Seims and Endo. But, otherwise, Endo’s fame has not really affected them.
“We just find it really entertaining,” Martha said. “We don’t tell him he’s famous. It’d go to his head.”
Keep up with Endo’s adventures, and see the video of Endo wearing booties, on his Instagram, @endothejumpingdog.
Julia Rentsch: 970-699-5404, jrentsch@reporter-herald.com