So we have this little 2 year old dog called “Cajun”. She’s a cattle dog mix with obvious breeds in her like blue heeler, australian shepherd and border collie. She was rescued from an indian reservation when a local friend found her while working on a remote cell tower. She was only 3 months old and starving. Shawn brought her to Moab and nursed her back to life.
It had been 1 1/2 year since our previous dog “Fletcher” or “Fletch Mama” for close friends, had passed away. The timing was perfect for us and Shawn made our lives a little more awesome when he put her (Cajun) up for adoption on his FB page.
Right from the start I had planned on teaching her how to return safely from exit points after we Base jumped. I took this idea from friends who did the same with 2 of their black labs “Luke” and later “Lua”. So the training started almost as soon as we got her.
Cajun was walked up and down from our most popular jumped spot , the Tombstone. I must have taken her up there over a dozen times over a few months and she got better and better at scrambling around. Most of the time just by myself and eventually with my wife Steph, base jumping off once we got to the top. Slowly Cajun was connecting the dots about the trail and the sequence on events.
Eventually the day came when we hiked up and she would be left on her own to make it back down after I jumped. The same as usual really, just the return trip without her human 
I have to admit I was nervous about her wandering off in the wrong direction after seeing a rabbit, squirrel or lizard she wanted to chase… I put my parachute on and had a little talk about how we would celebrate after she returned …
So I jumped off, landed safely and started to hike back up. Slowly walking , listening and I met her half-way down the trail! The 1 st step was taken and on the following jump , I patiently waited for her at the end of the trail … 20 minutes later she showed up, all smiles and she got a whole Clif bar as a reward !!
So this is how it all started and our little dog now knows about jumping and meeting back at the bottom of different jump spots.
Just like this one
Base dogs are awesome !!
This is awesome! I love dogs, and I love how you’re able to incorporate her into your adventures.
Thanks, we love her !
I really liked to read this story. I love dogs and I love climbing (so jumping fits in quit good). Ans this dog is really one of the most beautiful i have ever seen
.
Thanks!
[...] with friends. Mario decided not to come on this one, citing our very recent France/China trip and too much work to get done at home, which I couldn’t really argue with So off it was to Spain for me, with rock shoes, base rig [...]
I love this video especially since it is from Cajun’s perspective. I have a heeler/catahoula mix and the herding dogs make such great adventure companions. Such an amazingly intelligent and loyal dog. Thank you for sharing this (and here I was thinking a 16 mile trail run was adventurous with my dog, Wyatt) : )
We are so proud of our little cataheelercollie
Wyatt sounds like a charger. These dogs can RUN !
She looks just like my Catahoula/Aussie mix, also from a reservation. The working dogs make great adventure companions – mine are base dogs in that they nap at the base of the wall while we go climbing, and wait for us to return. Thanks for sharing!
starting to think Cajun has a lot of cousins out there
Indeed! Here is my little dude. He’s a super scrambling/climbing/bikejoring/ball-obsessed/party-trick dog. Enjoy your sweet girl.
He is like Cajun’s long lost twin!! We love him. Shawn, who found Cajun, is curious what reservation he’s from….maybe he actually IS Cajun’s long lost twin???
Told ya.
He’s from the Mescalero Apache res in New Mexico, but he’s a little older than Cajun (he’s 4). He’s also a Ruffwear mountain/desert dog, as you can see. He loves Moab, too (one of our fave places in the world) – his name is Bridger Jack! Maybe they’ll cross paths in Utah one of the many times we’re up there…