National Geographic Kids Chapters: Animal Superstars: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Talents

Chapter 1

EASY RIDER

Ready to ride, Opee pants with excitement. His helmet has a camera on top. (illustration credit 1.1)

April 2006, San Diego, California

Opee the Australian (sounds like AH-STRALE-YAN) shepherd cocks his head and listens. Has Mike entered the garage? The devoted dog jumps to his feet and runs toward the sound. Barking excitedly, he leaps onto the gas tank of Mike Schelin’s dirt bike. Opee’s pink tongue hangs out. His front paws rest on the handlebars.

Mike grins. He slips a helmet and goggles on the happy dog’s head. He hops on the bike behind Opee and kicks the starter with his heel. Off they go across the California desert.

Mike is a professional motocross (sounds like MOE-TOE-CROSS) racer. And so is Opee! Motocross is a form of cross-country motorcycle racing. Racers ride special motocross bikes, also called dirt bikes. They race on rugged tracks that are closed to normal traffic.

Mike and Opee’s story started when Mike Schelin was 35 years old. Things had not been going well for him lately and he was unhappy. Cheer up! he told himself. But he didn’t know how. So he sat down with a pad and pencil.

He made a list of all the things that made him feel good.

Later Mike read what he wrote. Hmm, he thought, dogs are first on my list. I need a job that lets me bring a dog to work.

Soon Mike quit his job selling computers and moved to San Diego, California. He met a man there who let Mike live in an old house for free. In return, Mike agreed to fix up the place. But something was missing. Mike needed a dog to keep him company.

He called a woman who had an Australian shepherd puppy for sale. They agreed to meet on a country road where 75 mailboxes stood in a row.

Mike spotted the mailboxes first. Then he saw a mother dog and puppy playing in the grass. The puppy had soft, floppy ears. His furry coat had patches of black, brown, and gray with white around his neck. His eyes were different colors. One was blue and the other was brown. Mike scooped him up, and slurp! The little furball stuck out his tongue and licked Mike’s face. Mike paid the woman and drove home with the puppy.

Mike didn’t think of the dog as a pet. He thought of him more as a friend, or even a brother. He named the pup Opee, his own nickname as a child.

The next day, Mike woke up to whining. “Are you hungry, fella?” Mike asked. He poured some kibble into a plastic bowl and fixed himself a cup of coffee.

The house was a mess. A table saw stood in the middle of the living room. Rows of bare wooden studs rose like jail bars at one end of the room. Piles of sweet-smelling sawdust littered the floor.

Mike grabbed a hammer and started to work. Opee followed behind, leaving paw prints in the dust. Later he curled up in Mike’s toolbox to sleep.

One day, Mike and Opee drove to the hardware store for supplies. When they got there, Mike set the puppy on a flatbed cart. “Stay,” he said. Opee did. Mike was surprised by how well he obeyed. “He just seemed to get it,” Mike said.

On weekends, Mike relaxed by riding his dirt bike in the desert. He took Opee with him. Mike thought Opee would enjoy running off-leash. Maybe he’d run after lizards and snakes. But Opee chased Mike instead. He chased him uphill and downhill. Over bumps and pits and in clouds of dust. The dog never stopped.

Mike decided to buy a quad—a four-wheeled off-road motorbike with a seat big enough for two. Now Opee could ride along! But how to keep the dust out of Opee’s eyes? Mike had an idea. First he cut a slit in the middle of a sock. Then he slipped a pair of goggles through the slit and tied the ends of the sock under Opee’s chin. Perfect! Opee jumped onto the seat and off they went.

Motorbikes are loud. Other dogs might have hated the noise. They might have jumped off the seat in fear. Not Opee.

One Sunday Mike didn’t go to the desert. Instead, he wanted to ride his street bike to Santa Barbara, another city in California. His street bike is a big, rumbling Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Mike hadn’t ridden the Harley in a while. So he took it for a test-drive around the block.

“Opee was at the gate going crazy,” Mike said. “He was barking and jumping.” The minute Mike let his dog loose, Opee surprised him by jumping up on the gas tank. “Okay,” Mike said, hugging his dog. “I’ll take you for a spin.”

Mike started slow. The dog didn’t blink. Mike went faster. The dog stayed put. When the speed reached 50 miles an hour (81 km/h), Opee crouched down closer to the bike. When the road curved, Opee leaned into the turns. This dog is a natural, Mike thought.

Mike hurried home and dashed into the house. Grabbing his extra helmet, he sawed a chunk out of the back so it would fit around Opee’s head. Then he put the helmet, goggles, and a backpack on the pup. They were about to leave when Mike had another thought. He found some rope and tied Opee to him, just in case the dog lost his balance.

To Santa Barbara and back is 300 miles (483 km)—a long trip on a motorcycle. Mike wondered how long Opee would last.

Surprise! Opee made it the entire way.

(illustration credit 1.2)

Feeling

Upset?

Get a pup. Dogs understand when people are nervous or scared. Seeing you cry makes a dog feel bad. It will tuck its tail and bow its head, say scientists at the University of London, in England. A dog will snuggle against you and give you a doggie hug. You can bury your face in its soft fur, and it will lick your cheek.

Pretty soon, you will stop thinking about yourself and think about your pup instead. You might even smile.

Chapter 2

UPPING the STAKES

Mike and his loyal canine partner look sharp riding the hills. (illustration credit 2.1)

The next weekend, Mike and Opee returned to the desert. This time Opee walked right past the quad and jumped on Mike’s dirt bike. Riding a dirt bike is harder than riding a motorcycle or quad. Keeping balance over bumps is difficult and tiring. Mike decided to take Opee for a test spin. No problem! Soon they were riding longer and faster than Mike’s motocross pals.

Other riders urged Mike to enter the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix (sounds like PREE) with Opee. Forty years ago, a popular movie was made about this 100-mile (161-km) motocross race. Today nearly 1,000 people compete in it.

But riding for fun in the desert is one thing. Competitive racing is quite another. “They won’t let a dog in that race,” Mike said.

“Sure they will,” insisted his friends. “They let someone else do it once.”

Mike agreed to give it a try. The first thing he did was take Opee shopping. Nobody sold motocross gear for dogs. But Mike bought Opee the best-fitting helmet, goggles, and padded jersey he could find.

On a chilly November morning, Mike and Opee drove to Lake Elsinore, California. They reported to the check-in table. Mike paid the race fee and signed them up. He picked up two wristbands and three white signs with his number on them. He carefully attached the signs to his dirt bike. He slipped on one wristband and slid the other onto Opee’s front leg.

Mike checked his gas and warmed up his engine. Opee hopped on and Mike drove slowly toward the raceway. The crowd separated to let them through the gate.

Mike gasped at the dazzling sight of row upon row of helmeted riders dressed in padded suits. Every rider sat on a brightly colored dirt bike with bumpy tires. It looked like a lineup from a parade. To be safe, Mike and Opee took a place in the back. The race can get rough. Accidents happen. Mike didn’t want to put Opee at risk.

A woman carrying a clipboard walked up and down the lines. She inspected each bike and rider. Were they registered? Were they wearing the proper gear? When the woman reached Mike and Opee, she smiled. Still smiling, she went down her list. Check. Check. Mike and Opee passed inspection.

As everyone waited for the race to begin, some of the riders bounced on their seats. Others talked or laughed nervously. Mike squeezed and released his hand brakes. Opee sat patiently and barely moved.

Finally, a man yelled through a bullhorn. The race was starting! Another man standing on a platform waved a green flag. The first row of riders roared away. Each one left a burst of smoke behind. The flag waved again and again. Row after row of racers sped off. Mike and Opee’s row was coming up soon. Mike leaned forward and shifted his weight.

The flag came down. They were off!

The uphill track immediately changed to dirt. Mike saw hay bales and a string of colored flags ahead. It was a corner. He and Opee leaned into it. Mike slowed and stuck his leg out for balance. A rider ahead of them went too fast. His bike crashed in the dirt. Mike jerked the handlebars and swerved around him.

The entire route was closed to traffic. Only racers could use it today. But the raceway kept changing. First it was dirt. Then it was pavement. Then dirt again. It went uphill and down. It twisted and turned. For a while it wound right through the center of town.

Clusters of men and women stood on the grass bordering the route. Little kids in baseball caps perched on their fathers’ shoulders. Everyone turned toward the roar of the bikes. As the riders whizzed by, the people cheered. “Hey, look!” someone yelled. “There’s a dog in the race!”

People waved and shouted. The cheering grew louder when Mike and Opee rode by. Mike had never heard anything like it. He felt like a rock star.

Race officials stood at checkpoints along the way. They waved yellow flags to warn riders of turns and intersections.

(illustration credit 2.2)

Doggie