The Amazing Daisy Rosebud

I met Daisy Rosebud on July 31 when I went to the March for Freedom on behalf of the hikers taken captive a year ago in Iran. Cindy Hickey, whose son is still imprisoned, had been a dog agility trainer with Daisy being one of her incredibly talented clients, and Kim Vogel Daisy's owner. Cindy's involvement with training canine athletes explains why there were dogs present on the day of the march when Senator Franken led us from the Lakewalk to the Tech Center. While waiting for the senator's arrival I was introduced to Daisy and Kim.

Kim: This is Daisy Rosebud. I have 190,000 pictures of her.

Ennyman: 190,000!

Kim: Ever since she was a puppy, she's 8 ½ now, I've taken the pictures. I have a little studio and I'd dress her up in different holiday outfits, different themes. She also does agility*, so we do pictures of agility. And she's also a registered therapy dog and she responds to over 200 commands. She goes to Gillette Children's Hospital and does tricks for the kids.

E: What are some of the commands?

Kim: Oh, she licks her lips, and she waves, and she does the hokey pokey and patty cake, and roll over, and wave, and bow, and what else? She can spin around in circles, weave through my legs and do serpentines around cones, and agility. All the agility things and the therapy type things. And the Minnesota state lottery commercial, of the dog eating the roast beef, the pug, that's her. And now she's posing for Target.

E: Is that on YouTube?

Kim: I don't know, I don't think so. When she poses, you can put her in any position, and get her to pose, move her eyes anywhere you want, turn her head, so they really like her. So she poses for Target ads. She was just recently in the Target ad in a big billboard above the rugs.

E: So is she destined for the kind of fame that will give your children an inheritance?

Kim: Probably not. You don't get a lot of money, you do it just for fun. I train her every morning so she responds really easily. I can teach her tricks really, really easily.

There sure are a lot of interesting people in the world... and dogs, too!

*Agility is an international dog competition. The trainer guides the dog through an obstacle course involving tunnels, jumps, weaving through poles and more without actually touching the dog or the obstacles. Dogs are judged on their speed and accuracy.

Kim and Dennis Vogel are chemists at 3M in St. Paul. Read more about Dog Agility Training at eHow.

FREE THE HIKERS. Josh, Shane and Sarah have now been detained 389 days and counting.

Photos courtesy Kim Vogel. Click images to enlarge.