The arrival of a new city planning coordinator for Moab might have gone unnoticed for some time but for the antics of his four-legged companion, Bailey.
The weekend David Olsen arrived to ready himself for his new job with the city, who made television news? Bailey.Sure, Olsen was mentioned as the owner of the black Labrador-Australian sheep dog mix - a dog that could leap tall fences in a single bound. But until the news anchor mentioned that Olsen and his dog were from Moab, viewers here had no idea they were watching local talent.
The report was broadcast the night the pair took up residence in southeastern Utah. That night, the Salt Lake area lost a major media mutt, as far as his owner is concerned. What the Salt Lake area lost, Moab gained, and Olsen is sure his dog is going to climb and leap his way to national fame, taking Moab to the top with him.
What makes Bailey "the wonder dog," according to Olsen, is his range of tricks. "I think maybe other dogs can jump and climb fences. To climb trees, no. Jumping off high things, it's not their nature," Olsen said. "The diversity of what he does, how quick he learns things, is amazing. He thinks, he reasons things out."
Bailey not only leaps fences 6 feet and taller but can jump vertically 60 inches and paw his way up tree trunks and along branches to retrieve shoes and his favorite toy, Garfield the cat. At Olsen's urging, the dog climbs ladders and walks monkey bars like a tightrope.
Height does not seem to faze him. Recently Bailey leapt from the second-story window at the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall of Fame in Moab.
The 5-year-old canine has appeared in both metropolitan newspapers and all three of Salt Lake's major television stations. He has also been the topic of KALL Radio talk-show host Tom Barberi twice over the past year.
The hoopla began when government officials barred the hound from leaping from a high-dive at a public pool. It would be the ultimate stunt for the gravity-defying dog, establishing Bailey as a world-class performer, Olsen said.
Olsen applied for a variance on ordinances prohibiting animals in public pools, arguing that no harm could be done, but health officials in both Salt Lake City and Moab have said no.
Now Olsen is pushing for a performance on network television. Recently he received a response from Johnny Carson's staff, who suggested he take the act to David Letterman.
"The dog's goal is Letterman. He wants Letterman," Olsen said.
He envisions Bailey's grin on T-shirts everywhere - a serious contender with Spuds McKenzie as dog of the hour.
"Spud's just a pretty face," he said. "Bailey's got talent."