Throw a dog a bone, or rather, a Frisbee
Mojo jumping out of a piggy back. Photos by Kat Sheridan
Mojo mid backflip. 
Shane and Josephine Runey, ages 6 and 7, say hi to Mojo. 
Mojo can even dance!
Mojo does an impressive jump to catch a Frisbee. 
Mojo enjoys pats from Sterling Anderson, age 5. 
A mother helps her daughter throw a Frisbee for Chaos. 
Chaos chases after a Frisbee. 
Chaos runs at top speed. 
Oreo demands to be let out of the van. 
Oreo successfully escaping.
Two children say hi to Oreo. 
Mojo proves why he's a Flying High Dog. 
Mojo jumps to grab a Frisbee midair. 
Mojo midjump. 
Molly Lovett meets Mojo. 
A great catch. Submitted photo by Madelyn Lovett
Keeping an eye on that Frisbee. Submitted photo by Madelyn Lovett
Mojo jumping out of a piggy back. Photos by Kat Sheridan
Mojo mid backflip.
Shane and Josephine Runey, ages 6 and 7, say hi to Mojo.
Mojo can even dance!
Mojo does an impressive jump to catch a Frisbee.
Mojo enjoys pats from Sterling Anderson, age 5.
A mother helps her daughter throw a Frisbee for Chaos.
Chaos chases after a Frisbee.
Chaos runs at top speed.
Oreo demands to be let out of the van.
Oreo successfully escaping.
Two children say hi to Oreo.
Mojo proves why he's a Flying High Dog.
Mojo jumps to grab a Frisbee midair.
Mojo midjump.
Molly Lovett meets Mojo.
A great catch. Submitted photo by Madelyn Lovett
Keeping an eye on that Frisbee. Submitted photo by Madelyn Lovett
MIDDLEBORO— People may say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but Mike Piazza’s dogs learned all their tricks young. He and his border collies Mojo, Oreo and Chaos had the crowd howling with laughter at his Flying High Dogs show on Saturday, May 9.
The show benefited the Middleboro Animal Shelter, raising donations and promoting adoptions. The shelter has not counted how much money they made, but they received many donations of blankets, toys and other items.
“We always have animals that are in need,” said Madelyn Beria, the Accountable Care Organizer for the shelter. “We need a lot of resources to care for them and take care of them.”
A cultural grant dedicated to the town of Middleboro funded the event, along with a merchant market occurring the same day.
“Everybody loves [Piazza,]” said Gina Colon, the economic development coordinator for the shelter.
Mojo opened the show, with leaps and backflips to catch Frisbees, running around to greet kids and trying to steal treats from them. He performed almost every trick the crowd asked for, from “sit” to “play dead” to barking the answer to simple math questions.
The kids then competed to see who could get Mojo to do the best backflip. Of the five participants, the cheers of the audience decided that the young Christopher did.
Oreo came next, chasing Frisbees and catching them as kids tossed them. Piazza used Oreo to demonstrate how he trains his dogs, from rolling a tennis ball in the living room, to rolling a frisbee outside to eventually having them run for it.
Not finished with his time in the spotlight, Oreo then escaped from his two-lock crate to sit in the van’s driver seat and bark to continue playing. Piazza described him as “a Houdini.”
Oreo and Mojo can run up to 31 mph, and in his youth Chaos could reach 35 mph. At 12 years old, Chaos prefers chasing Frisbees at 27 mph.
Kids faced off against their parents, seeing which group could have Chaos catch the most Frisbees. If the kids won, Piazza said their parents had to take them to Italy for gelato. If the parents won, the kids had to clean their rooms. The judges decided the kids won.
Piazza went around and had kids answer trivia such as “How old was the oldest dog in human years?” (31) and ‘What is the fastest breed of dog?’ (greyhound) for a chance to throw a Frisbee for Chaos.
The day ended with a Battle of the Dogs, seeing whether Oreo or Mojo could catch the most Frisbees. With the final throw being tossed by a child volunteer, Mojo won in a close 3-2 battle.
“I am a big advocate of animal adoption,” Piazza said. “My first Frisbee dog that I ever competed with was a dog that I adopted. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that dog.”
