Madison Rahhal/Courtesy photo
Rachel Sample has dreamt of working with dogs ever since she saw the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge on TV as a 6-year-old. But she never could have imagined she’d be where she is now.
“It sparked my whole life and career,” said the 27-year-old, who wowed Thursday’s crowd at the freestyle flying disc show with her 5-year-old border whippet, Flynn. The Chicago-area native teared up as she exited the turf under the shadows of The Arrabelle after the mid-morning demonstration.
“It’s so emotional for me because I came from nothing,” she said.
In high school, Sample was homeless. She worked at animal control during the day and conducted training classes at night.
“I was working basically 15 hours a day and I was sleeping at my job — with my dogs — because I didn’t have anywhere to live,” she said.
These days, Sample lives south of Chicago with her partner and 14 dogs. He trains five hunting labs and she works mostly with rehabbing and training difficult foster and rescue dogs. On the side, Sample runs a popular TikTok channel and leads obedience classes of her own. Plus, she competes in the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge: a nationwide competition featuring agility, freestyle flying disc, the incredible weave, fetch it and diving dog events. Pairs compete in either a western or eastern regional, with the top finishers qualifying for the national competition every fall in Missouri.
Joining Sample on stage Thursday was Jack Fahle and Ferris, the three-time defending freestyle disc national champion. Fahle, a retired elementary school math teacher, picked up the activity as a hobby about two decades ago. His hyperactive dog at the time needed an outlet.
“He loved to play fetch, so I was like, ‘well, let me see if he’ll catch this frisbee,’” the Tampa Bay resident said. After the pup retrieved that first throw, the owner figured the activity was worth getting into. He entered a local competition and eventually tried the eastern regional. While he didn’t qualify for nationals on his first attempt, he was definitely hooked.
“It was like, alright, we’re going to come back and do this,” Fahle said.
Ferris opened the show with a routine set to “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Then, Fahle’s other dog, Remix, came out to take on Flynn in a head-to-head 10 disc catch challenge.
“He’s a showboat. He’s a performer and is going to put on a show every time he plays,” Sample said of her genetically engineered super dog. The border whippet is an increasingly popular combination on the circuit, Sample said.
“Obviously you get the athleticism of the whippet and the brain of the border collie,” she explained. “It’s really an elite mix.”
At the end of the show, Fahle brought on his six-month old Aussie/border/whippet, Doc Brown, named after the “Back to the Future” character. The veteran trainer demonstrated beginner basics while Park City freestyle ski Olympians Trace Worthington and Sean Smith — NBC commentators for the Incredible Dog Challenge events — gave the play-by-play.
“How do you get started in this?” Smith asked Fahle.
“If your dog will chase after a ball, you’ve got a disc dog,” Fahle answered. “What I’m going to do here first with Doc is just get him interested in the disc. So I’m going to move the disc around really fast; I’m always moving it away from my dog, not towards.”
The small but springy wispy wave of brown fur caught on quickly. Fahle said he started out with Aussies and “fell in love with the breed.” Even though Ferris will be 11 at nationals, he plans to go for the four-peat at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri this September.
“Honestly, last year I was like, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work,’ but he pulled it out and caught everything,” Fahle said. “He doesn’t run as fast, doesn’t jump as high, but he’s still got that something special out there.”
His biggest challenge could come from Sample.
“I don’t know if you saw Rachel out there – but she’s got an amazing dog out,” Fahle said.
After Thursday’s show, Sample couldn’t help reflect on how far she’s come.
“To be six years old and seeing that show and now I’m performing with Purina in Vail on a work trip,” she said. “I literally can’t believe this is my life.”
In a similar vein to Sample’s start, Fahle feels the most rewarding part of the job is inspiring the next great dog story.
“The crowds, cheering, kids getting into it — I guarantee somebody’s going to go home and they’ve never tried it with their dog and they’re going to try it,” he said. “That happened to me 20 some years ago. It’s going to happen to a couple people over the course of this event.”
