Quick Summary
- On the job since 2012, retrieving the kicking tee from the field
- He belongs to the Bannasch family of the School of Veterinary Medicine
- Pint received cancer treatment at the veterinary hospital earlier this year
Updated 3 p.m. Nov. 18: With five kickoff tee returns at last weekend’s football game, Pint’s tally now totals 284, Danika Bannasch said.
In 2012, veterinary medicine professor Danika Bannasch had no idea what a football kickoff tee looked like, but she was pretty sure her dog Pint could retrieve it. After all, the Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever was already training to compete in hunting trials.
What she didn’t count on was the crowd noise, the referee whistle that sounds suspiciously like her “angry sit” training whistle, and a ball that even looks a bit like a duck.
But Pint did great, and a one-game commitment turned into 279 kickoffs (and counting) from three different “generations” of kickers over the course of 42 games — a longer career than any players or coaches currently associated with the team.
In that time, he’s served as a reminder of the connection between athletics and 鶹ý’ renowned veterinary medicine program, all while his name pays homage to the university’s expertise in (and the Bannasch family’s fondness for) beer and brewing.
His retrievals are a little slower now, and repeatedly biting down on the tee has sheared off all four of his canine teeth, so the 2021 season will be his last delighting fans in Davis and around the world. Bannasch, who holds the Maxine Adler Endowed Chair in Genetics for the School of Veterinary Medicine, said Pint would probably keep running out to pick up the kickoff tee as long as he still has the strength, but she worries he might hurt himself if he continued.
“Maybe he’s not ready to retire, but I think he should,” she said. “He hurls himself into things. I need to make the decision for him.”
A famous face
He’ll be honored this Saturday (Nov. 13) when 鶹ý takes on Eastern Washington in the annual Salute to Heroes (servicemembers and first responders) at 鶹ý Health Stadium. Pint will have canine company when a Doxie Derby is held at halftime and will see his visage in a bobblehead giveaway (limited supply).
It’s the first time Pint memorabilia has been available at games, but the dog’s likeness has been a familiar one ever since his first game, when announcer Larry Swanson took to calling him “Pint the Wonder Dog.”
AT A GLANCE
- WHAT: 鶹ý football (5-1) vs. Eastern Washington (4-2) in the annual Salute to Heroes game
- WHEN: Saturday (Nov. 13), 5 p.m. kickoff
- WHERE: 鶹ý Health Stadium
- PINT MEMENTO: Every purchase of four tickets will come with a bobblehead.
- : $3 for ages 3-13, $12-$47 for others (not including fees)
Even though that name hasn’t been used officially for years and Pint took all but one game off in 2019 while Bannasch was on sabbatical, a group of fans still enthusiastically greeted “Pint the Wonder Dog” before a recent game.
And when the pandemic forced the football team to play a short season in the spring of 2020, without fans, Pint’s face was among those tha