Down boy! Daredevil dog skydives from 13,000ft
RILEY the flying dog has successfully completed his first ever skydive.
Keen freefaller Nathan Batiste, 38, has made more than 400 jumps in his lifetime and decided to take his faithful hound, Riley, along for a jump.
The photographer, from San Francisco, strapped the four-year-old Dachshund, kitted out with his very own pair of goggles, to his chest and took to the skies.
The pair plunged more than 13,000ft and Nathan said Riley thoroughly enjoyed the fur-raising experience.
He said: “It was by far the most enjoyable skydive I’ve ever done and Riley seemed to love it too - I’ll definitely be taking him again.
“My favourite part of the experience was the canopy ride - petting him and watching him look out intently at the horizon was something else.
“Then we landed and everybody was on the ground giving each other high fives and petting Riley - it really made everyone’s day.
“Our other dog Kiki would have hated it but I always had a gut-feeling that Riley would enjoy it.
“But Riley is very calm and very trusting when he’s with me and everybody got a kick out of it.
“It was a magical experience and one I’ll never forget.”
I had a funny feeling that Riley would enjoy skydiving so I asked a friend to design a custom-made harness for him
Nathan, and his partner, Amy Yopp, adopted Riley as a pup from a local shelter and took him to the drop zone of the skydive site for walks.
The tiny pooch enjoyed greeting his owner at every landing and Nathan decided to kit out Riley so he could join in with the experience.
He said: “I’ve been skydiving since 2009 and when me and my girlfriend Amy adopted Riley from a shelter I decided to take him to the drop zone for walks.
“Everyone loved him there and he became a favourite in no time.
"I had a funny feeling that Riley would enjoy skydiving so I asked a friend to design a custom-made harness for him.
“I also ordered him a pair of ‘doggles’ as I like to call them and we were all set to go.
“It really was great fun and the footage of Riley looking around once I’d opened the chute is awesome.
“It’s been one of the best decisions of my life to get involved in skydiving and I’m looking forward to many more jumps with Riley.”
