Dennis Walters - Part 5 (The Dogs and The Show)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Bruce Devlin 0:13

Then it started too that I think a lot of people uh have great admiration for you doing too, and that's using your canine rescue pals along with you at your shows. That's I mean a lot of people get uh I think get to love the fact that you do that as well.

Mike Gonzalez 0:35

You know, as we understand it, Dennis, you've had uh from the beginning, starting with Muffin, you've had five dogs, I'm sure, all with unique personalities and talents as it relates to golf and the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

That's exactly true. I I always had a dog when I was growing up, and I love dogs. And shortly after my accident, I was I was really I was really down in a really super dark place, and uh it's still dark on occasion. But uh I said to my mom, I said, you know what? I think I'm gonna I want to get a dog. She goes, that's a good idea. So we went down to the uh we we always rescued dogs when I was a kid, so we went down and I I was interested and uh in this dog and I found her and I took her home. And she was great. She was an angel. I I never even thought to teach her hardly anything. It wasn't wasn't where I was at at the time. Our job was to keep my spirits up, and she did that. I I had her for 13 years. I I never raised my voice to her. She was she was an angel.

Mike Gonzalez 1:51

And then that was more fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Yep, when it came time to get another dog, I said, uh, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna go try and rescue one again, because I think that's the way to go. Anybody looking for a dog or a cat, an animal shelter, a rescue group, it's a great place to begin your search. And so it was this was just about the time when people were starting to talk about service dogs. You didn't you never saw one, but there was a little bit of talk because prior to that the only ones that were helping people were the seeing eye dogs, and so I went to the Humane Society dinner and I won five lessons, dog lessons, training uh lessons, and so somehow we f they said, What do you what would you like to work on? I said, I want to find out how my how I can make my dog a service dog. Again, almost unheard of, but we found a group in Tucson, and even to this day, there's not like a service dog license bureau you go to. It's the law, the law states that in order for a dog to be a service dog, it has to you you have to have a disability, and the dog has to do something which is spelled out by the law, the ADA law, and one of these things is uh picking up dropped items. And that's what my dogs do. If I drop something, they pick it up. And because they do that, then they help me in real life, then they're actually service dogs. But there is no there's no place to go for that, and um and that's why there's a lot of fakers, and uh that's another story. But anyhow, um we uh I got this dog, and um and a guy from the Humane Society was from California, he knew the people in Tucson, and they gave us a list of things that the dog should do, which was it was helpful, but again, it's it's not really necessary. And um and then I started to teach my dog a lot of tricks, and I said, Well, I th I think I'm gonna put my dog in the show as the opening act. So I had uh I had a show a couple weeks ago. This kid said, What's with the dog? I said, He's the opening act. Kids looked at me like I had three heads. What's that? And I said, Well, the opening act is the person, or in this case, the dog that warms up the crowd before the star comes on. And uh he goes, Oh, okay. I said, Do you know that even Frank Sinatra had an opening act? He goes, Who's Frank Sinatra? So, anyhow, I started to teach my dog to do these deuce stuff, and I've taught them all to do math and answer golf trivia questions and uh various other dog tricks, uh, in addition to their service dog work. And I've seen it evolve as to uh as time has gone by, uh it's a more accepted thing. There's only only once in a while they give you a hard time because they don't know what they're talking about, but there's more there's been more education, 40 years has passed, and uh so um I I I just I've had the five of the greatest dogs ever, and it it takes a long time to find them. Uh eight or nine months mostly, just by looking, and because I have very I'm real persnickety when it comes to the dog because I'm gonna spend twenty-four hours a day with it. And it has to look like Benji the movie dog, that's what I'm looking for. I've had four five dogs my adult life, each one rescued, as the two that we had when I was a boy. I always recommend this for people to try a rescue uh group, uh, an animal shelter. Well, millions of dogs are in these places, not because they're bad necessarily, the people who own them are bad in most cases. So it's a great place to begin your search. It's not for everybody, but it certainly is a good outcome in many cases for both the dog and the family or the person. Uh, it's the only way I would do it, and it takes a while for me because I am real. Uh I know exactly what I'm looking for. I have a crystal clear picture of what I'm looking for, which is Benji the movie dog, about 15 to 20 pounds and less than two years old. Once I find that, then I begin the uh I got I have personality tests I give them and I hang with them. And I always recommend foster to adopt. This way you can have the dog for a week or two and see how you're getting along with no obligation. And it not not many people know about that, but that's a to me, that's my formula. Uh the other dogs I had, uh uh Mulligan was my second dog, so I took a Mulligan. Yeah, and I trained, she was the first one I trained to be a service dog because it wasn't really too prevalent back then. Uh, the the next dog I named him Benji Hogan. He also looked like Ben Benji, the movie dog, and I like Ben Hogan. And the next one was Bucky. I named him after my dad. And the one I have now is his name is Augusta, but we call him Gus, Gusy, Gus Man, and a few other things I can't say on the radio for the podcast. Um but all of these, I taught them all to do math. They've all done, they all have they all have different personalities, but not that much different because uh I treat them all the same. We're never separated because they're real service dogs. And so, but they all do different things, and I was a better trainer at the end than I was in the beginning. And uh dog training is not hard. People are amazed you can get your dog to sit in in Walmart or someplace, and it it it's not there's not it's not difficult. Now, the coach is only as good as the players, but uh it's fun, it just takes time, and most people don't have time, yeah, yeah. And uh but if you just you don't have to have them do all the things I do. If you if your dog has manners, you're way ahead of the game, and it's a lot better for the dog, and it's a lot better for you. I'm no dog trainer, but I know that from my observations, these dogs are looking for a leader that takes the pressure off of them. They they they're happy to be lead uh told what to do, and it's a way better uh lifestyle for them, and it's a way better lifestyle for you. So, like when someone knocks on your door, my dog barks twice. That's it. Uh you can leave the door open. He doesn't door dash, he doesn't beg, he doesn't do any of these rude things, just get them manners, they're all set. Um as I've said in a speech of mine, I can exist without a dog, but I can't live without a dog. And for me, they're the most gentle, loving creatures on the planet, unconditional love, very hard to come by on this particular planet. And it's uh that's what you get. And all you got to do is pay attention, love them, teach them things, and you'll have a wonderful relationship. It's it's not just bringing them home from the pound and say, hey, here you are.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

And there's millions, there's thousands of books on dog training.

Mike Gonzalez 10:20

Yeah, you know, for our listeners that want to know a little bit more about Dennis's dogs, all you need to do is go to DennisWalters.com, click on about, and you'll see a section on about Dennis's dogs that'll have pictures of them and some of the descriptions that Dennis gave of the five. Obviously, uh each of the five have been very, very important part of the Dennis Walters show, Bruce.

Bruce Devlin 10:42

Yeah, and uh Dennis said earlier about the first performance that he ever did with the Dennis Walter shows was at the uh 1977 PGA merchandise show. Since then, listen to this, folks, since then 3.5 million miles traveled, 3,000 plus performances before a million and a half people appeared in 50 states Mexico, Canada, and the UK, 90 to 100 shows a year. And I have a question for you, Dennis. How many shots actual golf shots do you have in your golf show?

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Well, the show normally lasts an hour. It's divided into three parts. The first part is the opening act, my dog. And he comes out for before the show, he he greets the crowd. He goes to almost every person and he he gets to know him and they see him. Then he comes out, he does a few dog tricks. I just I taught him to the other day, I taught him a new trick to clap for himself when he does something good. So he comes out, usually first comes out and he demonstrates his service dog ability by picking up something that I drop on the ground, and then I I have him do a couple things, just dog-related tricks. We specialize in unusual tricks. I taught him to yawn on command and sneeze on command. And these are things people don't really see often. Then he sits in a chair. Uh well, since his name is Augusta, he has one of those green Augusta chairs that he performs in. And I we start off with he's he answers questions. So I have a talking dog, and that's the first part of his performance. He barks out the answers, and we usually have three categories: math, general information, and golf trivia. So I'll ask him a math pro, I'll ask him a few math problems, then I'll ask him a few general information questions like points for a touchdown, tires on a car, this type of thing. Then we go to golf trivia and I'll ask him how many times did Jack win the masters? How about Arnie? How about Tiger? And he barks out the right answers. Then I say, How about me? And he he turns his head like, you know, what are you, nuts? And he doesn't bark. And that's probably the best one of all, because everyone is expecting him to do that. Then he's the first one that I taught to hit a golf ball. I was trying to get Benji Hogan to do it, but I just, I just, yeah, I just couldn't pull it off. I had the wrong equipment. You know, it's always the golf clubs, it's never the golfer. And um, I didn't have the right club. And I used to have a sponsorship with Arizona Ice Tea, and so I used to hit a ball off the iced tea can, and I tried to set the ball on the teacan for him so he'd be hitting a trick shot like me, but I couldn't quite pull that off. And then I was a little discouraged from that with uh Bucky, so I didn't teach him to do that, but I taught him a couple other things that I didn't teach the other dogs. And then when I got Gussie, when I was looking for uh, excuse me, when I was looking for uh Gussie, yes, I um I made a list of in the nine months it took to get him, I made a list of all the things I wanted to teach him, and number four was how to hit a golf ball. So I got a way better club, and and not too long he was doing it. And so now he hits a shot, then he takes, then he claps for himself, and then he takes a bow. And uh we also in the question and answer period we take questions from the audience because that way, you know, they think some one guy one time said, Well, you ask him, do you ask him the same questions every time? And I said, Well, no, I said, but if I did and he got the answers right, wouldn't that still be good? And uh so then you but you always get a better reaction from the audience.

Bruce Devlin 14:59

And uh when he answers their question.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

When it yes, correctly. So um, so and then the next part is is uh act uh one, where I tell my story, and uh I I tell my story about how much I love to play golf, and how almost every person said it would be impossible for me to play golf because I couldn't stand up. And I tell them about the seat that we invented, and uh then I give them sort of an uplifting message about uh why golf is important to me, why it can bring joy to your life, and I tell them a little background of how many shows I've done, where I've done them, my favorite shows. And then uh the last part of act one is I'm telling people, I'm giving them my opinion as to why they should try to play golf or get involved with golf, or as I like to say, have a golf experience. Golf is not only just playing 18 holes, it's playing six holes, it's chipping in your backyard, it's having a putting contest with your kid or your grandkid. And uh, I try to get people involved in that, and I said, you know what, try it. It's not for everybody, that's why they make strawberry ice cream, and uh so that's that's the uh the very last part of the uh act one is I uh I tell people how much golf has meant to me in solving my life's the problems that I had in my life's journey. And also I emphasize how much fun it can be, and then I hit then I go on to the fun part of the show, which is act two, where I hit all the trick shots and tell bad jokes. And I just got a new bad joke. It's great. There we go. It goes, uh, my I have a sister who's three years older than me. That's right. She's 78 years old, she's in decent shape, but I said, you know what? You should get in better shape. You should get a trainer, you should go to the gym. So she said, All right. So she went and went to the gym, started working out, lifting weights, this and that, bicycle, all this kind of, but she met a trainer, and the guy said, Listen, he said, you should walk a very at the very minimum five miles a day. And that was a month ago. We still don't have any idea where she is.

Mike Gonzalez 17:36

Oh, and and and gusty's clapping. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

And the other one I have, this joke is way older than me, okay? And I say, at some point I slip this in. I say, my assistant, Jared Sarrow, he's great. He's he's like 22 and he's gone with me the last couple of years. I say, for being in this show, I pay Jared weekly. Wait, wait, wait. And he says, very weakly. And it never fails. Never fails. And it's older than I am. I mean, I think the Marx brothers were doing that.

Bruce Devlin 18:12

There you go. So, Dennis, tell us tell us the hardest, the most difficult shot that you had to learn in your situation. What what would you say is the most difficult shot to hit?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Well, let's put it this way it rotates.

unknown 18:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

It rotates. First of all, if I couldn't hit these things, you know, I I'm not saying they're they're simple. For me, they're easy because I practiced them thousands of times. But for the average person, it would take a while to practice. I like to say any really good golfer could do every shot I have, but it would take a little practice. And why would you want to practice hitting through fire? You know, and uh with a three-foot-high T or with a funny club made out of a radiator hose from a car. But any good golfer could do it. I'm not, I don't think that's that's not, you know, that's perfectly true. But for me personally, I have a garage full of ones that I don't, I'm not, you know, I I you used to use them or I couldn't hit them the way I wanted to. So all the ones I hit my show, I know I can hit them, but it rotates. Like I was having a lot of trouble with. I have a club that's made out of a dog biscuit, and it's Gussie's favorite club. And it has a sweet spot about the size of an MM, if that, maybe a BB. And I was having trouble with it. And then I have one that's made out of a cell phone, and I kept hitting it off the toe for like a month. And I called up my buddy Wayne Worms, he's a PGA Life member, my oldest and dearest friend. Uh that I, well, he's on the dearest list. He's my oldest friend. And um, so he's a lifelong golf nut like me. And so I said to him, I said, dude, I said, I keep in this thing on a toe. And he said, Man, it's made out of a cell phone. There's, you know, it's got enough area. And so he says to me, brilliantly, he says, try to hit it in the heel. So I started trying to hit it in the heel, and it worked every time. So it's like a Harvey Pennick thing. So um, but and so I was having trouble with the dog biscuit. Then I got that, then I have this other club, it's the Judge Judy Gavel Club, and the the sweets, the the entire circumference of the clubhead is the exact size of a golf ball. And I was having a lot of trouble with that for a while, but I got out, I got back out of that. I figured that one out. So they they kind of rotate. And um the one I enjoy the most is the well, I really enjoy hitting through fire, and then I had this shot. I saw this was one of the ones I saw Paul Hahn do. And so he just put a piece of newspaper over the ball. He covered the ball with a piece of newspaper and he hit. And it was all right. Um, but one day, very early on my career, one of my friends who I played golf with every day, he said, he said, that's okay. He said, but why don't you set it on fire? And I said, Oh boy, that's a brilliant idea. So we take we we cover it up and we we put a little lighter fluid on the on the ball, I mean on the paper, and then I swing, and I did a show this winter, and the wind was blowing like 30 miles an hour towards me. And I swung, and the paper, a little piece of paper, flew in the air, and it landed on one of my head covers, and it started burning the head cover, and uh so but uh I like that. My my favorite shot is the last one where I hit balls while they're rolling. My assistant sets up a ramp and he rolls them toward me and they roll across this board. And um I I met this guy named Jack Redman. He traveled all over the world. He hit golf balls off like pyramids and I mean every place you could think of. And he was also in vaudeville in New York and Chicago and all these places. And he he he was a trick shot golfer. And I watched him, I he was about 90 when I met him, so I I didn't see it, but I saw it on a film. And he he had a shot, he always had a pretty girl with him. And all these guys had pretty girls, two or three of them had pretty girls. I had my dad, you know, and my dog. But anyhow, the girl would roll the ball along the ground and he would hit it with a wood or something. And so I said to my dad, we tried it, I couldn't do it because he moved around, you know, because the girl didn't roll the ball perfect. So I said, Why don't we just have a constant thing? Why don't we have it roll across a board or something? And that way I can hit it. So I I was at Hollywood, and we had that Lincoln log cabin in there. And so it said, inside the in the board is in a certain shape. It's a rectangle, but it has kind of curves on it, and on each side. So I said to my dad, see if you can find a board or something in there. So uh Lou Barbero, the pro, he was good friends with Tony Penna. And so it it was a it was a rack with the new Tony Penna clubs, and then it said, try the new Tony Penna clubs for uh 1978. And he took it and he put it down, and it was made out of masonite, like it's like a uh plywood, a very thin plywood, and so it worked perfect. So I said, I don't want to steal the sign. I said, so let's make a template. Let's take it. There was no Home Depot. We took it to lose lumber or something, and he made a template out of this mason of it, and we never changed it. It's always the same. It's a if you had that sign, you would see you could put it right up against it. So that's my favorite. And the only thing is that we used to hit four balls, and the last ball would go out about 30 yards and it would blow up in smoke, but you can't get them anymore. So they still make them, but I haven't found a way to get them in from China or Japan. We used to sneak them in like from titalist Japan, but now after after the uh 9-11, COVID, all this other stuff, it's almost impossible to do it. There used to be a guy in Denver who sold them, but he went out of business of some sort.

Mike Gonzalez 24:54

So well, let me ask you this, because you I mean, both of you guys know this. Uh life on the road is not easy. Uh, you've been doing it your entire career, Dennis. Uh, so it's it's it's not easy, it's a grind. None of us are getting any younger. How many more years of shows you got in you?

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Well, I have a very uh I have a very exact formula for that. Uh when it's no longer fun, uh that's one thing. That would be it. Or if I can't do it the way it's supposed to be, done. Now, I've I've been on the road for seven weeks. I n I which is nothing for me, but I decided to come home this this summer for a week because of the scheduling of the adaptive open and where it was, and I you know it just kind of uh changed my schedule a little. So I'm home for a week. This is the third day. I haven't hit a ball, but I'm gonna go putt today. And uh it's I have seven weeks to go now, and and and I listen, I am not crazy about staying in the Hampton Inn uh for a hundred days or the Hilton Garden Inn for a hundred days, but it has to be done if I'm gonna do this. And and I I'm telling you, the last two shows I did, I I couldn't have done them any better when I when I was whatever age. And so the age has nothing to do with it, the golf has nothing to do with it. I I I hit the ball beautifully. I I I've lost a little bit of distance, but you know, my swing's gotten a little shorter. But as far as hitting it right smack in the middle of the face, yeah, that I still enjoyed, I get a thrill out of doing that because it feels so good.

unknown 26:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

And I tell people where I'm gonna hit them, too. I don't not many people do that. I I tell them exactly where I'm aiming. And most of the time it goes where I'm looking. And I and then I have to remind the people, you know, I'm aiming at the fourth stake from the right. And oh, there's that stake again, you know, and or my my assistant will hold up an applause sign.

Mike Gonzalez 27:06

So okay, so now we come to the educational segment of this podcast series with Dennis Walters. I want to ask you about the Americans with Disabilities Act, which uh was enacted in 1990. Tell us a little bit about what that is, what it did for people similarly situated as you, and perhaps more importantly, what it yet didn't do.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Well, the thing you have to remember, if you're in a wheelchair in 1974, people are looking at you like you got wheelchair itis, and they have a chance at catching it. It was it was prejudiced in a in a in a pretty big way. And I'm not saying like it wasn't as bad as racial prejudice or prejudice against ethnic people or whatever, but it was it to me, it was very powerful, and it was very disheartening that people could be that mean or that stupid, and uh it's gotten better, it's gotten a lot better as far as that goes with all with time. If it hadn't improved in 50 years, this would be a pretty sad place to live, but it's gotten better, and um I think as far as the ADA law goes, it in my particular situation, it solved a lot of practical problems like curb cuts. Before there were no curb cuts, you had to pop a wheel and pull yourself up on a uh uh over the curb or have somebody help you do that. Um, the hotel rooms were horrible. You couldn't, a lot of bathrooms, you couldn't even get in. I remember one time I had to go and I didn't have much time because that's one of the things you lose when you're paralyzed, is control of your internal body functions. Nobody knows that. I mean, they think you can't walk. No, it goes far beyond that. And if people knew that, they'd probably have a little more empathy for what the heck's going on. But anyhow, I remember a time I slipped out of my wheelchair and crawled on the floor and pulled myself up onto the toilet. And uh, you know, it it was listen, I'm sure most people, a lot of people have gone through worse things, but I mean, when it's you, it seems like it's it's it's the end of the world almost. And in a lot of cases, it is uh close to that. And I I I wish I had a word to describe how low and how bad I felt going through this in the beginning. I still feel bad about it today, okay? But I've had 50 years of this to at least get myself adjusted. I I've probably experienced almost everything bad that a person in a wheelchair can can experience, and that's only because I've been in it for 50 years. But you know what, a long time ago, I realized it wasn't getting any better and it wasn't going away. And I made up my mind that I I was I was just gonna have to deal with it. And every once in a while, okay, here's an example. You get to the bathroom on time, okay? That's a minor victory in a very large war. Okay. And it's very similar to my my attitude about golf. Okay. When this happened to me, I mean, I never moved the ball when I played. I I played every ball as it lied. And when this happened to me, I was the first month or so, I was trying to do that, park the cart where I didn't have to move. You know, I was like, I'm a nut, right? I can't do this. And and I I would I would hit the ball nowhere near. I knew right away the first day I sat in that seat, I'd never play as good as I could. But it still bothered me a lot because, you know, I'm used to playing off the tips and the back, one step off the tips every time. And now I I can't do that. And and so, and I couldn't hit the ball the way I did, not even close. And so, right in the beginning, I had a tremendous conundrum here. Yes, I'm happy to be hitting golf balls again, but man, this stinks that I can't play as well as I did. And that went on for a while, and I was getting so mad and angry, I was punching myself in the legs. And I said to myself, you know, this is not gonna work. I said, You you're looking at this all wrong. You got to look at it. How was I playing? How am I playing today when I'm sitting in this seat? And can I get any better? And once I realized that and I started to get better, I felt a lot better about the whole situation. And uh I tried to pick the whole this the T blocks. This was 45 years ago. I picked the T blocks that I thought I could play the course from. And so um I wish people did that today. Yeah. Right. Well, it it makes it more fun. If you if you if you can't hit the ball two 230, 240, you know, you need to hit from the white T's, okay? It's much more fun. But anyhow, the um the thing that I realized, two other things that come to mind. When I was laying in that hospital bed, I never actually thought I was getting out of it. And when I when I did get out of it, I looked at it and I said, I said, I promise I ain't giving up. And I'm gonna try to figure out a way that I could play golf. And the other thing I realized was your brain is your strongest muscle that you have. And listen, it's easy to say, have a good attitude, you know, but actually doing it, especially in golf, it's damn hard to do. And when you can't do a lot of things that you want to do, or you have trouble doing these things, you get you gotta have a good attitude, or you're you're gonna you're gonna be totally ruined. And a lot of that I got from my dad, yeah, but a lot of that I got on my own. And it's it people can help you all day long, but in the end, I I say this, I say this respectfully to my dad and my mom and my sister. As much as they helped me, I don't ever remember them hitting a golf ball for me. And I had to get my butt out there and try to figure it out. You know, I I mean I I've experimented with a golf swing as much or more than anybody because I had to. I I I didn't know what the heck to do, but I figured it out, and I and I I attribute that to the fact that I I kept an open mind and I kept a positive mind.

Mike Gonzalez 34:10

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 34:34

It went smack down the fairway.