by A sweet Labrador Retriever named Benny has become the world’s first ice-skating dog.
Rescued as a puppy from euthanasia, Benny has been learning to skate for a year after his human, former skating coach Cheryl Del Sangro, took him along to a practice. She has a friend who suggested they make a fan video for Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL team that made it to the Stanley Cup and that’s how Benny began to learn how to skate!
Del Sangro and her friend shot a video of Benny running on the ice carrying a hockey stick and puck, but not really skating.
Then Del Sangro thought maybe Benny would like to really skate and made him a pair of special skates. After some agility training, Benny was carefully taken onto the rink. He took to the ice and his skates quite quickly.
“I just started teaching him the same as teaching a small toddler and incredibly he took right to it. He was able to stand and skate on his own the first day we tried it,” Del Sangro told PEOPLE. “He continues to improve all the time.”
Benny came into Del Sangro’s life after he was unwanted by virtually everyone else.
“He had spent six months in a kill shelter in Utah and eventually was put on the euthanasia list,” she said. “A local Las Vegas rescue had pulled him on his last day and transported him to Las Vegas but nobody had put in to adopt him. But as soon as I saw his eyes in the photo I knew he was meant for me. I filled out the forms, finally got to meet him and it was instant love.”
Benny enjoys the rink and wags his tail every time he steps onto the ice. He also likes going on the ice without the skates to cool down his paws.
A pupdate – after a few years of not being able to visit the ice rink, Benny got a warm welcome back on the ice.
