As a student during the late 1970s, Terri Foley watched as Gary Eisenberg and the original Zeke the Wonderdog threw and caught Frisbees across the football field at Spartan Stadium. Little did she know she would have a part in bringing this tradition back to East Lansing 18 years after Eisenberg.
Jim Foley, Terri’s husband, sorted through more than 600 dogs at the humane society in order to find one to play Frisbee with. When he picked out a black lab named Dexter, he had no idea he and Dexter would end up performing tricks inside Spartan Stadium. Jim, Terri and Dexter would fill an almost 20 year void left by Eisenberg and the original Zeke the Wonderdog.
“It was like a dream come true for us,” Jim Foley said.
In 2002, Dexter became the Frisbee-catching dog at Spartan football games accompanied by Jim Foley and Terri Foley. Dexter became known as Zeke II, as the original Zeke had long since retired.
Jim Foley and Terri Foley’s Dexter (Zeke II) retired in 2007.
Dexter’s job has since been taken over by Zeke III, whose real name is Boo Coo. Boo Coo, now 10-years-old, is a purebred yellow lab who has been the center of attention inside Spartan Stadium since 2007.
Training dogs and performing inside Spartan Stadium has become a huge part of Jim Foley and Terri Foley’s life.
“It’s a passion,” Jim Foley said. “Zeke II was an awesome dog and Zeke III has been a great dog, it’s an awesome tradition.”
Depending on the day, the current Zeke and Jim Foley do a number of different tricks when they perform.
These tricks can range from short pops down the field to having Zeke jump off Jim Foley’s back to going long down the field, Jim Foley said.
Jim Foley said he watches a lot of videos of other dogs performing and sometimes pulls tricks from these videos.
It takes about two years to be trained to the point where Zeke is and to “be really solid,” Jim Foley said. A lot of patience is necessary to start with simple obedience such as sit, stay, come and to take baby steps from there. It is all worth it in the end.
“I love training dogs,” Jim Foley said.
The typical game day preparation for Zeke and his owners begins long before Saturday. Jim Foley said the Sunday before the Spartans’ game against Maryland on Nov. 14 he took Zeke for a swim “to get him to loosen up.”
On Monday Zeke trained and practiced his tricks for about 15 minutes.
He was expecting Saturday’s matchup against Maryland to be a windy one, so Jim Foley took Zeke out to practice in the wind on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for about 20 minutes each day.
Friday was a day of rest for both Jim Foley and Zeke. They practiced a few tricks on Saturday morning before getting in the car with Terri Foley to make the hour-and-a-half drive from their home in Holland, Mich. to East Lansing.
Terri Foley said one the favorite things to do on game day once arriving in East Lansing is to bring Zeke to one of the radio stations set up on campus and have him bark on the radio. Depending on what is scheduled for that particular game day the couple brings Zeke around to tailgate parties or special events.
“Our goal is to always greet as many people, get as many pets and hugs and pictures as we possibly can,” Terri Foley said.
Then it’s game time and Zeke and Jim Foley perform, with the help of Terri Foley, in front of up to 75,005 college football fans in between quarters, during TV breaks and at halftime.
After the game, Zeke interacts with members of the band and Spartan football players while “Victory for MSU” is sung.
Zeke always likes to catch a Frisbee thrown by Spartan football players Connor Cook and Shilique Calhoun after the game, Terri Foley said.
After singing “Victory for MSU” the couple, accompanied by Zeke, make their way out of Spartan Stadium.
“We walk out of here and he gets 100 hugs and pictures,” Jim Foley said. “We will go to different tailgate parties, we’ll walk around, we’ll mingle around and see everybody we can, everybody just gives Zeke a big hug. Zeke is Zeke.”
At the end of their long day, Terri Foley said they try and get something to eat on their way home to Holland, Michigan.
It is all about being a Spartan for Terri Foley.
“I bleed green. I am a Spartan. I have a passion for being a Spartan and it’s a great way to give back,” Terri Foley said. “We have always looked at Zeke as a goodwill ambassador for Michigan State.”
