Posted 3/28/2007 05:22:00 PM by Douglas

Oh no, not Skidboot?!?

Skidboot, a working ranch dog and television celebrity who wowed crowds at the State Fair of Texas, has died. He was 14.

Skidboot's health had declined for several years after he was kicked in the head by a horse and blinded in one eye. He was euthanized Sunday.

The dog, half Australian blue heeler and half "chef's surprise," was buried under an oak tree on the Quinlan ranch of David and Barbara Hartwig.

"What a wonderful life of fourteen years he lived! Never has a last minute, second-thought Christmas gift ever shone so brightly as Skidboot," the Hartwigs said on Skidboot's Web site.

On Christmas Eve 1992, David Hartwig was given the puppy by a neighboring rancher as a last-minute Christmas gift for his wife.

In 2003, Skidboot won the $25,000 top prize during the Pet Star competition on "Animal Planet." That led to appearances on the Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman and Jay Leno television shows.

"I'm just very empty," Barbara Hartwig said in Wednesday editions of The Dallas Morning News. "He was something special. He just had a special spirit."

The Hartwigs asked that Skidboot's fans remember him with a donation to an animal shelter.

That is really some dog. Check out his video here.