Colorado dog is Instagram famous for 'barkour,' shows off skills in Fort Collins

After seven years of climbing more than 100 mountains, exploring countless trails and encountering plenty of wildlife, Ian Krammer and his 7-year-old Australian cattle dog Blodgett are now entering into some uncharted territory — Instagram fame.

Blodgett's Instagram account went viral last month when Colorado State University shared a video of Blodgett jumping from pillar to pillar outside the Lory Student Center.

Blodgett's parkour — or "barkour," as Krammer calls it — and his other outdoor adventures are featured on his Instagram account, which Krammer started about a year ago after encouragement from his friends.

In Instagram videos showcasing Blodgett's skills, he is seen jumping on top of trash cans, looping through bike racks and walking along retaining walls in Old Town Fort Collins and on the Colorado State University campus. Krammer and Blodgett used to live in Fort Collins, but have since moved to Denver, Krammer said.

Krammer never intended for Blodgett's skills to go viral. He just wanted his dog trained to climb mountains and be as active as he is.

Krammer said he adopted Blodgett as a puppy from a farm in eastern Colorado in 2012. Blodgett was the runt of the litter, and he threw up on Krammer when Krammer went to pick out a dog. When the owner frantically apologized, Krammer said he replied, "I've been claimed."

He named Blodgett after the tallest mountain behind the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where Krammer grew up.

Blodgett has since joined Krammer on 50 fourteener summits and 65 thirteener summits in the last few summers, sitting out a few of Krammer's trips because they were too technical or on private property.

"He did as many dog-friendly (14er and 13er summits) as he could," Krammer said.

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Blodgett was the one who started the duo on their "barkour" journey.

As a puppy, walks and playtime at the dog park never tired out Blodgett, but he loved jumping around on playgrounds, Krammer said.

"He started doing it by himself, so I just started rewarding it," he said.

Krammer began training Blodgett on moving through obstacles and started using commands to tell him when to start, stop, jump, duck and other things he might need to do when encountering obstacles in the mountains.

"We started doing the parkour strictly so I could get him adept at jumping and weaving on command," Krammer said.

Because of his parkour training, Krammer said Blodgett can better handle the unique and technical challenges they often come across while climbing mountains.

"When we're in the mountains, I never had to worry, 'Can he handle this?' " Krammer said.

Blodgett also knows his own abilities in the mountains and knows how to signal to Krammer when he's not able or comfortable taking on an obstacle by himself, Krammer said.

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Now that Blodgett is getting older, Krammer said he is sad to admit Blodgett may have to retire from their long hikes and multi-day adventures in the coming years. Krammer is still working to climb every 13er in the state (there are 584) after tackling every 14er, but he knows Blodgett likely won't make it up every one with him.

"We're going really hard on it just because I think we probably have a solid one or two years left of good seasons before he's too senior and kind of mellowing out a little bit," Krammer said.

And even though the pair moved to Denver, Blodgett still enjoys — and remembers — their regular loop around Old Town when they come back to Fort Collins about once a month, Krammer said.

And when they do, Krammer said people even still stop and say they recognize Blodgett as "the dog that jumps over stuff."

Sady Swanson covers crime, courts, public safety and more throughout Northern Colorado. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Support our work and local journalism with a digital subscription at Coloradoan.com/subscribe.