Meet Whisper, the dog who jumps off cliffs and lives to bark about it

Facebook/Dean.Potter.165

Meet Whisper, the dog who jumps off cliffs and lives to bark about it
(Image credit: Facebook/Dean.Potter.165)

Most dogs are content if you keep their bowls full of food and walk them at least once a day. Then there's Whisper, whose owner says she's at her happiest when strapped to his back, diving from 13,000-foot peaks in the Swiss Alps.

The 4-year-old dog became a viral video star when BASE jumper Dean Potter posted a clip on YouTube of Whisper taking part in a jump with him, stuffed inside a backpack with just her head sticking out. The pair zoom down until Potter uses a parachute to break their fall. Potter told Mother Jones that when he adopted Whisper as a puppy, he hated leaving her at home while he went climbing and jumping. So, he figured out a way — after designing three backpack prototypes — to have the right equipment so she could go with him. He took her on motorcycle rides and determined that she enjoyed speed, and says that now when he puts on his wing suit, "Whisper nestles close and begs to come along."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.