Fans Love The New 'Bat-Dogs' For The Tulsa Drillers

A Friday night at ONEOK Field can be an absolutely "paws-ative experience."

With the crack of the bat...

The "barking" of the umpire...

And the roar of the crowd...

And now, for the third year, the Drillers also have some diamonds in the "ruff." The return of the bat dogs.

Two of the dogs you will see during the season are Floki and Mia, who are trained by a local, women-owned dog-training company called Klever K-9. The Drillers reached out to them to see if they were "mutts" about the idea.

"We said, 'Absolutely, let's give it a go.' We had never done it, had no idea what it called for, but we were just like, let's take on the challenge," says Jennah Turner from Klever K9. "We had an idea watching videos from other teams that had bat dogs. Our dogs, luckily, already knew how to retrieve different items. So we just threw a bat in there and see how it goes and they took to it very quickly and have loved it ever since."

After a lot of practice runs, the duo started to "have a ball." But the baseball was the biggest distraction. So Addy and Jennah, the owners of Klever K9, had to "raise the woof" to get the dogs to focus on the bat.

"They both love to play fetch and so teaching them you're not chasing the ball, you're chasing the bat," says Turner.

With the dogs sitting right beside the dugout, some of players have become "fur-ever" friends with their new teammates.

Addy Sanchez, also from Klever K9, says, "They love talking to us while we're waiting. They ask us a bunch of questions. They talk about their dogs, so it's been wonderful."

Despite concerns about getting run over in the on-deck circle, players don't "hound" Floki and Mia about their job.

"Once they open that gate, he's shooting out of there as quick as he can. You see the play happening, you see the dog run, you give him some time to get the bat and then make your way out there," says Drillers first baseman Brandon Lewis. "So I don't think it's a big problem."

Fans have been "mutts" about the bat dogs, and their trainers say the experience has been "quite fetching"

"It's been a great new challenge that we took on, and it's been a blast so far," says Turner. "And the dogs have ended up really loving it and the game of it. They love the fans. They love the kids."

This is the 3rd year for the bat dogs to be a part of Drillers games. You can see them every Friday home game, and holiday games.