Clearwater Threshers Bat Dog Retires And Receives The Sweetest Farewell

“She has just kind of been in my right pocket for 13 years,” Layla’s dad, Andrew Davis, tells FOX 13.

Davis adopted Layla 13 years ago. And he never imagined the things her pooch would’ve accomplished in all those years.

Back in 2018, Layla became an internet sensation after a video of her retrieving a can of beer from the refrigerator went viral.

And who would’ve thought that that viral video would actually be Layla’s ticket to becoming a baseball bat dog?

“Once it took off there was no stopping it,” Davis said. “I never would’ve expected to have a famous dog.”

WMNF Radio reveals that after the video went viral, Davis reached out to Dominic Repper, Threshers manager of promotions and game entertainment, and showed him the video.

“When we first contacted the Threshers, Layla didn’t even know what a baseball bat was,” Davis tells WMNF Radio.

So, Davis took Layla to local baseball fields and taught her how to pick up a bat and bring it to the dugout.

Layla, who used to train alongside athletes at Webber International University when Davis was a student at the school, mastered the art of retrieving baseball bats and got signed to the Clearwater Threshers.

However, after being on the job for six years, Davis noticed that Layla was starting to slow down during games.

Davis told FOX 13, “I told them (the Threshers), ‘I don’t know if Layla is going to be up to the challenge next year.’”