GREELEY, Colo. — He sits there every day, sometimes for hours, up there on the roof, posed in a perfect sitting position, observing the neighborhood like it’s his kingdom. Maybe it is. After all, how many roof-sitting dogs do you see?

His name is Dubi, which means “my bear” in Hebrew, according to his owner, J.D. Pickett of west Greeley. Dubi is part black lab, part boxer and part roof climber.

Pickett got Dubi from the  Human Society of Weld County. He was one of six puppies in the litter.

“The patio on the house in back is just about four feet below the roof at one point,” Pickett said. “When Dubi was little, he jumped up there in the snow one winter, and I had to keep helping him down. Now, he goes up there every day, on his own, just watching the neighborhood.”

At first, Pickett was worried about his dog jumping or falling and stepping off the roof. He put up chicken wire along the back of the roof, but the dog would jump through it. He tried other ways to block Dubi, but he’d get around them. Finally, Dubi won. Now he just gets on the roof when he wants.
People stop when they pass the house and see the dog on the roof.

At first, neighbors would come to the door and say, “Do you know you’ve got a dog on the roof?” and Pickett would tell them it was OK. Now people stop and ask if they can take a photo.

Pickett’s 5-year-old son, Jase, helped choose Dubi’s name when he was a puppy about three years ago. Now the boy and the big dog are best friends.

“You know how much I like Dubi?” Jase will ask you. “Just about this much.” He puts his hands apart about as far as he can reach. “And you know how much I like Kindergarten? Just the same!”

Pickett said Dubi has been a great pet. Despite his size — about 70 pounds — he’s gentle with kids, never nips, never plays rough, and likes to go camping.

So Dubi has won the hearts of the neighbors who now look forward to seeing Dubi on top of the world.
Pickett works for the Greeley Recreation Department, at the city’s softball complex next to the Family Funplex in west Greeley. His father, Jerry, is the city’s superintendent of the streets department.

“You know,” J.D. Pickett says with a smile, “when I was 18, I had a black lab that I had at home with my mom and dad.

That dog, Shadow, would get on their patio and jump into the tree and walk around on the limbs.

“I’m not sure what it shows about me,” Pickett says with a grin, “that I have dogs that climb on roofs and in trees.”

Dubi is especially watchful when J.D. and Jase are doing yardwork. He sits atop the roof, watching over them like a foreman on a job.

“I’m not sure what it is,” J.D. said, “But he likes the roof more than he does his doghouse.”