Border Collie Makes Stage Debut to Audience’s Delight —’Proud of Himself’

The internet has helped cheer on a talented dog making his stage debut to thunderous applause.

Chrissy Joy is a performing artist who works with her dogs to, as she describes it, bring “joy to others.”

Their troupe, aptly named The Joy Crew, has now gone viral after a five-year-old border collie, Whidbey, made his stage debut all on his own, without a trainer to guide him.

Joy and her pets were recently performing a theatre show with Mutts Gone Nuts, which usually sees “the dogs come out with the handlers during the performances to do their routines and whatnot,” she told Newsweek.

But this time, they wanted something a bit different: to have a dog “go without their handler to the actor on stage and perform special moves to begin the show.”

“I felt Whidbey could handle the task,” she said proudly—and the moment he headed solo on stage has brought joy to hundreds of thousands of people.

In a video shared to her TikTok account @thejoycrew on September 24, which has over 860,000 views and 196,000 likes, Joy and Whidbey can be seen waiting patiently on the side of the stage as an actor speaks to the audience.

Whidbey continuously looks back at his owner excitedly, waiting for his cue—and when it comes, she gives him a little note, which he takes in his mouth before strutting confidently on stage.

The second Whidbey appears, the audience can be heard gasping and awwing, and when the dog hands the note to the actor, before sitting down and shaking offering his paw to shake, the cheers begin.

Whidbey then happily struts back to his owner at the side of the stage, and the crowd begins an appreciative applause, and Joy whispers: “Good job!”

“Listen to the crowd,” she wrote on the clip, adding: “He’s so proud of himself.”

The live audience weren’t the only ones who loved Whidbey’s trick, as TikTok users responded in their droves, with one of hundreds of commenters declaring: “I would’ve given him a standing ovation.”

“I literally just put my phone down and clapped,” another said, adding: “He did so good!”

“Standing ovation for that perfect performance,” another said, as one asked: “Where’s his Oscar?”

And as one put it: “Working dogs doing a job is so cute they’re so happy.”

Joy told Newsweek: “We rehearsed a few times and added the ‘paw shake’ when he greeted the actor, Tomas.”

Calling the paw shake one of Whidbey’s “signature moves,” she said the five-year-old collie “loves to work and make people happy”.

Border collies like Whidbey are described as bright, intelligent workaholics by the American Kennel Club (AKC). Originally bred as herding dogs, the breed is still popular as working dogs on farms, as well as in obedience or agility work.

Collies are also popular family pets, but the AKC warns they may not suit owners unable to give them the time and energy needed to keep them occupied.

As for actor Whidbey, who she describes as “sweet, goofy” and with a “calm demeanor,” he was “thrilled to get this chance to show off his tricks,” Joy said.

“I definitely teared up as he trotted back with the look of, ‘Look, I did it, Mom!'”

Chrissy travels across the US performing with her pets in the Joy Crew, “to show people how special animals can be in our lives” should they take the time “to build that everlasting bond”.

Chrissy also offers online courses for dog owners to “start teaching their dogs tricks right at home”, through her BFF Pet Services company.

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