Border Collie debuts on stage to the delight of the audience – “Proud of myself”

The Internet helped support the talented dog, who made his debut on stage and received thunderous applause.

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

Their band, aptly named The Joy Crew, gained huge popularity after five-year-old border collie Whidbey made his debut on stage alone, without a trainer to guide him.

Joy and her pets recently attended a theater show with Mutts Gone Nuts, where typically “the dogs go out with their handlers during the shows to do their routines and stuff,” she said. Newsweek.

This time, however, they wanted something different: a dog that “walks up to an actor on stage without a guide and makes special movements to start the show.”

“I felt like Whidbey could handle this job,” she said proudly, and the moment he took the stage solo brought joy to hundreds of thousands of people.

In a video shared on September 24 on her TikTok account @thejoycrew, which has over 860,000 views and 196,000 likes, Joy and Whidbey wait patiently on the side of the stage as the actor addresses the audience.

Whidbey constantly looks at its owner with excitement, waiting for his signal, and when it arrives, he gives him a small note which he puts in his mouth before confidently strutting onto the stage.

After Whidbey’s second appearance, the audience can be heard gasping and delighted, and when the dog hands the actor a note and then sits and shakes, offering a paw to shake, the cheers begin.

Whidbey then happily returns to his owner at the side of the stage as the crowd begins to applaud and Joy whispers, “Good job!”

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

It wasn’t just the live audience that liked Whidbey’s trick, as TikTok users responded in droves, with one of the hundreds of commenters declaring, “I’d give him a standing ovation.”

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

“Standing ovation for this excellent performance,” said another, and someone asked, “Where is his Oscar?”

As someone put it, “What’s so cute about working dogs is that they’re so happy.”

Joy said Newsweek: “We did a few rehearsals and added the ‘shake the paw’ 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 by the American Kennel Club (AKC) as bright, intelligent workaholics. Originally bred as herding dogs, this breed is still popular as working dogs on farms, as well as for obedience or agility.

Collies are also popular family pets, but the AKC cautions that they may not suit owners who are unable to provide them with the time and energy needed to care for them.

As for actor Whidbey, whom she describes as “sweet, goofy” and with a “calm demeanor,” he was “excited to show his tricks,” Joy said.

“I definitely cried when he came trotting back and said, ‘Listen, I did it, Mom!’”

Chrissy travels the United States performing with her pets on Joy Crew “to show people how special the animals in our lives can be” if they take the time “to build that everlasting bond.”

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

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