Service Dogs Attend The ‘Billy Elliot’ Play To Learn Proper Behavior In The Theater

Aug 28, 2019 by apost team

We all know how annoying it is to go to a crowded theater where people talk loudly during the show. Sometimes it ruins the experience, and it makes you regret spending your money on the ticket.

That's why it is rather ironic that a special group of theatergoers has learned proper behavior. These audience members are dogs, and they can behave better during a show than a lot of teenagers and inconsiderate people can.

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The Stratford Festival Theater is participating in training service dogs at their location in Ontario, Canada. The company puts on relaxed performances that teach the dogs to be quiet and still during performances, which is important if disabled people have their dogs with them at entertainment venues.

These relaxed performances are structured so that people with learning disabilities and other limitations can feel comfortable in a theatrical environment without too much confusion and stimulation. Recently, the company performed Billy Elliot in a special presentation just for a group of service dogs who were in training.

The K-9 Country Inn Working Service Dogs organization had this brilliant idea to collaborate with this special theater company to train the service dogs to teach them to remain still and silent when their handlers are attending various types of shows.

In a recent performance, over a dozen good dogs learned how to behave properly during an evening of fine entertainment.

There are some great photos of the dogs watching the show that are a must-see for dog lovers. Each dog is sitting in a seat watching the show like a well-behaved human audience of sophisticated, cultured theater-goers. They seem to be paying courteous attention to the actors as they portray their roles on stage.

Laura Mackenzie is the head trainer of the service dogs, and she has expressed to CBS how important it is to train the animals to remain calm during performances so that disabled people can attend shows that enhance their lives. She explains that the dogs learn to stay calm in the presence of a lot of stimuli such as lights, loud sounds and sudden movements on stage. The dogs also need to learn to stay relaxed in a crowded environment.

Do you think there should be a lot more theaters that perform for service dogs? Let us know in the comments, and show this story to all your dog-lover friends so that they can read about this fascinating idea.