r/aww • u/thetinydancer1 • 4h ago
Our Pomeranian plays Bruiser Woods in Legally Blonde. She waits for her cue, then walks onstage all by herself
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u/TheHow55 3h ago
so cute and hit her marks! My dog was in a production of Annie a few years ago, and had to be on stage, not moving for a whole 90 seconds with no leash or anyone touching her, just waiting on the hand queue from the actress playing annie. she nailed it all 3 nights (even hammed it up the final night by laying down instead of only sitting) but man was i nervous as hell watching from the audience, haha
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u/Chiinoe 3h ago
What kind of compensation do you get from these types of things?
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u/TheHow55 3h ago
This was just a high school show and my wife was the director so none for us ha ha
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u/HeckMonkey 2h ago
Showbiz is all about connections
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u/Tweed_Kills 3h ago
Is your dog named after Portal?
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u/TheHow55 3h ago
Yes! In her 12 year life you are maybe only the 3rd or 4th person to call that out!
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u/Tweed_Kills 2h ago
Hell yeah! Good name for a clever girl! Is she a capable escape artist, or notably quiet?
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u/PhinneousPhingerz 46m ago
That's about the ratio of folks who have recognized my username NOT as a friend of Ferb, but from a Cartoon/Comic that would appear in Dragon Magazine in the late '70s to early '80s
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u/Electrical_Shock359 2h ago
Even messing up would likely be cute so I am sure the audience wouldn’t be upset lol.
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u/kermithiho 2h ago
Aww! My childhood dog was also in a community production of Annie once (my dad wore a bald cap and played Daddy Warbucks. I was a nameless orphan in the chorus). I don't think she had to sit on stage though, just run out on cue.
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u/Midwingman 1h ago
When we did Annie in school they just cast me as Sandy the dog XD I was very trainable.
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u/TheHow55 1h ago
I played milky white in Into the Woods, so I feel ya!!
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u/Midwingman 59m ago
I was 10 years old, and it was the role of a lifetime for me. I've always been a method actor, turns out, and it was so much fun to get into the mindspace of a shaggy dog. (Professional actor now.)
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u/LiterallyJustAHorse 1h ago
Annie is my favorite musical. Your dog made me smile tonight so thank you so much for sharing. 🩷
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u/TheOtherMaelja 3h ago
When my daughter was in HS Drama, her team would specifically write in our Pom into every possible show. It’s a bit surreal to watch HS kids doing Shakespeare and suddenly our family dog is on stage.
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u/Electrical-Fig-5009 1h ago
And the crowd hit that AWWWW every time, didn't they?
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u/TheOtherMaelja 55m ago
Very much so. The first couple of times there was the hushed whispers of, “is that a REAL dog” just before the “awws”
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u/MinuteLoquat1 1h ago
What types of roles did she have?
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u/TheOtherMaelja 57m ago
The dog or my daughter? My daughter usually just painted, built sets, and did stage direction. But her senior year, she was the Harpy in The Tempest. The dog has played babies, Toto from Wizard of Oz, and various background dogs. One time, he even had an action scene of being tossed out a window from a building on fire.
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u/FigaroNeptune 2h ago
Lmao “can you come hang later?” “No, my dog has work. She’s a working actor.”
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u/cakemix 3h ago
Is this what she does for a living or is she just especially fond of Legally Blonde?
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u/thetinydancer1 3h ago
We just happen to be friends with the director and they needed a dog for the part. She loves our pup and knows how well behaved she is so they asked if she would be in it. Totally not her job, but she’s having so much fun with the cast!
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u/lullubye 3h ago
So kinda a nepo baby 😜 She best be getting star treatment.
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u/thetinydancer1 3h ago
Total nepo baby! My husband and I met at that same theater doing a show together! Never thought it would be the family business!
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u/lullubye 3h ago
Do you think you'll look for other things for her to feature in?
And you didn't answer if she's getting her star treatment!! Don't make me call TMZ on you!
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u/thetinydancer1 3h ago
Haha!She does get the star treatment! She shows up and everyone in the cast loves on her. She also gets her own dressing room at the theater (it’s a tech closet) but she loves it. I don’t know if we’ll look for another show for her, but if something comes along we might. We love her getting to have a full life experience, ya know?
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u/lonnie123 1h ago
Not to bring money into everything... but in theory in the right setting (broadway or some kind of equity stage) would the dog be compensated like a human? Given theres likely a human with the dog at all times it makes sense
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u/thetinydancer1 1h ago
I have no idea. We aren’t dog trainers (we just happen to have a very smart, well trained, calm pup) and this is a local theater production. So I have nothing to compare it to.
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u/hookahsmokingladybug 3h ago
The audience loves her! You must be so proud
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u/thetinydancer1 3h ago
We are so proud! She was scared the first few weeks of the show by the audience, but she is now so brave!
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u/skinnyminnesota 4h ago
This is a f*ing show dog with f*ing papers.
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u/gratusin 3h ago
You can’t board it, it gets upset. It’s hair falls out
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u/artificialgrap3 3h ago
I’m not gonna rent it shoes.
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u/AdventurousAbility30 3h ago
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u/LeithLeach 3h ago
God loves a terrier, yes he does
God loves a terrier, that's because
Brown, sturdy, bright, and true
They give their hearts to you
God didn't miss a stitch
Be it dog or be it bitch
When he made the Norwich merrier
With his cute little 'derrier'
Yes, God loves a terrier!•
u/skinnyminnesota 3h ago
Harlan Pepper you stop naming nuts!
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u/HumpieDouglas 2h ago
I do this to my sister all the time. Costco has an extensive nut selection so I'll take pictures of them and send them to her until she responds with that quote. 😂
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u/Susan_Screams 3h ago
I will never tire of being part of an audience at Legally Blonde reacting to when Bruiser and Rufus come on stage. The ultimate bonding moment with hundreds of strangers!!
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u/Foe117 4h ago
i am pretty sure doggo's can be smarter than we take them for. like the pupper knows the context of what they're doing is for the stage, but it likes what it's doing on cue.
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u/AvalancheOfOpinions 3h ago
You'd like the book, "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know," by Alexandra Horowitz, the director of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College. You're right, they're definitely much smarter or at least much more aware than we give them credit for. For instance, they memorize facial expressions, so they know when you're angry or happy just by your look. They're also deeply in tune with human eye contact and use their own eye contact as communication.
But they see the world in an entirely different way too, so stuff that's obvious to us isn't obvious to them and vice versa. Like they have incredible senses of smell and hearing and ours is relatively awful. They "see" the world through scent more than sight. Imagine trying to navigate while blindfolded, only through smell. They can detect marks months after they've been made. If we had their perception, it'd seem like a super power.
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u/rcknmrty4evr 1h ago
Something that really opened my eyes to how much dogs truly learn and keep track of their humans is having two elderly dogs throughout my life. My first was my childhood dog that lived until 20~ (found as a stray so not sure exactly, but minimum 20), and my current dog who is 16. They spent YEARS picking up our subtle gestures and doing the same routines what not, and even in their old age with very poor hearing and/or eyesight, they immediately understood commands, what we want them to do, what’s going on etc.
I mean this may seem obvious and not that crazy, but sometimes I’ll barely even move and my 16 year old dog, who is very close to, if not, 100% deaf and poor eyesight, immediately understands what’s going on and does it before I even really start the gesture I was going to do to direct him. He still understands people’s emotions, he can tell when people are sad or mad or happy.. sometimes it’s just surprising how little he acts like he’s losing his senses.. until there’s a loud noise he has zero reaction to or someone walks in the house he hasn’t seen in a while and takes a minute to smell and remember who they are lol.
It’s also interesting how smooth the transition from verbal/visual commands to visual/physical was. I can usually give visual gestures to command him, but if he’s doing something like barking out the sliding glass door because he thought he saw something lol, I can walk up and gently tap him and he just goes and lays down or whatever else. It’s not something we ever specifically trained or taught, he just picked it up as he lost his hearing.
Dogs pay attention to a lot more than many give credit to.
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u/coldize 3h ago
i am pretty sure we anthropomorphize anything we like.
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u/gettingitreal 2h ago
Wow, excuse your mouth. My dog is right next to me and was pretty offended to read this.
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u/Bad-dee-ess 2h ago
We literally anthropomorphized dogs by evolving them along with us!
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u/Trips-Over-Tail 1h ago
I cynomorph anything I like. Dogs are easy. People react badly. Cats are a fun challenge. Works very well with sharks, until it doesn't, but great up to then.
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u/MothmanIsALiar 3h ago
Anthropomorphize is a nonsense word because humans are animals.
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u/SynisterJeff 3h ago
Anthropomorphize just means for a human to attribute non-human things with human traits, it doesn't have to be animals. The movie Toy Story anthropomorphizes toys.
And even with the point you were making, human behavior and intelligence is so far removed from any other animal. There are some animals that compare in some ways, but they still don't come close in most aspects, and you could still give them many human traits that they lack. The word would still hold meaning.
It comes from the word "anthropic", which just means to be related to humans. Which also comes from the greek word for human, "anthropikos". You could say cars are anthropic, because they are strictly related to humans.
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u/finnjakefionnacake 3h ago
i think we all understand what it means though. humans are animals, but all animals are not humans.
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u/Cactuas 3h ago
It's not nonsense to point out that animals are usually not experiencing certain situations exactly as humans would. We are all animals and we all experience emotions, but it's a leap to assume dogs experience the same emotions as humans do, just as it would be a leap to assume a cat experiences the same emotions as a dog.
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u/MothmanIsALiar 3h ago
I think its silly to assume that emotions are new rather than an integral part of the evolutionary experience. I have emotions. Chimps have emotions. Why wouldn't squirrels have emotions? We all have a common ancestor.
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u/Ppleater 1h ago
It's not about assuming that animals don't have emotions, it's about understanding that animals don't always express the same emotions in the same way for the same reasons. It's the species version of being ethnocentric, assuming that your experience is the default. It's arrogant and often results in harm for the animals. Chimps showing a fear grimace look to a human like they're happy because it resembles a smile, but chimps are chimps, with their own unique experiences, culture, and ways of expressing emotions that are not going to be the exact same as humans. If you assume that a chimp is happy when it isn't, you will continue to do things that make the chimp afraid while assuming you're making it happy. That is not fair to the chimp. And then the chimp freaks out lashes out, hurts someone, and people on reddit go around talking about how chimps are violent, psychopathic, and evil, instead of recognizing the chimp's perspective and experience as something that does not conceptualize the world the exact same way humans do.
Anthropomorphizing is assigning human motivation, logic, and morality to something that is not human, then judging it by those human standards, instead of acknowledging and respecting the animal for what it actually is.
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u/Cactuas 2h ago
Yes, all animals have emotions. But that doesn't mean animals always experience or express emotions the same way that humans do.
For example, a person who doesn't know anything about dogs might see a dog panting and think "Oh, that dog is smiling, it must be happy." In reality the dog is panting because it's hot, not because it's happy. That's anthropomorphization.
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u/ColdCruise 2h ago
But we are able to process and understand emotions in a way that no other animal can. We experience them differently because of this.
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u/MarcusRoland 3h ago
Now that is a point I haven't heard before. I like it a lot. Keep telling people we are just smarter fancier animals and they don't like it.
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u/Ppleater 1h ago
It's a really stupid point because the word anthropomorphize has nothing to do with whether humans are animals or not.
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u/Crapcicle6190 3h ago
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve read on Reddit, and I’ve been here a long time
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u/Onion_Dipper 3h ago
... though there are probably fundamental differences in the psychology of a sentient, conscious being shaped by historical and cultural contexts non-humans can't understand.
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u/Ppleater 1h ago
It's not a nonsense word, you just don't understand it and assume that means it must be nonsense. The word isn't the problem, it's you.
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u/FattyWantCake 3h ago
That's a category error. It's like saying because boats are vehicles, all vehicles float.
Just because we're animals doesn't mean all animals experience the world/life the same way.
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u/ZodiacalSeeker 3h ago
And you just know everyone went home and said “and it was a real dog! That was so cute!” That’s what makes a star!
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u/ResplendentShade 3h ago
Gotta love the chorus of happy human noises from the crowd the moment the pup appears.
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u/skraptastic 2h ago
My dog was in Pippin, he did great through all the rehersals. He ran out on stage and jumpped onto a platform, then into the actors arms. But got stage fright opening night when the crowd "awwwed" as he came on stage and would never go back on stage after that. He was replaced with a stuffed animal dog for later performances.
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u/heathymint 1h ago
Your reel was how I found out about this production! (Which is local to me). Can’t wait to see this!! Is your doggo in the shows this weekend? Signed, excited theater kid 😆
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u/toadwater 3h ago
So cute! My late Golden Retriever played Sandy in an Annie production. Granted, it was a much smaller production but watching this instantly brought back such great memories.
In the scene when Annie first meets Sandy, I would hold my Golden off-stage and whisper to her to get her excited. When it was time to let her go, she was so excited and would sprint onstage, sliding to a stop in Annie’s arms.
We usually had the cast meet the theater-goers in the lobby after each show. People were so excited to see Sandy that they’d often ignore the other cast. I was eventually asked to keep her at the back of the cast line because she was getting so much more attention. Actors really can be ridiculously needy 😜
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u/Vitis_Vinifera 1h ago
I rescued a Pomeranian a few weeks ago. She was the sweetest little thing, and my mean cat liked her (I found her owner).
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u/Capital-Exercise-364 3h ago
She’s so good! I worked with a Bruiser who wanted to jump her cue every time. 🎶Oh my god you guyyyyys🎶
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u/tacomamajama 2h ago
I hope she’s well compensated
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u/thetinydancer1 2h ago
She gets SO many treats! And she has a blast. She loves going out after the show and seeing all the kids as well.
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u/UninvestedCuriosity 2h ago
Good job!
I saw a version of this show at our local theatre a little while back and they carried the dog the entire time.
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u/IntelligentAd3283 2h ago
Awww!!! I played this show last year & they used puppets. Love that your little star got to perform!
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u/denisaw101 3h ago
She looks like a true professional the way she waits by the curtain for her cue. She is the star of the show 🌟
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u/hoshi2063 3h ago
So curious Mr Momager’s cut of the booking fee lol (no but actually tho how much is this dog making)
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u/MJMGaming 3h ago
awesome dog
though as adorable as they are, "There, Right There" still has me in an iron grip as my favorite part of the show
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u/Goingdown_in321 2h ago
Dogs can be unpredictable because they don't have a clue what's going on (and can you fault them?). Big probs to you for training and giving the lil cutie enough confidence to walk in like that!
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u/JerkGurk 1h ago
I love that you can say anything about your dog now and back it up with CREDENTIALS.
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u/SolusIgtheist 1h ago
Once you train an animal to do something, they tend to just never give up the behavior for the rest of their life.
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u/curiousmind111 1h ago
What is the “two” about?
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u/thetinydancer1 1h ago
She ran out two times times in a row on consecutive days. She previously had been afraid of the audience reaction but then got over the stage fright
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u/Apart-Remote1101 1h ago
Does anyone know where this production is located?
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u/thetinydancer1 1h ago
Berkeley Playhouse in California
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u/Apart-Remote1101 51m ago
Thank you. I ask because we had a performance this summer near my place at Rainbow Stage In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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u/xxTheGrayLifexx 42m ago
I remember in highschool, I was in a Wizard of Oz musical. Our theater teacher's dog was Toto and literally looked just like Toto too. Dog was awesome.
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u/mydeadface 1m ago
Does she get confused with being called by a different name? Unless her name really is bruiser
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u/lillylightening 4h ago
Goodest girl!