b'Mutts Gone Nuts. 1 1Life is a canine cabaret with this While Visions 1performing troupe. Nine dogs arejoined by four humans to entertain of Sugar-Plumswith their jump-roping, dancing andhire wire acts in Mutts Gone Nuts.The show is coming to four DancedinFlorida venues in January.Scott and Joan Houghton were street 1performers for 22 years when they Their Heads.founded Mutts Gone Nuts almost 10 1 1years ago. The circus-type work hadalready taught them to be ready foranything, a trait that comes in handy 1when working with co-stars whomay be a little unreliable.1Were used to improvising, 1whether its dealing with a heckleror a baby crying, said Scott.When thedogs makemistakes, welaugh aboutit andmove on,YouTube sensation, Sam Valle and Myles he added.performs with Mutts Gone Nuts. A lot of ourshow is a series of comic mistakes, anyway.All of the dogs in the show were adopted by theHoughtons, who have fostered dogs for years. For every three or four dogs we foster, maybeone will end up in our show. The rest find theirforever homes, said Scott.There are still plenty of people who thinkshelter dogs are damaged goods. Shows like MuttsGone Nuts are a testimony that there are perfectlytrainable, wonderful pets in shelters. Dogs, oftenpurebred, end up in shelters because their ownersdidnt realize the breed of dog didnt match their Pawsitively Special.lifestyle. Someone surrendered a Border Collie to Pawsitively Posh.a kill shelter, saying they had no idea the dogwould be so energetic, Joan told us. In anothercase, a man told Joan he was going to give up his GUCCI POOCHI SPAdog to the shelter. I told him if the dog had some Full service grooming salon with \x1fve jet jacuzzi tub, Pawdicures and Blueberry Facials.behavioral issues that I would work with him, said CHANELS CLOSETJoan. It turns out, the dog was going to the bath- One-of-a-kind canine couture androom in the house because the guy wasnt letting accessories from France, Italy, Australia.him out. He lived in an apartment. He told Joan, I COCOS LA PAW\x1fRISIAN BISTROFeaturing freshly-baked all organichave to walk the dog? Thats just too much work. dog treats, cookies & cakes.Joan told him, Well, I cant fix that, and took the YAPPY HOURdog off the mans hands. 1st & 3rd \x1eursday ofMutts Gone Nuts has toured nationwide, and each month from 6:30pScott said theres a straightforward reason for its Collars. Leashes. Bowls. Beds. Gifts & More.success. The audience can see the dogs are havinga good time.Visit MuttsGoneNuts.com 1425 4th Street North St Petersburg727.892.9303for show dates and locations. info@PawsitivelyPoshPooch.comtwww.PawsitivelyPoshPooch.comwww.TheNewBarker.com Winter 2016 THE NEW BARKER 43'