Put your paws up and get ready for some good, old-fashioned comedy with Mutts Gone Nuts on April 17th at 6:30pm in the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. If you’re a fan of dogs or comedy routines, you’re sure to have a good time at this show.
What is Mutts Gone Nuts?
As the name suggests, Mutts Gone Nuts is all about our four-legged best friends performing some seriously exhilarating stunts with their trainers. You can expect to see dogs leaping into the air, performing backflips, fetching frisbees, jumping off of their trainers, and so much more. Beyond the dynamic acrobatics, you can also expect to see physical comedy between the dogs and their trainers as they run rampant across the stage.
Mutts Gone Nuts has dazzled audiences all across the country at performing arts centers and halftime shows for over fifteen years, gaining new fans and animal lovers along the way. Whether it’s a football halftime show or an auditorium filled with college students and local families, the performing dogs have captured the hearts of many with their zany, you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it tricks.
Oftentimes animal performances are criticized for the living conditions of the animals, but one of Mutts Gone Nuts main missions is to take care of their dogs in the best way possible—the dogs travel in luxury in climate-controlled kennels with all sorts of cozy padding and live fully indoors when not on the road. If that wasn’t enough, all of the dogs are truly mutts and have been adopted from shelters and various rescue groups, giving the animals a renewed lease on life in the spotlight. Mutts Gone Nuts also exclusively uses reward-based training methods to develop their dogs’ skills, maintaining a positive, trust-based relationship between trainer and dog.
Once their dogs have had their fill and don’t want to continue to perform, the dogs are retired with full pension to a farm in Baltimore, Maryland where they get to live out the rest of their days happy, carefree, and yes—still running around like wild.
Who’s Behind Mutts Gone Nuts?
The comedic masterminds behind the Mutts Gone Nuts act are Scott and Joan Houghton, a married comedic duo who have performed all across the world with their unicycle and juggling acts. They adopted their first dog in 1996, and the rest is history! By 2007, they had adopted their second dog and had completely retooled their comedy act into Mutts Gone Nuts.
Along the way, as the comedy act grew in popularity over the years, Scott and Joan Houghton have brought on talented dog trainers and other comedians to take their show to the next level and continue their tours across the country.
Make sure you don’t miss Mutts Gone Nuts when they come to Ohio University. The show begins at 6:30pm on April 17th, 2024, and you can expect the show to last around an hour and a half. Tickets can be found here ahead of the show.