And Now for Something Completely Different

This YouTube video was on BoingBoing, A Directory of Wonderful Things, where you can find all things geeky, wonky, and wild and weird.  The post's author wonders whether the dog "actually enjoys dancing in that frilly skirt."

The comments made by Boing-Boing's readers reflect the site's core audience--some are perturbed because the hind-leg hopping might be hard on the dog's joints. Others are impressed by the partnership between the dog and its handler:  "Smoobly" writes, "The dog enjoys having a job to do, doing it well, pleasing hir human, and being rewarded. That the job entails dancing around in a frilly skirt is purely incidental. Good dog!"

"Libraryboi" is worried about other issues:  "Dogs aren't supposed to stand on their hind legs. It's not difficult to imagine the damage that is inflicted on their joints and subsequent pain from doing this repeatedly over years. Simply because we can train dogs to do this doesn't mean we should for mere human amusement."  I suppose fly-ball is bad, too, because the dogs jump high and land hard.

Others noticed only the pretty hostess, or made flip comments about skirts.  I'm convinced that since the dog is a Golden Lab, it doesn't give a hoot what it wears while dancing, just as long as there are treats or tennis balls afterwards.