The Chris Perondi Stunt Dog Experience brought their amazing and dazzling canine antics to Elgin Community College’s Blizzard theater on April the 27 at 7:30 p.m. The nationally famous troupe has been all over, from the Ellen Degeneres show to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno to Animal Planet.

The show is hosted and run by Chris Perondi and his wife Suhey, along with their team of trainers. Throughout the show, a variety of tricks and feats of talent are shown off by the dogs. In the approximately two hour show, the audience saw the dogs high-jump, run an obstacle course, catch and return a number of tennis balls, jump-rope, and much more.

The show at ECC’s Blizzard Theatre went off without a hitch, with a packed crowd full of excited and enthusiastic little kids screaming and cheering for the dogs the whole time, it was exactly the right kind of crowd for this show. Crowd involvement and the pace of the show meant that the show never got too slow or boring for the kids, lots of screaming and cheering was encouraged, and at one point Chris Perondi brought three kids on to the stage for one of the smaller dogs to jump over.

Throughout the show the performers, would bring dogs onto the stage to perform, and every time they did, they’d introduce the dog, from where they were rescued, and how long they have been with the program. Knowing that the dogs performing for people are dogs that have been taken from terrible situations and put into good care made the show more heartwarming and sweet.

Halfway through the show, there was an intermission where members of the group sold some merchandise for the show, all proceeds of which go to different charities like the Lucy Pet Foundation and a Place to Bark.

These dogs can really perform! The show taps right into that feeling of “There’s no way the dog could do that!” and pulls it off over and over again, with almost every trick ending with the dogs jumping into the performer’s arms. There is Youtube footage of these dogs in action, but it really does not compare to seeing these puppers jump around and perform feats of amazing talent on stage, in real life.

The mission of the group, as written on their website, “is to promote pet adoption, responsible pet ownership, and educate on the importance of spay and neutering.”

The show is extremely wholesome and family-friendly fun. Every part of it, from the presenters to the mascot (a large dog named “Diddy”), to the dogs themselves and the background of the group is about as positive, uplifting, and fun as anything could be. A resounding success in Elgin and around the country, Stunt Dogs is a woofing-good time.