That moment when your dance partner is a dog, and they aren’t even looking at you… how exactly will the competition go?
You can underestimate the intelligence of animals up to a certain point. This woman and her incredible dog have established that point beyond all argument.
The woman is Sandra Roth, a Jazz and ballet dancer. The dog is Lizzy, a Border Collie. Border Collies are just as difficult as they are intelligent. And Lizzy, as pointed out by her owner, is no easy dog by her very nature.
So the level of coordination and cooperation witnessed here is a feat of connection between human and animal, patience and repetition, and discipline. Practice, practice, practice.
Most tricks with dogs seem to be dependent on visual cues. But many of the parts of this duet-dance take place without Lizzy having any visual contact with her owner.
Nearly everyone will leave this video wowed. But we should also be left more aware of just how deeply our animals feel for their humans. Brains that big have hearts that must be deep.