Dynamo Dogs Show entertains crowd at Perry County Fair
from: zanesvilletimesrecorder.com
Kathy Thompson,Staff Writer
Jul. 17, 2012
NEW LEXINGTON — Joker has an attention-deficient issue, but crowds love her.
The black standard poodle had children and adults laughing as she sat down when ordered to jump through a hoop and ran around the fence showing off Monday at the Perry County Fair.
Joker is one of 16 dogs in the Dynamo Dogs Show and owned and trained by Gail Mirabella.
Mirabella, from Georgia, left a pharmaceutical company and joined the Ringling Brothers Circus several years ago. After four years with the circus, Mirabella took off on her own.
"I wasn't the typical girl who wanted to get married and have kids," Mirabella said. "I wanted to see more, do more. I knew more, at least for me, was out there."
Working for a big-name circus was exciting and fun, Mirabella said.
"But then you realize you don't have your own life," she said. "You travel 20,000 miles a year and are doing 10 to 15 shows a week. It's tough."
Deciding to strike out on her own, Mirabella had a lot of help from her rescued and high-energy dogs. She already had been doing national Frisbee competitions and performing at NFL and NBA halftime shows.
"Now I get to be my own boss," Mirabella said. "It's my show."
Mitch FreddesAssisting Mirabella is long-time friend Mitch Freddes, of Mississippi. Freddes is a professionally trained clown who attended the Ringling Brothers Clown School in Venice, Fla., in 1974.
"My mom got me interested in being a clown," Freddes said. "I was studying music, and she saw an ad for the clown school and suggested I apply."
Freddes said his mother told him to live his life as his own, not for someone else.
"I felt pretty good about it when I got accepted," Freddes said, as he relaxed in the shade while temperatures continued to climb Monday at the fair.
"More than 10,000 people applied for the school then, and they only accepted 50," he said.
After being with the circus for 30 years, Freddes, too, decided to join Mirabella and her act.
"I'm sort of the goofy clown that keeps the show going," Freddes said. "I'm a country clown. I do a lot of physical things, falling over and tumbling."
Freddes warms up the crowd with his antics before Mirabella brings out her troupe of dogs, with humor for children and adults.
Freddes said he loves being a clown.
"Being a clown is an expression of yourself," Freddes said, pointing to his partially painted white facial features.
"It's not acting, and the makeup is not a mask. It's an enhancement of who you are."
Doggy Wheel of DestinyBut it's evident the stars of the show are the dogs.
Topper, a rat terrier, squeals like a piglet when Freddes won't give her a disc.
Dallas, an Australian shepherd, has appeared on the David Letterman Show, and thinks he is a "true performer."
Topper thinks he's allowed to stroll about the audience stealing hot dogs and stuffed animals.
Karma, another of Mirabella's rescued dogs, would rather visit the children in the audience than jump over fences, and Cricket, a blind terrier mix, gives high fives.
"I am what I am today because of the dogs," Mirabella said.
"I hate sitting in an office. I love entertaining. I've also found that families tend to want to come to the shows together. It's great to see the entire family having a good time. That's what our goal is."
