SuperDogs lap up the love, 50 years after being unleashed on adoring fans

VANCOUVER – Lisa Sun recalls watching the SuperDogs at the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver as many times as she could as a kid, delighting in the performers’ speed, skill and comic relief.

Now it’s Sun and her three pugs, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi, who are entertaining crowds at the fair, 50 years after it hosted the first SuperDogs show.

Their role? “Definitely comedy,” Sun said.

“When they come out onstage, people know they’re not going to be the fastest…. But you know what? They have personality, they have character.”

Sun’s pugs wear sparkly pink bandanas as they perform their tricks. They twirl left and right in unison, and stand on their hind legs to give each other what she calls a “pug hug.”

The pugs are among hundreds of canines from across Canada, many of them rescues from humane societies and animal shelters, that have been part of the SuperDogs shows, which are also held at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

While some trainers and their dogs travel for shows, most are local and return to their family homes each night after delighting crowds that can number in the thousands.

David Acer, a writer and host for the show in Vancouver, describes SuperDogs as “pure joy from beginning to end,” helping fans let their troubles go for a moment.

“It’s really among the only entertainment I’ve been a part of where I can look in the stands and see a five-year-old, a 20-year-old and a 70-year-old all laughing at the same thing,” he said following a SuperDogs performance on Thursday.

“I think every generation is feeling the pressure and the stress of the current climate, and this is an opportunity for them to come and not feel that together.”

SuperDogs lore tells of the show’s beginnings at the PNE in August 1976, when Herb Williams, a former teacher and advertising executive-turned entertainer, recruited a handful of dogs to perform tricks for fairgoers in a parking lot.

Fifty years later, SuperDogs holds three shows a day for audiences at the PNE and the CNE. The two fairs close on Monday.

The shows feature dogs small and large racing, catching Frisbees, leaping over hurdles, and weaving in and out of obstacles. Afterwards, the audience is invited to “pat and chat,” an opportunity to meet the dogs and their trainers.

Acer said the canine performers are all “super” in different ways. 

“Some of them are super athletic, some of them are super smart, some of them are super cute, some of them are super fast,” he said.

“We actually think every dog is a super dog, so if you have a dog at time, (there’s) something that makes them super too.”

Still, certain dogs have exuded stand-out star power, landing them in the inaugural “Paws of Fame” class to mark the 50th anniversary of SuperDogs.

They include the “slowest SuperDog ever,” an English bulldog named Pot Roast who performed between 1992 and 1998, and Demolition Derby, an old English sheepdog described as “a big, lovable buffoon who introduced true comedy” to the show.

Sun’s first-generation trio of pugs, Snap, Crackle and Pop, were also among the 20 honourees, along with Flint, a collie who also served as a search-and-rescue dog with the Calgary Fire Department.

It’s gratifying “knowing how many hearts melt when they see these pug faces and how much joy they bring,” said Sun, who has worked with SuperDogs for 15 years.

Sun said the show offers a lighthearted distraction and a break from everyday worries, inspiring cheers and laughs from generations of fans.

“For that half hour you’re sitting in the audience, you’re not thinking about anything else but watching the dogs do their comedy, do their athleticism, do their Frisbee playing, do their dancing onstage, their racing relays,” she said.

“It’s such a blessing to be on the other side now,” Sun added. “Running with the dogs, on the stage, doing the thing that I used to love to watch as a kid.”

Sun said dog owners shouldn’t underestimate their own canine companions.

“Always look at the dog in front of you,” she said. “They’re each individuals that can learn so many things.”

The website for the group Suite Melody Care, which brings young musicians into hospitals and care homes, lists Williams, who is in his 90s and lives in Ontario, as one of its directors. He made his final SuperDogs appearance in 2012.

The site says Williams and his SuperDogs entertained audiences that have included British royals and celebrities such as Joan Rivers and Luciano Pavarotti.

After the PNE and CNE close, the SuperDogs will be at fall fairs in Burns Lake, B.C.; Rock Creek, B.C.; Uxbridge, Ont.; and at a dog-focused event in Newmarket, Ont.

Ultimately, Acer said SuperDogs encourages people to love their dogs.

“If people go home after seeing a SuperDogs show and give their dog one more hug, one more treat, throw a Frisbee for them, it’s a win for everybody.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2026.