Finally, the poor dog runs off and looks like it's about to break free when the Nu-Metal Witch pulls it right back in. Take special note of the dog's eyes at the end here. This is the look that you'll see most of these dogs carry throughout this contest. Crazed and anxious. They know that there is a treat for them at the end of this if they don't screw up, but they also have absolutely no idea what's going on. It's the dog version of acing the group presentation you did zero prep for. Where you hit that unconscious zone where, despite the fact that you haven't read a single page of The Pearl, you black out and emerge having detailed every last metaphor, impressed the teacher, and passed the assignment. Here, you just get a goddamn Milkbone or whatever.
The routine is winding down, so they start throwing out all the tricks. I'm not going to sit here and say that it isn't impressive the way these people have trained their dogs like this. Mine still eats his own shit. I get it. But it never stops being one of those things you can't really separate yourself from when you're watching it. You will take your base-knowledge of what you know seems to make dogs happy and be natural for them, and you will think back to how many times your dog has scratched at the door to signal their primal desire to crank early-2000s rock and jump on top of a LARPer.