Princess, a four-year-old German Spitz, is supposedly the world’s only hypnodog – a dog that can hypnotize people. She has been showing off her unique skill on stage for the past two years, alongside her owner Krystyna Lennon, a qualified hypnotist.
According to Lennon, Princess is able to make people fall asleep by just staring into their eyes. This might be linked to the primal ability of dogs to hypnotize their prey, but no other dog has ever been able to do it to humans before. “As far as I am aware, she is definitely the only hypnodog in the UK – possibly even the world,” Lennon asserted.
The Leeds-based mother-of-three said that Princess can hypnotize anyone, but some people react more strongly than others. “It is definitely not something that just any dog can do, it is a very specific skill,” she added. “They either have it or they don’t. It’s about their natural ability, it’s all down to the dog. They need to be very well trained and well behaved.”
Understandably, a lot of people are skeptical when they first hear about the dog’s power. Lennon said that they don’t believe a dog can actually do such a thing. “But once they see it, they are gobsmacked,” she revealed. “Some people even think she is a puppet and not even a real dog.”
Dog experts, on the other hand, simply refuse to believe the whole story. According to dog psychologist Stan Rawlinson, canines might be able to induce relaxation, but certainly can’t hypnotize people. “It is the person that is working with the dog that is doing the hypnotizing through her actions and tone of voice,” he insisted.
Interestingly, Lennon happens to be the niece of Hugh Lennon, who was the original founder of the Hypnodog show with his pet Oscar, in 1989. When he was forced to retire due to health problems, 40-year-old Lennon stepped into his shoes and kept the show going. She even gave up her job to commit to it full time. “I helped out Hugh with the lighting and music for the show when I was younger, so I had seen the act hundreds of times before I took over,” she said.
Lennon also revealed that Princess is related to Oscar – the original hypnodog – but they didn’t expect that she would someday be used for the show as well. “We noticed that she started to display some of the same attributes that Oscar had – she was very calm and would sit very still and stare.”
“So when I took over from my Uncle Hugh, I decided to use Princess and because she is my own dog, she reacts so much better to me,” Lennon said. “Princess is a complete diva, she absolutely loves being the center of attention on stage and being fussed over and watched by so many people.”
Lennon and Princess are currently doing a tour of the UK, performing at various university events, and they are all set to take their act overseas, to Dubai and Australia next year.
Photos: Facebook
Sources: Daily Mail, Express.co.uk
