Ozzy the acrobat

Ozzy, the collie who never wobbles! The MoS tracks down the four-legged superstar whose astonishing balancing tricks took YouTube by storm

It's the latest video to become a  YouTube sensation. Showing a truly astonishing sense of balance, a dog perches on a thin metal chain before standing up on his hind legs.
While other dogs are more content to chase cats or gnaw old bones, this canine is capable of incredible acrobatic feats.
Filmed by an amazed passer-by on his mobile phone, the footage was then uploaded to YouTube where it attracted more than 80,000 hits in just one day.

Nick Johnson and his dog Ossy have taken the internet by storm

It has proved so popular since being posted two weeks ago that it was  highlighted by ITV chat show host Jonathan Ross last weekend. Ross told viewers that the sight  of the balancing dog would help  banish their winter blues.
Until now the identity of the dog and his owner have remained a mystery – but The Mail on Sunday has tracked them down. They are carpenter Nick Johnson, 50, from Norwich, and Ozzy, his three-year-old chocolate border collie-kelpie cross.
Nick devotes up to five hours  a day to training his pet, who  was born on a farm in Anglesey, North Wales.
Ozzy is now recognised wherever he goes, and his repertoire of tricks includes balancing on Nick’s shoulders as he rides  a bike, fetching his owner’s mobile phone, and ‘surfing’ on a street sign.

ON THE ROAD TO FAME... OZZY PERFECTS HIS STREET SIGN SURFING

Ozzy has plenty of energy so every day Nick takes him on a long walk around their home city, Norwich. It was during one of these walks that Nick decided to see if his dog could balance on a street sign.
Of his training style, Nick says: ‘Old-style dog-trainers say you should never look at the dog, but if a dog is looking at you he is giving you his full attention.
‘I bring him into my eyes and that helps him balance. I use a lot of sign language with him. I use my eyebrows to encourage him, but the most powerful command is me wagging my little finger.
‘That means “Come on” when he is right on the edge of what he can do.’

‘I was a bit scared initially because I had never had my own dog before and many people said that puppy-training was really hard,’ says Nick. ‘But Ozzy was beautiful. He was so easy.’
Nick bought a book called Puppies For Dummies before he took his pet – full name Osbert Humperdinck Pumpernickle – on a six-week training course.
He also became a fan of the Dog Whisperer – behavioural expert Cesar Millan – and Zak George, a dog-trainer who teaches animals unusual tricks on his show Who Let The Dogs Out?, which is broadcast on children’s channel CBBC.
Nick was keen to try out some simple tasks first. Ozzy quickly mastered offering his paw for Nick to shake, and soon he was saluting his owner while on his hind legs, before being tested to the limit with his chain trick.

FIRST WITH THE NEWS: MEET THE PAPER HOUND

When some dogs hear the postman arrive, they bark loudly and hurtle towards the front door. But Ozzy is too well trained for that. And when a newspaper is popped through the letterbox each morning, he retrieves it up from the mat and brings it back to Nick – in one piece.

THE CHAIN EVENT... TALENTED OZZY'S STAR TURN

After Ozzy had managed his street sign trick, Nick got him to balance on a metal chain attached to two posts. Nick looks into his eyes and uses hand gestures, which has led some people to suggest that he is capable of mind-control methods – and to jokingly liken him to Jedi Master
Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. ‘Once Ozzy is focused on me he is locked in. It’s funny that I have been compared to a Jedi. That would explain the strange looks I get,’ he says.

THE DOG AND BONE ACT

Always eager to please, Ozzy fetches and carries too. When Nick’s phone rings, Ozzy picks it up with his teeth and returns it to his grateful owner. ‘Ozzy understands what I say,’ says Nick.
‘If I tell him to get my white trainers, he gets them. I can also tell him to get my other trainers – he understands the difference. People say dogs cannot understand language but there’s a dog in America that can understand 3,000 words.’

THE PET WITH A PASSION FOR LIFE ON THE EDGE

As a puppy, Ozzy demonstrated a talent for jumping high to catch balls and Frisbees. Now he combines that athleticism with his extraordinary balancing skills to leap up on to awkward spaces, such as this window ledge. Incredibly, Ozzy performs all his tricks without inducements.
Nick does not reward him with treats or punish him for failure. Ozzy has so much energy he can concentrate for long periods. Nick says: ‘It is never a question of him lacking energy, but it  is important to keep up his morale.’

RIDING HIGH... HERE COMES THE PIGGY-BACK POOCH

Simon Cowell has already said he is desperate to find an entertaining dog act when his show Britain’s Got Talent returns to our screens later this year – well look no further.
When Nick decides to ride his bike into town, Ozzy is happy to tag along – just not on his lead. Instead, as Nick sits in the saddle, Ozzy hops up on to his owner’s shoulders and hitches a lift.