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Stray dogs abandoned in Sao Paulo slums have been given a new lease of life – after being trained to be ‘ball dogs’ at the Brazil Open.

Four pooches were taken from shelters by the tournament organisers and have been working on scooping up balls and delivering them to players.

The dogs had their debut during the match between Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena and Portugal’s Gastao Elias and it was brilliant.

Trainer Andrea Beckert says he’s helping them adapt and says the major issue is stopping them from getting distracted.


The dogs spring into action on the court (Picture: YouTube)

‘These are dogs that were mistreated,’ she explained.



‘We have to make them adapt, feel the environment, the court, the noise of the balls and the noise of the people.’

The dogs are definitely a success with the crowd – they just need to work on dropping the ball a bit quicker…

Actually giving the ball back needs some work (Picture: YouTube)