🐶✨ SHE LEARNED IT ALL FROM WATCHING AGT — NOW SHE’S STEALING THE SHOW ON THE AGT STAGE! At just 17 years old, Olivia Befus walked onto America’s Got Talent with two very special partners — her beloved dogs, Zeke and Phoenix. What happened next had the judges smiling from ear to ear and the audience completely falling in love.

It’s no secret that Simon Cowell is a dog lover. So when Olivia Befus walked out onto the America’s Got Talent stage holding on to a cute little dog named Zeke, he was all smiles, but so were judges Mel B, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel, also fans.

It was Sofia who had the chance to chat with the 17-year-old from Midland, MI, who has had Zeke for three-and-a-half years.

“I’ve absolutely always loved animals,” Olivia said. “Any animal I could get my hands on. Ever since I was about six, I’ve had Guinea pigs, birds, bearded dragons, absolutely everything. Our house is a little bit of a zoo.”

Olivia and Zeke then performed a series of tricks with Zeke showing he had all the right moves to “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, and halfway through, Zeke ran offstage and Olivia was joined by a second dog, Phoenix, and the act continued.

“Olivia, you’re so young and so good,” Sofia told her. “[Phoenix] was a nice surprise. Have you taught yourself to do all this?”

The surprising answer from Olivia is that she learned how to train dogs from watching AGT.

“Well, you did a great job,” Sofia said.

“I think that’s the most inspiring spot in the world,” Howie said, pointing to the AGT stage. “And the fact that you’re inspired, and then you come here, and you inspire millions more to do what they see here. That was beautiful.”

Mel B shared, “What I like about this act is that the dogs are clearly really enjoying themselves. You’ve trained them with so much love and so much care, and that melts my heart, so thank you.”

Then Simon queried Olivia on what breed Phoenix was.

Olivia responded that he was a Border Collie and whippet mix. Simon said, “Those are not easy dogs to train.”

“He’s one of my smartest dogs, and, honestly, I think it’s just because of our bond,” Olivia said. “He follows me around doing everything with me.”

No surprise, Oliva got four yeses from the judges with Simon adding, “I think you actually have a real gift for this.”

America’s Got Talent airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Streams next day on Peacock.

This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the TV section.