Olate Dogs

Olate Dogs (originally Olate Family's Dogs) is an American dog trick act featuring father-and-son trainers Richard and Nicholas Olate. The group won the seventh season (2012) of America's Got Talent, claiming the US$1,000,000 first prize.

Richard Olate grew up in Santiago, Chile, where he adopted a stray dog and taught it tricks. He soon adopted more dogs and started a dog act. His brother Jose joined the act and the two caught the attention of a circus promoter. They came to America in 1989 and found success as part of Circus Vargas. Richard got married and eventually his wife Rebecca and son Nicholas joined the act. Olate Dogs performed in the Big Apple Circus and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. They appeared in TV commercials and on multiple morning programs before becoming national stars on America's Got Talent. Subsequently, they have toured the country and performed during NBA halftimes.

Olate Dogs features four different five-minute acts that include numerous tricks such as dogs jumping rope, going down slides, and riding scooters. The act also features a doggy conga line and a pooch that does back flips. Up to 10 of their 22 dogs perform during each show.

Richard Olate is a third-generation circus performer who grew up in Santiago, Chile. The second youngest of 22 children, he grew up in poverty. As a young child, he found a stray dog in the street, adopted it, and began to teach it tricks. Soon he adopted two more dogs and trained them as well. By age 12, he was supporting his family with a dog act, performing in schools and small circuses. Richard's brother Jose joined the act and the duo caught the attention of circus promoters. In 1989, Richard and Jose Olate brought their act to the United States. That year, the Chicago Tribune described their Circus Vargas performance as "clever and comical".

Shortly after coming to America, Richard Olate met Rebecca Smith, a circus performer who performed as a human cannonball. The two fell in love, despite speaking different languages, and got married. Rebecca gave up her act and began assisting with the dog act instead. Richard and Rebecca had three children. The older two Olate children returned to Chile, where Richard's daughter and her fiancé run a circus, and his older son works as a chef. His younger son, Nicholas, grew up with the dogs and became an integral part of the act at age 15. Nicholas Olate was hyperactive as a child, learning dance and tumbling at a young age.

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