Video: Watch former shelter dogs do cool tricks in 'Life's Ruff'

We can tell people how great shelter dogs are until we're blue in the face, but nothing changes people's opinions like seeing it in person. That's the thinking behind The Dog Saving Network, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to "us[ing] fun, creative mediums to promote the benefits of positive reinforcement training, generate compassion and encourage shelter adoptions!"

One of the group's coolest initiatives is the Life's Ruff stage show, featured in the MSNBC clip above. The show features adopted former shelter dogs performing tricks they learned in just a few months of twice-a-week training sessions with their regular-folks owners.

What an original, entertaining way to prove to people that shelter dogs are not "damaged goods" -- and that just a little bit of positive-reinforcement-based training can turn any dog into a star!