Chad Fountain and Gozer Fontaine: Bringing smiles to people’s faces

MT. PLEASANT - Despite the slightly deafening shrieks of Van Allen Elementary School students when they spot him, Gozer Fontaine shows no qualms or fears as he makes his way to the front of the crowd to perform.

Gozer, a 14-year-old dachshund mix, alongside his owner, Chad Fountain a Mt. Pleasant resident, made appearances at several local Mt. Pleasant schools on Friday, Dec. 20, to help see students off to their winter break.

The duo auditioned for 'America's Got Talent” last year in Knoxville, Tennessee, and plan to give the show's preliminaries another shot in Las Vegas on Jan. 7. Much to the delight of the younger students, Fountain and Gozer performed their usual act.

'We're a one-trick pony,” Fountain explained.

As Fountain takes the mic to sing Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World,” Gozer excitedly pushes a balloon into the air, catching it with his snout before it hits the ground and pushing it back up, again and again, until the balloon pops and Fountain pulls out another. The cycle continues until Fountain finishes the song.

Gozer and Fountain's partnership began just four years ago when Fountain was required to get surgery to remove a part of his intestine.

'I was dating a girl … and after the surgery, he came to stay with me. He was actually her dog for the first ten years of his life. He came to stay with me after the surgery to keep me company and help me recuperate. And a year later, he was still with me and she told me I could keep him,” Fountain explained.

Gozer kept Fountain up and moving in the time after his surgery and 'gave [him] a reason to get up and go for walks.”

'He's just my buddy … our bond started the day we met. He won't go anywhere where he can't see me,” Fountain continued.

Despite not making it through the first round of auditions last year, Fountain wants to continue finding opportunities for Gozer to perform.

'I know he loves it. He loves the attention and getting pets. It's just a chance to expose him to more things and let him see more of the world,” Fountain said, explaining why he plans to audition for the show again with the same exact act as last year.

'The running joke is that I want to make my wiener go viral,” Fountain noted.

Fountain's former girlfriend discovered Gozer's unique talent when he was just a puppy and began chasing around balloons at a birthday party. When Fountain was made aware of Gozer's party trick, he began brainstorming ways to combine his talent with Gozer's.

'It's the only song I can sing,” Fountain said, explaining that he had no other musical abilities other than being able to sing Armstrong's piece.

But the point of the act is not really based on talent.

'It's all about bringing smiles to faces, that's all it's about. Bringing smiles to people's faces. This world doesn't smile enough so any chance we can, that's what we want to do,” Fountain said.

Both Gozer and Fountain seem to deliver on that goal as they brought their act to Van Allen. Excited children were leaping to their feet to watch Gozer do his thing.

'I've still got goose bumps,” Fountain said after the performance.

'To be able to bring that happiness to so many kids, it's just great,” he concluded.