Pets Of Broadway: Meet Samantha Barks' Little Diva, Ivy Barks!

BroadwayWorld is excited to continue our exclusive collaboration with Pets of Broadway! From the cats of choreographers, to the dogs of dancers, to the birds of belters and the many pets in between, Pets of Broadway shares the stories of your favorite Broadway stars' best friends!

This week's Pets of Broadway introduces you to Ivy, a Cavachon mix who is this Broadway leading lady's best friend! Oh, did we mention her mom is Pretty Woman's star, Samantha Barks? Read below as Barks talks about her pup!

"The day I got Ivy, I had no intention of getting a dog. My friend's friend introduced me to a local litter of puppies, but in my mind I had a thousand reasons why I wasn't getting one. As I starting walking towards the litter, my reasons started to go away. They completely disappeared when I saw Ivy's little round face! The moment I saw her, I knew she was my dog"

"I picked her up and she scuffled up and grabbed onto my neck and nuzzled in. So then and there she came home with me. I say she's a Diva but she's actually the sweetest most loving dog. She's not demanding but she knows her own mind, her likes and dislikes and I love that about her."

"I chose the name Ivy because I love flower names. She was also born on the fourth of December so she's a Christmas girl. I thought Ivy was a fitting name. I sometimes call her Nana though because she acts like a little old lady. She wakes up around 10 am with me and by half-past 11 her eyes start closing again. She's such an old soul."

"If I could post photos of Ivy on Instagram all day I would! Because I post a lot of different content though, I decided to make Ivy her own Instagram. It's a great way for me to put as many pictures of her as I want and for people who love seeing dog photos and all things Ivy, can follow her!"

"When I got this job, my number on priority was to have Ivy at the theater with me. She's my everything and we were moving across the world together. I have friends here in New York but she's my one constant. She's my best friend."

"Since moving to New York, Ivy has had the best life! I'm so lucky to get to bring her to work! She's a part of the fabric of our show. I joke and say she's the Pretty Woman mascot. She cheers everyone up. People come in for cuddle time with Ivy and she takes that job very seriously. Orfeh's dog, Lucious, comes to the theatre sometimes too and Ivy has a huge thing for him. She has a couple of 'shomances' I will say. Trevor the singing dog comes to visit sometimes too. She has a lot of pals. Best life ever!"

"She has her little bed set up in my dressing room. I was going to have a little crate in here for her but that's not her preference. She makes that very very known! I tried to crate train her and that was funny. I've crate trained dogs before so I'm no stranger to that but she was having none of it. She is such a well behaved dog but she screamed all night! I put a beautiful throw over the crate and she, through the bars, chewed holes in it! She definitely knows what she wants!"

"If Ivy and I spoke the same language, I would want her to tell me if there was anything I could do better. I would also want her to know how much she means to me and how much I love her!"

You can see more pet loving stories at @petsofbroadway on Instagram!