THE Theatre Royal went barking mad as auditions were held to find a Glasgow dog to take a lead role in Legally Blonde the Musical.

Hopeful pups lined up to audition for the part of Paulette Bonafonté’s dog Rufus in the show, which will run at the King’s Theatre between April 23 and 28.

A British bulldog was the preferred breed however other dogs were welcome to apply if they had a “brutish nature”.

Among the 12 dogs selected to audition at Theatre Royal on Valentine's Day were British bulldogs, a chow chow and a husky.

Each pooch had five minutes to impress the judging panel which was formed of David Barrett, associate director of Legally Blonde, Helen Petrovna, who will play Brooke in the show, and Robyn Davis from the King’s and Theatre Royal.

The judges then selected the final three pooches before calling them back to make a choice on the ultimate candidate.

The three final three dogs were Diniro from Netherburn, Tia from East Kilbride and Guinness from Penilee, all of whom were bulldogs.

The standout contestant for the judging panel was bulldog Diniro thanks to his laidback attitude.

David said: “We had a great turnout in Glasgow and we were very impressed with the talent each dog had.

"It was an incredibly difficult decision but we unanimously decided on Diniro due to his fantastic relaxed temperament in the exercises during the audition.

“We can't wait to welcome him to the Legally Blonde company upon our arrival in Glasgow."

Diniro’s owner, Annis Sweeney, said she was thrilled and that this would be Diniro’s stage debut.

She added: “He has always been very laidback. He’s like this all the time, it’s in his nature.

“He loves being around the people so he’ll have a great time with the Legally Blonde cast.”

Diniro will star alongside EastEnders' Rita Simmons, Eurovision singer Lucie Jones, Emmerdale’s Bill Ward and of course, Elle’s dog Bruiser.

Legally Blonde the Musical tells the tale of college sweetheart and homecoming queen Elle Woods who doesn’t take no for an answer. When her boyfriend dumps her for someone more serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books and heads for Harvard Law School while proving that being true to yourself never goes out of style.

Based on the Reese Witherspoon film, Legally Blonde the Musical earned seven Tony nominations and 10 Drama Desk Award nominations during its Broadway run. In the UK it was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, winning three including Best New Musical.