I present the long awaited video of our first Canine Freestyle performance! (There are two run throughs of our routine on the video.)
This was taken at our last Freestyle class at Gentle Touch Pet Training back in February. I got a bit lost towards the end of the 1st run, but I think we faked-it alright.
Hoagie did fantastically, especially considering he had a bit of a traumatic run in with another dog in the class. One of our classmates lost control of her dog during their routine, and he decided to be a bit forward greeting Hoagie. As I may have stated before, Hoagie isn't exactly the "meet and greet" type when it comes to unfamiliar dogs. With the help of Ivy and Teah, we were able to break things up, and after a little breather, Hoagie came out ready to shake his tail for a second run.
Despite the drama, everyone in the class did really well. It was truly entertaining watching everyone work with their canine dance partners. Between our performances I was able to get some great photos of all our classmates. The pictures came out a bit blurred due to the low light in the room, but let's just pretend they are intentionally dramatic action shots! (and not just due to me avoiding distracting the dogs with the camera flash).
Donna and Booker
Their pink theme was adorable!
Taz the Golden rockin' it!
Shiraz the cocker lookin' cute!
Teah, the owner of Gentle Touch with her English Cocker, Shamie.
I love the look on Teah's face in this picture.
Our starting pose.
Awesome figure eights!
Toe touches!
High five! Ta-da!
Hopefully we will be able to continue working on our freestyle routine as we learn more moves and improve our skills. We had lots of fun and look forward to plenty more doggy-dancing silliness! Enjoy the video, but be nice, it's our first attempt. Thanks, as always for reading!
A couple of weeks ago I began a substantial new chapter in my decent towards total, crazy-dog-lady madness. I started taking Musical Canine Freestyle at Gentle Touch Pet Training with Hoagie. Yes, I've taken up dancing with my dog, and ya know what? We are having an absolutely wonderful time! I've been pondering this dog activity for a while, and am finally taking the plunge. Don't get me wrong; this dog sport is ridiculous. It truly takes a certain level of crazy to want to do this ↓ with your dog, much less in public.
I, however, have never been one to shy away from making a spectacle of myself, and I am only more pleased to have my best furry friends by my side to support me.
I worked 2 summers at a Civil War living history site and did 8 years of marching band. Looking strange in public does not faze me in the least.
The final incident that pushed me towards trying Canine Freestyle, was the Rally-O practice I described a couple weeks ago in this blog post. Hoagie and I have a lot of fun goofing around, doing tricks, and just letting him utterly ham it up! That lead to the conclusion that Musical Canine Freestyle would be perfect for the Hoagmeister!
"My public awaits."
So, I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. We've chosen our first song: : "Just What I Needed" by The Cars. I believe we'll have a video of us doing our routine at the end of the class. Though video evidence of me acting weird does make me a bit nervous, I'll try and get that posted for all of you to "enjoy." Until then, we'll be practicing our leg weaves, backwards heeling, and spins.
In the mean time have an example of some amazing Canine Freestyle done by Michele Pouliot and her dog Listo (who, by the way, is doing a seminar at Gentle Touch this fall!)
I know, starting a blog about dog training with a ridiculous picture of myself is a little weird, but that's how I'm feeling right now. Moving on..
This is my dog Hoagie:
We think he's a border collie/ corgi cross, but he's a pound puppy, so we can't really be sure.
The thought behind this blog was originally to keep a record of my progress working with and training Hoagie. My husband Stew and I got him about a year ago, and as I like to say: Hoagie is a great dog, but we definitely jumped in with both feet with our first dog. He's, let's say...a bit of a handful sometimes.
So I really don't know where this blog is going to take me, but hopefully it will keep me (and thereby, Hoagie) motivated. Feel free to take from it what you will; I'm not making any promises. I'm too easily distracted for promises about posting here....ooh, funny doggie video!
(I know it's after Halloween, but this video cracks me up every time.)
